Freeloading cousin

[gbogan74]

Indiana - I have a cousin who moved in "temporarily" with my parents. She has never entered a contract to rent from them, but has assisted with some bills occasionally. There have been several problems that have come up in the past year. My cousin's health has declined to a point where my parents are physically unable to assist her. She belittles them in their own house and makes herself out to be the victim. She is causing my parents health issues to be worse, i.e., my mom's blood pressure was so high she was recently hospitalized. My main question is, can my parents legally kick her out of the house or evict her? We want her to go to an assisted living facility, but she has no desire and it is really taking a toll on my parents mentally and physically. The kicker is that my parents put her on their taxes as a dependent, so I don't know what kind of wrench that will throw into it.

 

[quincy]

How old is your cousin? How long has she lived with your parents? And why did your parents decide to provide her with a place to live?

 

[gbogan74]

How old is your cousin?

In her 50s

 

[quincy]

In her 50s

Thanks for answering my question. I added two other questions to my previous post, if you could answer those as well.

 

[gbogan74]

Thanks for answering my question. I added two other questions to my previous post, if you could answer those as well.

It’s been about two years. She divorced her husband and claimed to have no place to go. She’s done this before with other family, I just didn’t know how the whole dependent thing would change things.

 

[LdiJ]

It’s been about two years. She divorced her husband and claimed to have no place to go. She’s done this before with other family, I just didn’t know how the whole dependent thing would change things.

The "dependent thing" is irrelevant. It's meaningless to the situation.

Your parents need to give her 30 days notice to move out, in writing, and if she does not leave then they need to file for eviction. In writing means written on a piece of paper and physically given to her. It does NOT mean text or email.

 

[gbogan74]

Thank you.

 

[zddoodah]

I have a cousin who moved in "temporarily" with my parents.

Why do you have the word "temporarily" in quotation marks?

can my parents legally kick her out of the house or evict her?

Your post indicates no reason to believe the answer is anything other than yes, although I'd note that "legally kick . . . out" and "evict" mean the same thing. If you were asking if there is some way to legally force her out other than by going through an eviction, the answer is no.

my parents put her on their taxes as a dependent, so I don't know what kind of wrench that will throw into it.

It doesn't (which is a different question than whether it was legal for them to claim your cousin as a dependent).

I suggest your parents retain the services of a local landlord-tenant attorney.

 

[xylene]

Consider that elder services might help your parents and be able to broker the transition of your cousin to a facility with less acrimony.

 

[quincy]

Consider that elder services might help your parents and be able to broker the transition of your cousin to a facility with less acrimony.

To go along with xylene’s post, here is a link to Indiana legal services for seniors: https://www.indianalegalservices.org/topics/78/seniors