12M // Real Estate & Home Builders Guide // August 2016
Aging father no longer maintains cleanliness inside his home
By Ilyce Glink and
Samuel J. Tamkin
Tribune Content Agency
Q
: My retired, intellectual,
in-good-health, father lives
alone in Florida. His home is in
a nice neighborhood. From the
outside everything looks ine but
my father owes more on his home
than it’s worth.
My real concern is what is
going on inside of the home. At
one time, the home was lovely.
But my dad no longer cleans,
and a person can barely walk
through much of the house.
You can’t enter the dining room
because of piles of bags. He has
a dishwasher but does not wash
dishes. He disposes of garbage
but leaves containers that still
have food remaining in them in
the kitchen.
What would be the conse-
quences to me if something
happens to my dad? It would take
a big crew and money to clean
and prepare the home for sale,
and it is unlikely he will leave
any money for the task. Could the
city in which he lives force me to
pay real estate taxes on the home
and prepare it for sale? Should the
home be sold at auction?
: You say your father is in
good health and otherwise
seems ine, but his behavior seems
unusual, even for those who are
aging and living alone.
It seems that there is more
going on with your dad than what
you’ve written. And, we suggest
you look into it because while your
question (which we’ll answer in
a moment) has to do with what
happens after your dad passes
away, what’s going on isn’t healthy.
If the house is no longer clean
and sanitary, it could be a sign of
mental illness or other problems.
We’d like you to sit down
with your father and discuss his
situation. If his mind is in good
shape, try to ind out what’s going
on in his life. If he’s ine but going
through a tough period emotion-
ally or suffers from depression,
A
you might want to hire someone to
values have stayed lat (at a lower
help him out on a part time basis.
level) after the Great Recession
Even a house cleaning service
and have not recovered. This is
could help a bit to keep the house
true for neighborhoods around
clean. And, you and your siblings
Las Vegas, and pockets of areas
could spend a weekend throwing
in parts of California, Arizona,
stuff out or giving stuff away.
Michigan, Florida, and other cities
Your father may
or states. But in
CONDITIONS IN
live in such an area
many parts of the
but he still needs a
THE HOME COULD country, home
place to live. What you
prices have risen
BE RECIPE FOR
describe could be a
tremendously and
DISASTER
recipe for disaster and
we’re in a strong
could be detrimental
sellers’ market in
to his health. From our viewpoint,
low to moderate price ranges in
we’d prefer to see you and your
most metro areas.
family be proactive to help your
Now, if you decide to do
father’s living situation than wait
nothing, after your dad dies, title
until he dies to take care of the real to his home will pass on to his kids
estate issue. The more important
or heirs accordingly to his will or
issue is his health and having a
according to the laws of the State
clean, safe place to call home.
of Florida. But the heirs can elect
Now, let’s move onto your
not to accept to inherit the home.
question. While you say that your
Your father’s estate, however,
dad owes more on the home than
would still be liable for expenses
the home is worth, we’d like to
and the payment of the existing
have you do a bit more research to
mortgage on the home. At that
make sure that’s still the case.
point, if the mortgage payments
In some places, real estate
don’t get made to the lender, the
lender would have the right to
foreclose on the home and sell it
to satisfy all or a portion of the
debt still owed on the home. There
could also be issues if he doesn’t
pay his property taxes. The home
could be sold for the back taxes,
although this is less likely if there
is no equity in the property.
Likewise, the municipality
has an action for code violations
against the owner of the home
and if you don’t inherit the home,
you would not become liable for
citations against the home.
In any of these cases, we’d
prefer to see both you and the
family help your dad out and
improve his living conditions. He
still needs a place to live, and if
he can handle living alone and is
happy living alone, you should
do what you can to help him out
now. If you can help out, some of
the other issues surrounding the
condition of the property may
improve over time as you and
other relatives work to ix the
issues in the interior of the home.
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Andy Wilburn
541-421-5300
541-421-3230
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