Mom called today to discuss my inheritance *sigh*.
Just to make it clear, there is no way that there is any cash stash waiting to be fought over. Mom had a house that she vacated back in the 80s to move in with my ailing grandmother and her brother. She continued to live with them and care for them until they passed away. No one was surprised when they left their house to Mom. In the meantime my mother “rented” her house to my sister and her husband. Sometimes they paid her but if things were tight paying rent fell to the bottom of their priority list. This arrangement really did not bother my mother as she was always assured that the kids had a roof over their head, eventually she just signed the ownership over to my sister and her husband. The intention has been that I would inherit the house that she lives in.
Having my own house I am aware that a house is a responsibility and the prospect of having two houses to take care of has not been something that I am looking forward to. The house is bigger than one person needs and she ends up offering to take in “friends in need” who end up taking advantage of her generosity. In the past couple of years I have been encouraging her to sell the property. The property is a remotely located former farm and not exactly what the average buyer is looking for.
The call was to tell me that she was considering selling the house to my nephew and his wife, who are expecting their first child in May. My nephew is the child of my sister. I know that they don’t have the money to buy a house so basically my mother is going to give them her house.
If she were inviting them to come and live with her with the understanding that they would inherit but she wants to give them the house, I would be happy with that arrangement but she wants to sell it to them for the amount that is left on the mortgage. Where does that leave her? I hope it all works out. I don’t want to be bitter towards my nephew but part of me feels like he should be getting help from his mother (who already received her inheritance). But at the end of the day it is her decision to make.
