we are selling my mother's house but my brother who has been 'sofa surfing' rent free won't leave

csgohan4

Even if the  freeloader brother was a POA, his refusal to leave and sell, is clearly not in the best interests for the mother and you can take steps to remove them. How will the brother demonstrate how the mother will pay for care costs if the house is not sold? a magic money tree?

canaldumidi

csgohan4 said:

Even if the  freeloader brother was a POA, his refusal to leave and sell, is clearly not in the best interests for the mother and you can take steps to remove them. How will the brother demonstrate how the mother will pay for care costs if the house is not sold? a magic money tree?

Yes. But my point is that the legal scenario is very different if he has POA, and therefore the options open to the OP would be very different.

Keep_pedalling

canaldumidi said:

csgohan4 said:

Even if the  freeloader brother was a POA, his refusal to leave and sell, is clearly not in the best interests for the mother and you can take steps to remove them. How will the brother demonstrate how the mother will pay for care costs if the house is not sold? a magic money tree?

Yes. But my point is that the legal scenario is very different if he has POA, and therefore the options open to the OP would be very different.

If he is an attorney it will only be a big problem if EPA/LPA specifies that all attorney have to act jointly. If, as is the case with most LPAs the attorneys have the authority to act jointly and severally the other attorney can act alone to sell the house.

Teapot55

I’m wondering if the brother has recently lost his job/ suffered a relationship breakdown/ lost his home through no longer being able to pay the rent or all three?

Or has never worked because of a disability or illness?

Is he 25 or 55?

Those who appear to be idle layabout scroungers aren’t always what they appear to be. 

tooldle

I've been in this exact situation OP. I simply ploughed ahead in cleaning the place out and got it on the market. This became inconvenient for sibling who expected viewings etc to take place at his convenience (he worked nights). As it happened the viewings were largely around midday which caused maximum inconvenience to sibling. He moved in to mum's place supposedly to keep and eye on it (he was in a rental prior to this) and to save funds for a move. By the time exchange happened he had been in mum's place for 6 months and had failed to save a penny, had been living the life of riley and had also resigned from his job. Whilst all this was going on he hadn't so much as cut the grass, let alone kept an eye on things. He did go quietly but then i never wavered from my stance of 'you have to be out by x date'
My advice is to get the house on the market and keep reinforcing the message of 'time is running out, what arrangements are you making for alternate accommodation'. By all means help with the search for other accommodation if you feel you have time and the capacity to do so, but don't let this be imposed on you if you feel that you already have more than enough to deal with. 
In my case it was me and mum's solicitor who had LPA. Dad had steered mum into this arrangement knowing full well how sibling was likely to behave. Nothing to stop you prefacing conversations with  'Mum's solicitor has asked me tell you/ remind you.....'. Good luck!

canaldumidi

OP has not returned since posting. Until he does, we are all just guessing......

martindow

I wonder what the mother's opinion is regarding the brother staying in the house?  She might be strongly against throwing him out on the street.

This would create a conflict between following her wishes and hindering the sale that is needed to cover residential fees.

How should a person with POA juggle that?

tooldle

martindow said:

I wonder what the mother's opinion is regarding the brother staying in the house?  She might be strongly against throwing him out on the street.

This would create a conflict between following her wishes and hindering the sale that is needed to cover residential fees.

How should a person with POA juggle that?

Really simply. My duty as POA (Finance or Health and Welfare) is to act in accordance with what is in the best interests of my mum. Finance wise that would mean selling the property to release funds for care. Parents can and do have wishes that are not in their best interests, and the whole point of POA is for a.n.other to take an independent view on what 'best interests' are.
My mum is a good example. My father asked me to be very careful with the finances on grounds that 'mum would allow sibling to bleed her dry'. My mum may truly wish to give my sibling every penny, but such an action would not be in her best interests in providing an appropriate level of care.

csgohan4

tooldle said:

martindow said:

I wonder what the mother's opinion is regarding the brother staying in the house?  She might be strongly against throwing him out on the street.

This would create a conflict between following her wishes and hindering the sale that is needed to cover residential fees.

How should a person with POA juggle that?

Really simply. My duty as POA (Finance or Health and Welfare) is to act in accordance with what is in the best interests of my mum. Finance wise that would mean selling the property to release funds for care. Parents can and do have wishes that are not in their best interests, and the whole point of POA is for a.n.other to take an independent view on what 'best interests' are.
My mum is a good example. My father asked me to be very careful with the finances on grounds that 'mum would allow sibling to bleed her dry'. My mum may truly wish to give my sibling every penny, but such an action would not be in her best interests in providing an appropriate level of care.

Fully Agree there. Which is where family and money shouldn't mix. Mothers being mother will usually give money to their children, even to both their detriment. Look at gambling as a common example. 

Good luck OP

martindow

I am sure that some people set up a POA on a precautionary basis so that there would not be an issue should a time come when they lack capacity or to help a person who has physical handicaps but is mentally capable.  In that situation can the person with the POA freely override the wishes of the relative or friend?  It seems that there could be a potential conflict to deal with.

Apologies OP as I am taking this a bit off the theme with hypothetical situations.