My (50M) mother recently passed away and my brother (48M) and I inherited her house worth about 1.5 million.
My brother has asked if I could give up my share of the inheritance so he could own and live in the house.
His reasoning is that I’m already well off and already own and paid off my own house, and this was his only chance to own a home.
I said no, but offered 4 alternative options: we can sell the house, he could buy me out, we could rent out the house and split the profits, or he could live there with his family for free as long as he could pay for the upkeep of the house.
Now he’s upset with me because he says I’m already set in life, while he’s still struggling to make ends meet and doesn’t own a house.
Here’s some additional context: We grew up in a poor, but very loving family. My parents worked really hard to provide for us, and really stressed pursuing a good education to free ourselves from poverty.
I worked hard, took loans, went to uni, got a good paying job, got married, and had kids. My brother graduated but didn’t end up pursuing his field, and job hopped from one low paying job to the next. He’s married now and has a toddler.
I feel bad for his situation, but I feel like I’m being punished for my success. I worked hard to get where I am today.
I love my brother and want what’s best for him and his family. But my share of the inheritance would still be a lot of money. Am I being greedy?
Netizens’ comments
- He can live there for free and pay for the upkeep and isn’t willing (more likely isn’t able) to? I suspect your brother wants you to sign it over to him so that he can sell it and keep all of the profits. Based on what you’ve said, I don’t think he can afford the house even if you were to hand it over to him.
- Half the profits from a 1.5 million dollar home is $750,000. If he can’t parlay that into home ownership there’s really no helping him.
- Your individual financial situations are irrelevant to the situation. It is not for you or your mother to take responsibility for your brothers life choices. Your mother presumably knew the both your and your Bros financial situation and her decision is that the proceeds are split.
He is effectively asking you to give him $750k and if his only reason is ‘because you have more than me’, tell him to pull his finger out of his arse and work and maybe in 10 years he’ll have more than you.