Inheritance debacle. WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Larla's godmother/great aunt (Let's call her Thelma) dies and leaves Larla her house. The house is pretty nice, 3000 sq ft in a nice area (not too close in, but still close to everything). Larla's cousin (godmother's daughter, let's call her Mary) she is about 50 yrs old and still lived with her mother Thelma until she died. So Larla was given the house and money in Thelma's will. Mary was left some money and Thelma's car... nothing too fancy, but still a good solid car. Larla is finishing school right now and lives in her parent's house which is not the best of situations as other family members are living with them as well and it is kind of cramped. Larla wants to leave her parents house and move into the home that Thelma left her. So the question is, does Larla have the right to put Mary out of the house?

[Anonymous]

Consult a lawyer, perhaps there are rights of occupancy or survivorship or something.

Morally, there is no question that it would be shitty thing to do.

[Anonymous]

On one hand, it would be a shitty thing to do.

On the other hand, unless the 50 yr old is disabled or otherwise handicapped (which the mother would have probably planned for) maybe since the mom was unable to kick her DD out she is doing it in death, hoping that her goddaughter will be able to do it for her.

[Anonymous]

She has the right, yes. But man, that would be shitty.

Can she live with Mary? A 3k sq ft house can easily house two individuals. Nice learning experience for Larla, I think.

[Anonymous]

a lot of this depends on why Mary was living there. Never got out? Was caring for an aged mother? What does Mary want to do now?

Larla could offer to rent Thelma's house to Mary. Let Mary stay in it. That's the least disruptive and it gives Larla some income to go live elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Why didn't she leave Mary the house? Is Mary upset about it?

[Anonymous]

Larla should sell the house, and buy/rent a different place with that money. Of course this forces Mary out, but does not cause the same type of family issues.

[Anonymous]

Thelma really made a mess of things. Mary probably took care of Thelma until she died, and created a situation. BTW does Mary have a job?

Sounds like Larla and Aunt Mary may be roomies until Larla marries and was a good excuse to ask her to go.

[Anonymous]

Well yeah, of course she does. Mary should be asking why her mother hated her that freaking much.

[Anonymous]

I think Mary has a lot of rights regarding occupancy. If Mary refuses to leave on her own, Larla will need to go to court to have her evicted which will take months, if not longer.

However, unless Mary is a complete asshole, and she might be considering Thelma didn't leave her the house, why put her out on the street? This is something that should start with a conversation before it ever goes to lawyers and courtrooms. Maybe Mary can be bought out with a certain amount of money that otherwise would have gone to lawyers. Maybe Mary and Larla can share the house.

I don't know inheritance laws. Will Larla need to pay taxes on the house? If that's the case, she may need to sell the house to pay the taxes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, she has the right to put her out but if Mary is decent why not both live there for a while.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible that Thelma left the house to Larla with a life estate to Mary?

What is behind Thelma leaving the house to a niece rather than her own daughter? How old was Thelma when she died? Was she of sound mind? Is Mary discussing these issues with a lawyer?

[Anonymous]

Is OP possibly a law student hoping we'll all help her/him with tonight's homework?

[Anonymous]

Depending on the state, if Mary paid rent, she may have squatter's rights. In any case. Larla is a first class bitch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on the state, if Mary paid rent, she may have squatter's rights. In any case. Larla is a first class bitch.

Larla hasn't done anything yet.

Godmother, on the other hand, better have an amazing reason for this. She should've directed her executor to sell the house after 6 months and given the proceeds of the house to larla.