Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Rhode Island
The home I inherited
When my dad died he left the home and property to my brother and I. He gave his wife life estate and the money. I was told by 3 attorneys that she must keep up the property. At this time the paint on the house has been peeling for about a year. I told her to get the paint done before the winter weather came along and caused serious damage. It came to my attention today that the paint is not done and there looks like damage beginning or worse on at least one side. Is there a way we can evict her from the property and take it over ourselves?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: The home I inherited
You can't evict her from the property, but there are several steps you can take to persuade her to perform her responsibility as a life tenant. If the peeling is extremely bad, notify the code enforcement officials in town and ask them to inspect it and issue a citation if appropriate.
A more drastic step is to file a petition in Superior Court seeking an Order that she have the work adequately performed within a reasonable (stated) time. If she defies the order, she can be held in contempt of court, fined and even possibly jailed for continued non-compliance.
On the other hand, if she has financial problems, you may want to look into mortgage options or buying out her interest (if she is willing to sell it to you).
I hope this information is helpful. Feel free to contact me at 401-885-7200 if I can be of further assistance.
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