Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My girlfriend,her sister and their younger brother , were left a home by their parents to share equallly.

For the first ten yrs.the brother was living elsewhere with his wife & family.Then decided to move into the house. A couple of yrs. later, the Property Taxes, which had not been paid for a couple of yrs. finally came the point that it was either pay the seven or so thousand dollars, or lose the house. Well, I scrounged up two thirds of the amount , while the sister came up with her third of the money. Needless to say we were able to save the house. Now, I have been trying to get the brother to pay his third that I covered , but to no avail. He still resides here wisth his wife and kid and still feels he can do whatever he wishes claiming he owns one third. How can I collect the money, or get him to vacate the property? Or better yet what can I do to resolve this situation within the law? Eddie


Asked on 3/23/11, 3:24 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

At first glance, it would appear that the sister is entitled to contribution for payment of property taxes, because she is either a joint tenant or a tenant in common. But that does not help you, because you are simply a boyfriend and not a joint tenant or a tenant in common.

It appears that you paid the debt of another. This triggers the statute of frauds, which requires agreements to pay the debt of another to be in writing to be enforceable. It is not clear from the facts that you have provided whether an agreement between you and the brother was put in writing, or you meet one of the exceptions to the statute of frauds.

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Answered on 3/23/11, 8:49 am


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