Real life MMD: Should I charge my bro?

mrcol1000

This all depends on the circumstances. If your brother has asked for your help and genuinely is struggling with it then I would do it for free. If he wants to give you any share of the payout then that's up to him and personally I would tell him to keep it. However if your brother is lazy and can't be bothered to claim and you are doing it on his behalf then I would share it 50/50.
It is okay everyone telling you that you shouldn't but it all depends on the circumstances. We need more information than has been given. If you are helping him out unless you have a poor relationship with him then taking anything would be pretty bad. Also just remember what goes around comes around. If he is an electrician and in a years time your lights go out then don't be surprised to be charged a call out fee if he comes round to fix it.

Voyager2002

What you are giving your brother is your time. Have a rough idea of how much time you spend doiing it for him, and then you can reasonably expect him to spend a similar amount of time doing something for you.

pdhroche

I signed up specifically to answer this question. I was going to say How dare you charge your brother.

BUT

After reading many other comments it made me realised that not all families are as close as mine. Therefore if your brother is the sort that would just take, take, take then I would expect you to charge him, of course by charging less than these companies you are effectively doing it at a 'family rate'. Of course you wouldn't want to be out of pocket helping out your brother.
On the other hand if you and your brother are close and often do favours for each other then I wouldn't charge just tell him to order in a takeaway, his treat, and give him the advice needed in drafting up the letter.

Don't get disheartened by some of the comments that have been posted here as they don't realise the other side, where people aren't close and favours are non existant.

Hope this has helped.

mungaman

Listen to all these moaners on here!!
Of course you can charge him!!
If he's too lazy to go on ML's website to see
how to do it for himself, then 10% is nothing.
Maybe you should charge more!!
You haven't said that he can't read or write or
that he has any disabilities (of course it would be
different then).
Is he just lazy?? Do you always do these simple
things for him??
Make it 30%!!!!:rotfl:

bogwart

I'm glad I don't have you for a brother.

pennypinchUK

You can't be serious...you're thinking of charging a member of your own family? Get real, he's your brother, for goodness sake. Okay, there's the obvious question why he's not going to do it for himself, but assuming there's a good reason why he isn't, come on!

Do it. Don't charge him.

And hope he never finds out you even thought about charging him!

Augustus_the_Strong

If he's not able to do it himself and really needs your help, then do it for nothing (it would be nice if he gave you a present though).

If he could perfectly well do it himself, then charge him 10%. His other option would be using a company which would charge 25%, so you're doing him a favour.

happyinflorida

What's your financial situation? Are you broke, struggling to pay essential bills? Is this why you're asking and your brother is quite well off? If yes, then ask your brother first - telling him your financially struggling, if he's not aware, to see if he'd mind giving you some money - if he's that well off, he may well give you the lot - as I would if I knew a close relative needed it more than me!
Normally though, if neither of you are broke, then I'd say it's not right. Teach your brother how to do it, so he learns for himself.

mandwhy

I think we all get 'used' for something, for me it's my car! I am always getting calls from friends these days for some emergency or other they need my driving services for (plus waiting time at doctors, job interviews etc can be looong) it's fine for a while but I wouldn't really blame you for charging if this sort of thing happens all the time, especially if he is capable of reading one of the online guides and doing it himself!

sianrssr

NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!! Hes your brother!!!!:(