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Sister has a living estate — not paying taxes and insurance on home. Can I put the house up for sale and move her out?

My mother died the will stated that my sister could live in the house until her death (living estate), upon her death the house is to be sold and funds divided between the 6 remaining sibling. The home has no mortgage. The only thing my sister has to pay is the taxes ($1,800.00 per yr), home insurance and all of her utilities. I just took over the PR job from another PR. I was checking on the taxes for the home. She is behind $980.00 from last year and $768.00 for this year. I tried to talk with her but she will not talk to me saying it’s not of my business. Plus she has not insurance on the home. do the estate pay the taxes and home insurance so, that she can continue living there?

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Attorney answers (1)

Reputation Level 20
Your sister has a life estate. The problem may be that the will does not spell out her obligations. Normally a court would not terminate a life estate since it is the intention of the will writer. As PR of the estate you have a legal obligation to maintain the home as an asset to be distributed to the rest of the beneficiaries. I believe you should pay the taxes to clear up any liens of records. You can use estate funds, and.or your own and list it as an expense of the etate to be given to you when the house is sold. You can if you wish file an order to show cause in probate court to force her to make payments and even to evict her. It is almost impossible to sell a home when someone has a life estate in it. You can also offer to buy her out and then sell the house.

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