44-year-old homeowner wants to evict elderly relative for asking them to make repairs to the house: 'Someone gives you a free house but you are complaining they don't pay you rent?'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Feb 12, 2026 10:00 AM EST

If you were gifted a house is it your responsibility to maintain it?

When you're given something as a gift, it probably shouldn't end up being a burden. Gifts are supposed to be fun little rewards for friendship and love, not stuff that ends up derailing your life. But when you give something big to somebody, there might be more fallout than you're used to. Big gifts tend to come with big responsibilities. You might think being gifted something like a house would be a boon, but it might end up ruining somebody financially or ruining their relationship with their family. That's what happened in this story, where a piece of inherited property brought up a lot of tension within a family. It's hard to balance business and family. You know this if you've ever tried to do it yourself. It's better just to keep your personal relationships personal and your business relationships business-like.

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  • A landlord dangles keys in front of stairs at a house
    via Jakub Żerdzicki

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  •  If you try too hard to make them the same world, then one or more of them is bound to end up suffering. The minute that you involve money with family is the minute that you give up control over both. In one case, you protect the business and end up hurting somebody's feelings, and then in the other case, you make financial sacrifices in order to keep the peace with your family. You don't wanna end up in either of these situations. But sometimes life makes decisions for you, and you can't help but just go through it the best you can. That's what happened here when someone inherited a house at a young age. They didn't quite know what responsibilities were in store for them, and they weren't sure how to handle the family relationships that were affected by it. And then years went by, and things didn't get better. Suddenly, they woke up one day in a difficult situation. Their tenants/relatives had different expectations than they were willing to provide. So they weren't quite sure what to do with the result. Read on to see what happened in the story and understand the full scope of the family drama. 

  • Would I be in the wrong for evicting my elderly relative?

    I was gifted a house when I was 18 and dumb. I'm now 44 my elderly relative has been living in the house which was originally his. He has not paid rent and I have paid for plumbing issues in the past. We now have an estranged relationship.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • He is becoming demanding with fixing things within the home and started to say pretty hurtful things to myself and siblings. He has said as I'm the owner I'm having to pay for things now after 25 years of not a lot. I spoke to a solicitor who says it would be a good idea to evict in this case.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • Would I be the asshole if I evict them or do I continue to manage the house and my relative? Edit: for context I do not live in the home and never had. The person living in the home is the same person who gifted it to me. He has never paid rent or any monetary value to myself. He did receive a large sum of money (~100,000) for the gift from another relative which I found out today. So he has financially benifted from the transaction.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306

  • Commenters had questions... and some advice.

    Regular-Message9591 The way you worded it, it sounds like the relative who lives with you is also the one who gave you the house. Is that correct?
    via u/Regular-Message9591
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply I don't live there and never have. The person who lives there gifted the house.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • extinct_diplodocus INFO: Was it given with a lifetime tenancy for your relative, or with a similar understanding?
    via u/extinct_diplodocus
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply No written agreement or covenant.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • A landlord paints a wall in his house
    via Unsplash+ (Yunus Tuğ)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Cherry_clafoutis YTA. Someone gives you a free house but you are complaining they don't pay you rent (seriously??) and expect you to maintain the house to a livable standard. You were given a gift worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you did not want the rrsponsibilities that come attached with the gift of that magnitude, you should never have accepted it. I don't believe for a second that there was no verbal discussions about the relative living out their life there, even if they were foo
    via u/Cherry_clafoutis
  • Infamous-Sir-4669 Dementia can present as being cranky and blaming other people. He might have always been cranky, but now he's cranky to cover-up being confused. If he's increasingly anything, that's a change. The downside (if this needed an additional downside) is that it doesn't make anything easier. It might help you be more empathetic. It also might make it harder to evict him, legally and morally. This is super hard and I'm sorry. Gather all of the family you can and see what everyone want
    via u/Infamous-Sir-4669
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply Thank you I appreciate your comments really important for me to keep in mind.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • Hungry Teapot Sign the house back over to them.
    via u/HungryTeap0t
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply Unfortunately this would lead to a large sum of money and tax and they want to avoid tax themselves on it so they don't want it back.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • AbsurdDaisy The real question js whether OP loves there too. If not expecting OP to pay the taxes and repairs while getting no financial help is ridiculous. The ramifications of which would probably not occur to an 18yo who doesn't understand the financial burden that the "gift" entailed. If she does live there then these expenses are just a part of owning a house
    via u/AbsurdDaisy
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply I don't live there and have never lived there
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • MsTossItAll INFO: How do squatters rights work in your city when you already gave clear permission to live on the property?
    via u/MsTossItAll
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply You can apply for removal and court ordered baliffs will remove the person.
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • 69daveybouy I don't think you are the AH but you have certainly not been smart and you have yourself in a weird situation that sounds like it could have been avoided with more thought. You will ultimately materially benefit from having this house in capital gains if nothing else, common sense says that you should be upkeeping your investment. This would extend to fixtures, fittings and other maintenance but not furniture or garden furniture. The fact that your elderly relative received a lump su
    via u/69daveybouy
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply Thank you for this helpful comment. Unfortunately I'm unable to communicate with my elderly relative without abuse and I live the other side of the country to the home so am unable to check in with them/the house regularly. I have shared that I will ensure the house is safe and do the fixings etc. And how they can get in touch with me with boundaries previously. I did seek legal advice as it was getting complicated and they suggest eviction due to the
    via u/Significant_Foot7306
  • Dismal Wrangler61 INFO: Has the current tenant/ family member - ever paid you any rent in the last 25yrs - ever paid for any of the repairs - continued to pay off a mortgage for the house?
    via u/Dismal_Wrangler61
  • Significant_Foot7306 Original Poster's Reply No, No, No
    via u/Significant_Foot7306

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relatives house homeowner eviction family grandparents evicted home
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