QUESTION

Does my mother's grandson have any legal rights to her house or claim anything if he has been in her house living off and on for at least 13 years?

Asked on Sep 21st, 2021 on Trusts and Estates - Virginia
More details to this question:
I have a nephew who has been living in my mom's house for most of his adult years. He pays no rent, in fact she pays some of his bills like his truck payment and insurance bills. I believe she is afraid of him. She won't do anything about getting him out of the house. I know once she told me he got really mad and threatened to burn her house down. I worry about her. He has used her house address for his address even when he didn't live there. He has a violent temper and has all his crap piled up in her house. My mom is 87 and very frail. She says she doesn't say anything to him because it will just make him mad and go off on her. She does have a will that has me as her executor of her estate.i would like to find out if there is anything I can do about this terrible situation. She doesn't want to leave her house, she expressed she wants to die there. What can I do to guarantee that he doesn't have any rights to claim the house or destroy anything inside of it before I can get there.
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1 ANSWER

Appellate Practice Attorney serving New York, NY
Since  your mother has a will, and assuming it is valid, your nephew can't inherit anything through intestacy.  Since he is living in your mom's house with her permission, he has not gained any rights through adverse possession.  You don't mention any lease or other agreement in which your mother gave him permission to stay in the house after her death.  Thus, he would have no rights to the house.  However, anyone can claim anything they want, and you can't stop him from making a claim, however bogus.  Moreover, while he has no right to destroy any of your mother's property, that doesn't mean he won't do it.  if you feel it likely that he will destroy her property, you might have a better chance of safeguarding it if he was evicted, but that doesn't seem practical under the circumstances.  Theoretically, if you believe that your mother is no longer competent, you could ask a court to appoint you as her guardian which, if you were successful, would give you the legal power to evict your nephew, but besides the problem of enforcing the eviction, this coure of action would be expensive and would put you at odds with your mother, so I don't recommend it.  Ultimately this is not a legal quesiton, but a  practical one of how best to deal with your nephew, which only you can decide.
Answered on Sep 21st, 2021 at 10:28 AM

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