What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland
My brother and I are recent co-inheritors of my mother's estate, and both of us live in the house. I am Executor of her will, and Trustee for my brother's half of the assets (my mother's house, with a few additional items that are difficult to liquidate). My brother is partially disabled and cannot reliably handle his financesa, but has not been granted disability benefits after applying for them in the state of Maryland.
He is capable of working, but refuses to look for any work he feels is "beneath him" (e.g., blue collar or service sector jobs), only focusing on paralegal work or jobs reflecting a narrow range of interests based on his academic training. He thus remains chronically unemployed, has been now for more than 1.5 years, and flatly states that he will not expand his job search, rather exhibiting an attitude of entitlement to all the support my mother provided and that now I am providing (which includes his health insurance, mental health therapy, and will include his portion of the utility bills [about $750 per month] after the middle of December). He did contribute income from a small annuity payment that my mother left him that has covered the last 3 months of expenses, but this will expire as of mid-December.
I am writing to inquire whether (although he is now named on the deed as equal co-inheritor) I have a legal right to evict him from the home after December of this year (2011) if he continues to refuse to earn income to pay his share of the rent or even his own expenses. My brother was not paying expenses prior to my mother's death (utilities, insurance, etc.) and remains completely nonchalant about the need to procure income, also denying that he has any need for disability insurance. He has no income of any kind and again, has not worked for a year and a half. Although he is legal inheritor of half the estate, is he entitled to live in the house with me if he refuses to work or pay any expenses? Do I have to establish a new long-term pattern of his unemployment, or just make the case that up until receipt of his annuity, he had not contributed to rent for more than a year and a half (and before that, for most of the 25 years of his adult working life, didn't contribute income to household expense, having been supported by my mother) and does not intend to conduct an adequate job search? I cannot take any action now, as he has given me his annuity portion (from my mother's estate) to meet expenses from August (when she passed away) through mid-December. However, he will have no income in January and continues to blow off not only my repeated entreaties to find work, but also suggests that I will have no legal recourse to evict him after December.
Any advice you can provide will be deeply appreciated. If he does not work, I will be forced to account for his share of utilities and as it may be some time before I'm able to sell the house and deduct these expenses from his distribution, this represents a potential hardship. If I have a legal right to evict him, I need to be clear about this and then communicate this to him, as it may be the only way to motivate him to start making a living.
My brother and I are recent co-inheritors of my mother's estate, and both of us live in the house. I am Executor of her will, and Trustee for my brother's half of the assets (my mother's house, with a few additional items that are difficult to liquidate). My brother is partially disabled and cannot reliably handle his financesa, but has not been granted disability benefits after applying for them in the state of Maryland.
He is capable of working, but refuses to look for any work he feels is "beneath him" (e.g., blue collar or service sector jobs), only focusing on paralegal work or jobs reflecting a narrow range of interests based on his academic training. He thus remains chronically unemployed, has been now for more than 1.5 years, and flatly states that he will not expand his job search, rather exhibiting an attitude of entitlement to all the support my mother provided and that now I am providing (which includes his health insurance, mental health therapy, and will include his portion of the utility bills [about $750 per month] after the middle of December). He did contribute income from a small annuity payment that my mother left him that has covered the last 3 months of expenses, but this will expire as of mid-December.
I am writing to inquire whether (although he is now named on the deed as equal co-inheritor) I have a legal right to evict him from the home after December of this year (2011) if he continues to refuse to earn income to pay his share of the rent or even his own expenses. My brother was not paying expenses prior to my mother's death (utilities, insurance, etc.) and remains completely nonchalant about the need to procure income, also denying that he has any need for disability insurance. He has no income of any kind and again, has not worked for a year and a half. Although he is legal inheritor of half the estate, is he entitled to live in the house with me if he refuses to work or pay any expenses? Do I have to establish a new long-term pattern of his unemployment, or just make the case that up until receipt of his annuity, he had not contributed to rent for more than a year and a half (and before that, for most of the 25 years of his adult working life, didn't contribute income to household expense, having been supported by my mother) and does not intend to conduct an adequate job search? I cannot take any action now, as he has given me his annuity portion (from my mother's estate) to meet expenses from August (when she passed away) through mid-December. However, he will have no income in January and continues to blow off not only my repeated entreaties to find work, but also suggests that I will have no legal recourse to evict him after December.
Any advice you can provide will be deeply appreciated. If he does not work, I will be forced to account for his share of utilities and as it may be some time before I'm able to sell the house and deduct these expenses from his distribution, this represents a potential hardship. If I have a legal right to evict him, I need to be clear about this and then communicate this to him, as it may be the only way to motivate him to start making a living.
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