Q: My sister is the trustee for my mom’s property, which was held in belief. She additionally inherited the home my mom lived in. My brother additionally lived there for seven years as my mom’s caregiver. In February my sister transferred the home into her identify, and in June she began eviction proceedings towards my brother. He vacated in September. My brother and I simply obtained discover that my sister is billing beneficiaries for family bills: utilities, taxes, gardener, telephone and an eviction legal professional. Shouldn’t any home bills after the house was recorded in her identify be her accountability?
A: Your sister inherited your mom’s home and all the prices that include it, together with the price of evicting your brother. She is now chargeable for paying for its maintenance, upkeep and anything that comes with possession. That’s the value of inheritance.
“If Momma provides you the home and he or she owes $200,000 on the home, for instance, you don’t get to take a look at your siblings and say, ‘Now you bought to pay me $200,000 so I get the home free and clear,’” mentioned Brian Kabateck, a civil legal professional based mostly in Los Angeles. “That might be a ridiculous response.”
Your sister could also be complicated her position as trustee along with her inheritance. Because the trustee, her job is to settle the property, together with paying off its money owed. So, in case your mom didn’t pay her mortgage the month earlier than she died, that invoice can be paid for by the property. Similar goes for any administrative charges, like authorized bills.
If the property doesn’t have the sources to pay the money owed, then the trustee might need to liquidate some property to make the property entire. However in no state of affairs would the beneficiaries be anticipated to dig into their very own pockets to settle your mom’s money owed, Mr. Kabateck mentioned.
Write your sister, because the trustee, a letter explaining that you’re not chargeable for any bills related along with her inherited asset. The eviction is a transparent instance of that: When your sister determined to evict her brother, she assumed accountability for the charges related to eradicating a tenant from a property she owns. That was her choice and is now her monetary downside, not yours.
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