A man named Layhar wrote to Newsweek, seeking advice as to what to do about his brother and wife who have no intention of leaving their deceased parents’ house. This, even though the parents left the house to their five children to split equally.
This brother’s four other siblings all want to sell the house and split the profits, per their parents’ will. The brother and his wife won’t budge from the premises though.
Why would they want to? They’ve lived in that house for forty years!
The four other siblings don’t know what to do. How are they supposed to evict their brother and his wife without taking legal action against him?
During the forty years that this brother and his wife were living with his parents, they had a daughter. They benefited from living in his folks’ house, what with grandma on hand to help look after the daughter.
That daughter is now all grown up and married. She’s long moved away from the house.
The brother and his wife still remain though.
However, it’s not like everything was perfect all those years that the brother, his wife and their daughter were living with his parents.
His mother had asked them to move out before. The wife sometimes treated the parents’ house like her personal hotel and acted very disrespectfully to the parents.
Allegedly, this wife really wanted a divorce, but just stuck around because she enjoyed living in that big house.
The parents were left to endure this mistreatment until they passed away, both in the same year. Now they’re gone. The four other siblings are ready to sell the house and split the profits, per the will. But the brother and his wife won’t budge.
Before the father died, he even asked the brother to leave so he could sell the house. Layhar was the one who convinced his father to stay, assuring him that all the siblings would work together to sell the house and split the profits, once he passed.
But that hasn’t happened. The brother and his wife continue to squat in the house. Is taking this brother to court the only way to get him and his wife to leave?
It just might be.
But before we go there, let’s take a moment to look at things from Layhar’s brother’s perspective. He may be having trouble coming to terms with the loss of his parents.
Losing your parents can be a traumatic experience. He may need time to adjust to this new reality and heal from his parents's death.
And yet, it also seems unlikely, given the circumstances of how long he’s lived in the house and how he’s treated living there while he did, that patience is the answer for these four other siblings. Seeking mediation is an option if these siblings want to avoid taking legal action against their brother.
A mediator or a counselor can help to convince Layhar’s brother why he must leave the house so his siblings can sell it. He can even use his share of the sale to pay for a new place to live.
And yet, if a neutral third party doesn’t work to get the brother and his wife to leave the house, it seems like taking legal action against him is the only option. A lawyer can help Layhar and his siblings understand their rights as the joint owners of the property and begin the legal process.
It seems likely that this brother and his wife won’t be happy with any outcome as they’ve lived so comfortably in his parents’ house all these years. Why should they want to leave? They probably won’t until beholden to by the law.
What advice would you give to this family as to how to deal with this brother and wife who won’t leave their deceased parents’ home? Let me know in the comments.
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