All Things Real Estate: Tim Jones
Q: My widowed mother and I live in the same house. This is the house I grew up in and when I became an adult I moved out for almost 20 years. My father passed away two years ago and I moved back in to help take care of my mom. We both agreed it would be best if we put the house in both of our names so it would make it easier to manage it. We are both on title as joint tenants.
Throughout this year my mom’s health and mental stability has been getting worse and worse to the point where she is impossible to live with. She throws and breaks stuff, she tries to lock me out of the house, and last night she threatened me with a butcher knife. I want to put her in a nursing facility that can take better care of her and I told her that was what I intended to do. But she still thinks this is her house and she says she’s going to throw me out. She won’t listen when I explain things to her but it’s at the point where she has to go.
Obviously I have a big problem but I don’t know what to do. I hate to evict mom but that’s what it’s come down to.
A: Well, there’s a lot going on here which has nothing to do with real estate, but some of it does and because your problem isn’t as unique as you might think, I chose your email to answer this week.
First of all, Mom is right. It is her house. It may be yours, too, but she owns as much of it as you do. So from an ownership perspective, she has every right to live there.
The bad news for you is you can’t evict Mom. The good news is she can’t evict you, either.
Your email didn’t say anything about your mom having an estate plan, other than putting you on title to the house. As a joint tenant, when Mom dies, you will own the entire house.
But if Mom had an estate plan, it might include a medical power of attorney which would give you the right, probably after going to court, to become your mom’s conservator. As her conservator, you could place her in a nursing home.
But that presumes your mom is no longer able to take care of herself. Throwing things and trying to lock you out doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t take care of herself. And now that I think about it, neither does threatening you with a butcher knife. For all I know you may not be all that likable since you’re considering evicting your own mother from her own house.
Anyway, assuming there is no power of attorney, if you really believe your mother’s best interest is served by a conservatorship, you can go to court to ask to be appointed as her conservator.
This process is technical, and you will need the help of an attorney who specializes in conservatorships.
If your mother fights the conservatorship, or your appointment, she will have her own attorney who will attempt to convince the court she is able to take care of herself, both physically and financially.
Ultimately, there will be a hearing. Both sides will put on doctors to testify as to your mother’s state of mind.
The court also has a number of investigators who will interview Mom, do a little research and make recommendations to the judge.
In the end, you will either be appointed conservator of your mom and her estate or you won’t.
If you win, your problem is all but solved. If not, you’re left with three possible choices.
You can live in the home and make the best of it. You can move out. Or you can sue Mom to partition the property.
Partition actions are real estate lawsuits between co-owners of property in which one owner wants to cash out. It’s a real estate divorce.
Ultimately the court will order the sale of the property and decide how the proceeds are split.
While this is a legal remedy available to any co-owners of real
estate, it seems pretty heartless in your case, considering Mom bought
and paid for the house and you only got on title in order to “take care
of my mom.”
Full Article & Source:
All Things Real Estate: You can’t evict your mother from house she bought and paid for
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