AITA family in shambles

r/

My father passed in 2021 at the age of 92. I as willed his home along with all his assets. Quick backstory.. In 2020 my eldest daughter and her newly married husband asked if they could move in with him and due to Covid I thought it would be a great idea. They can keep him company and save money as newly weds. I would still cover all expenses. They didn’t have to pay no rent, no utilities, nothing. Of course they would just be responsible for their groceries. My father mostly bought groceries and they did the cooking. Fast forward to 2025 and I asked them to please start covering the taxes which is roughly 7,000 a year plus their utilities. They absolutely refuse and said they would not contribute one cent unless I sign the house over to them. They now have a newborn and say I’m the asshole. My husband and I have our own home in a different city. An 8 year old and would like to spend that money towards our home, vacations and hobbies. I offered to put the house on the market and give them 250,000 to start new but they also refuse. The current value of the house is estimated at 650,000 market value. Need advise.

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    My father passed in 2021 at the age of 92. I as willed his home along with all his assets. Quick backstory.. In 2020 my eldest daughter and her newly married husband asked if they could move in with him and due to Covid I thought it would be a great idea. They can keep him company and save money as newly weds. I would still cover all expenses. They didn’t have to pay no rent, no utilities, nothing. Of course they would just be responsible for their groceries. My father mostly bought groceries and they did the cooking. Fast forward to 2025 and I asked them to please start covering the taxes which is roughly 7,000 a year plus their utilities. They absolutely refuse and said they would not contribute one cent unless I sign the house over to them. They now have a newborn and say I’m the asshole. My husband and I have our own home in a different city. An 8 year old and would like to spend that money towards our home, vacations and hobbies. I offered to put the house on the market and give them 250,000 to start new but they also refuse. The current value of the house is estimated at 650,000 market value. Need advise.

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  3. Additional_Log_1721 Avatar

    Normally a parent gifts their children when they pass and they pass it to their children when they pass or share it while they are alive which you are attempting to do but if they are not ok with your ideas I would ask them to move out. $7000 a year is $583 a month which is nothing for rent. No matter what state this is in. 

  4. OtherRepresentative2 Avatar

    NTA, sell the house and see how well they fair when they have to cover their own housing costs.

  5. WhereWeretheAdults Avatar

    Your eldest daughter is a professional freeloader and you are her easy victim. NTA.

    Put the house on the market and give them 30 days notice to evict. They have financially abused you and your now departed dad enough.

  6. ReadMeDrMemory Avatar

    NTA. I don’t understand why your spoiled adult daughter and her husband can’t afford to provide themselves shelter. (Taxes and utilities would put their rent at far under market value and don’t even cover your expenses for insuring and maintaining the house.) Selling the house would certainly be reasonable, assuming nobody promised them they could live there forever. Their request that you sign the house over to them seems absurd on the face of it. Why you would give these deadbeats a quarter-million under these circumstances is beyond me.

    Caution: If they do agree to pay you to live in your house, have them pay RENT to you, and document that very clearly in writing. IANAL but my understanding is that if they pay the property taxes, they might gain legal grounds for partial ownership.

  7. Important_Peach_7422 Avatar

    Your daughter and son in law are completely out of line.

    1. The house does not belong to them. They do not get to dictate the terms of anything having to do with it.
    2. They are adults and should be paying their own way including market value rent and utilities.

    I understand you want to protect your relationship with them, especially because you want to have a relationship with your grandchild.
    I would tell them you are selling the house and you will give them the $250k you already promised.

    NTA but you will be if you let them continue to slide.

  8. kol_al Avatar

    NTA Your daughter has no standing to refuse anything. Give them 60 days to move out then sell the house. You already gave them 5 years to save money for a place of their own. I wouldn’t put it on the market before they are out and you have a chance to get it cleaned out.

  9. wesmorgan1 Avatar

    You don’t have “family in shambles”; you have a daughter and son-in-law intent on being freeloaders.

    Assuming that they have an income sufficient to live independently…

    That’s your house – end of story.

    Give them whatever amount of time you think reasonable – 30 or 60 days seems appropriate – and tell them the date that you’ll be changing the locks. Tell them that you’ll be visiting frequently to start taking note of what will need to be done to put the house on the market, and that they’ll be responsible for any damages you discover.

    If they try to get other family members involved, just tell any who ask about their ridiculous demands.

    NTA.

    ps> Forget the “just pay the taxes” stuff – document any money they give you as RENT. Crediting them with paying taxes might open a legal can of worms…

  10. ProfessionalNo449 Avatar

    NTA ugg I had family like this too living rent free in grandpa’s house with him buying the food for everyone.

  11. Flimsy-Fortune-6437 Avatar

    Call the utility companies and discontinue service.

  12. Unlikely-Low-8132 Avatar

    Sell the house, keep the money and enjoy your life. You were going to charge them about $600.00 a month for rent and they are too stupid to take it. I would not give them anything they should have been saving the rent they did not pay for almost 5 years.

  13. AvocadoJazzlike3670 Avatar

    Uh yeah no. Get a lawyer

  14. Somuchallthetime Avatar

    You offered them $600 a month in rent. And they said no?!
    $600 a month won’t even pay for one room where I am.

    Sell the house. NTA

  15. Suz9006 Avatar

    Talk to an attorney and start eviction procedures. They may get more reasonable when they have no other choice.

  16. behindthevale Avatar

    NTA Your kid and their spouse sound like entitled shits.

  17. rce1985 Avatar

    Eviction, followed by sale, No splitting of proceeds.

  18. Similar_Pineapple418 Avatar

    Info: did your daughter have reason to believe she would inherit the house from your father?

  19. Antique_Peach8935 Avatar

    nta sell! 48 months x $2,500 month, 48 months of utility bills and taxes. your of offer is more than generous. be well

  20. PeepholeRodeo Avatar

    NTA. If they think they can get a better deal than $7K per year plus utilities, let them try.

  21. Talvace Avatar

    Nta. Evict them and sell the house. They can figure out a place to live on their own if they want to disrespect you like that.

  22. ceslee715 Avatar

    You’re not wrong for wanting fairness here.