So, my mom passed 6.5 years ago. She did not want my sister and I to sell the home until my nephew graduated, which he did last May. My sister and her family has lived there this entire time rent free, paying $4,000 a year for the taxes. Taxes she feels I should be 1/2 responsible for. The home sustained major hurricane damage but since it was paid off we had no insurance money to fix it. FEMA gave my sister $17,000 and I was going to NOT fix stuff on my own home so I could make up the difference, it was roughly $27,000 to replace the roof. It took a year and a half to get my insurance $. When I called my sister she stated they no longer had the $ from FEMA. Since then the home has fallen into massive disrepair. It is a real S hole now, my sister let the home fall apart, its filthy and gross. We tried to sell it for $300k, there were no takers. We are selling it to a We buy Houses for Cash place now for $220k and trust me, that’s the highest we could possibly get for it. New construction of similar size and room count are selling for $389k. She said if I had gotten us a new roof we could have sold the home for $400k. Not a chance. We close in a week and I told her I will not be splitting the taxes with her. (Its basically $1500). Why should I have to pay for her to live basically for free? She has lived in a huge 4 bedroom home with her family for less than $400 a month but I should pay half the taxes? She says I am greedy! Also, she has been selling our moms items, furniture etc… over these past years with no consideration of the fact that technically, that stuff is half mine. I have never seen a dime. I have never been asked if I wanted any of the it. I only found out when a friend showed me the stuff on FB Marketplace. AITH for not wanting to pay the taxes?
If you retain half the ownership and want half the proceeds then you pay half the taxes. Who lived there and for how long is irrelevant unless y’all explicitly agreed to it beforehand which you clearly didn’t. ESH
ESH: Yes, your sister should pay the taxes for the house she lived in rent free. However, the home was an asset that belonged to both of you and there was no excuse not to have it appropriately insured.
Yeah, this whole thing is such a disaster…
if the mother didn’t have “don’t sell the house until kid graduates” written out in a legally binding way, OP should have attempted to go to court and force the sale of the house when it was clear the roof wasn’t going to be fixed…
I don’t understand why OP is fussing over $1,500 when she just lost $80,000 through her own past negligence…
and also, when the sale closes the remaining property tax bill will be paid at closing, so then if they split the proceeds after that they will both “pay” the tax by default…
NTA. Put please understand legally you may need to and that you may be more legally responsible than you think you should be.
NTA. Of course not. I would seriously consider cutting her out of your life.
Contact her, and say hey, mom had xyz. I would like those item. List what you know she sold. Or say that you want to see them. Then tell her that you know that she sold them and you want half the money for the items.
ESH You are unfortunately likely legally responsible for half of the taxes. Did your mother specify any items to anyone in particular in a will? Get a list of all the items that your mother left in that home and try to compile a list of everything she sold. Tell her to take your half of the profits from the items she’s already sold and put that towards your half of the taxes. If you’re feeling petty (not a bad thing!) then take her to small claims court.
You need a lawyer, not Reddit.
NTA. Why hasn’t the home been insured? Just because it’s paid off doesn’t mean it’s impenetrable all of a sudden. As for your sister selling items from the estate… take that to the executor for your mom’s estate. If sister steals a lot is the executor, you can report her to the court.
ESH. The lack of communication and accountability from the both of you is astounding.
NTA – Your sister sounds horrible, sorry you have to deal with her. To be honest I would find it a blessing to just take my money, go no contact and live my best life. If you want to try to get some of your Mom’s stuff I wish you luck, but probably best to write it off or go when she won’t be there.
Your mom’s the AH. Why do parents always think things are going to work out fine after they’re dead when they set up things like this? At a minimum, she should have specified that your sister would owe you the difference between the assessed value when your mom died and the final sale price. She should have also specified that your sister pay some level of rent to cover repairs.
Also, you’re kind of an AH for not selling your mother’s belongings when she died and not making sure the FEMA money went into a joint account that requires both of you to sign the checks.
NTA but who cares what she thinks? Get the sale and paperwork together. She can take it to court if she has an issue.