# Family situation



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

My husband's family (his brother) is going through a tough situation right now.Few years ago he sold his house and bought a home with his daughter and son in law.He paid cash for his 50% of the house and they put nothing at all into the house.Things have gone well the first 4 years but the daughter's marriage split up and now the son in law has not paid any bills for over a year.Now my brother in law wants to get the house sold or the son in law and daughter off title to sever his financial ties.The son in law is asking for a ransom to sign papers and the lawyer recommended they consider suing him for abandoning the property .Anyone ever deal with something like this ,advice or rants ?


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## PoolAndRapid (Dec 3, 2013)

..


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

The only thing that was clear was that my brother in law got his money out first after any mortgage paid and any excess would be split four ways (each spouse has 1/4 or 25% share).His son in law fair share is about $30,000 not the 100k he wants.


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## seankearns (Feb 14, 2014)

Yikes. Are the bills being paid at the moment? If not selling the home and putting the money into a lawyers trust account to settle after the fact could be an option. The last thing you want to do is have everyone's credit ruined. 

As a real estate agent I constantly advise clients not to enter this types of situations, and if they decide to that they visit a lawyer and make sure everyone understands what happens in the event someone stops paying, wants out, gets divorced, etc. Too late for them of course...

I just had a client who put $40,000 into finishing their basement beautifully so the bungalow could be used for older children downstairs and elderly parents upstairs. A year and a half later they cant stand each other and need to sell. Lucky for them the market was on their side, but I hate to think what would have happened to the family if the market had dropped.


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## Retired Peasant (Apr 22, 2013)

Since they have a lawyer advising, I'd go with that. He/she likely has the best experience/knowledge.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

When they did this years ago we told them it was a bad idea but they did not listen .As much as I can afford it and I love my kids I will never buy a home with them that I will live in .Marriages break up every day and this is just a big mess for my brother in law to deal with.He is a really good guy and going to court last thing he wants but obviously he can't continue making the mortgage payments and then let them get half.Daughter or not it does not work that way .This is a Million dollar home and he put $400,000+ cash out for his half.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

...and not only did he put himself in a very bad situation but he also put his daughter in a bad situation, as well. The son in-law now has leverage to extort more out of his ex wife then he normally could do without this problem. She will most likely feel responsible for this and will almost inevitably give more to this guy, to get him to back off on the house, then she would normally do.

I had a friend who was divorcing his wife and did the same thing. In 1994, her parents put the family cottage into her name, after they took their capital gains exemption (like everyone was doing, as the gov't was taking it away), to avoid future taxes. My buddy then used his legal claim on that cottage, which never really was hers, as leverage to extort more out of her. It worked very well. Her parents got to keep the cottage and she took a big financial hit in some other areas.

Anyway, I know after the fact stories and advice are not that helpful. I wish I could provide you with some better ideas. I will think upon it and reply back if I come up with anything.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

They sold their house bought a bigger one together so they could give them free daycare for the 3 kids ,they had good intentions and this is only home either couple owns.The daughter was a stay at home mom for all the marriage and he makes 170k a year with a pension.He is trying to play hardball to get out of paying spousal and child support.She went to court and got that done so he basically wants to play the game where he signs off on house if she will give up the support.Not that it matters but he left her and now lives with his girlfriend .Mess may have been understatement lol


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

You make this guy sound like a real douche but I doubt it's so black and white as that, there are 2 sides to every story and I'm sure if we heard his side we would see that he has his reasons for doing what he is.


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## Arshes76 (Jul 5, 2013)

Are they going to sell the house ? They really need to the sell the house, even if they sell at a loss. I would be terrified of losing the $400,000. 

Once the sale is done, after fees and what not, i doubt he would even get the $30,000. It may end up being less.

Is the daughter currently getting support payments? If not does she know she cant get the payments via garnishment?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

All bills are paid and up to date ,The daughter and son in law owe 450k on the house in mortgages and credit lines ,if they sold it all bills get paid ,brother in law gets back his 400k+ they split about 120k after fees.The support payments are being garnished now ,didn't say he was a douche just won't pay his bills .


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