My grandfather had 30 acres. Twenty years ago he gave my father 5 acres. My father helped my grandfather maintain the acres as a working horse farm for years. There was a spoken agreement that in exchange for his labor, the remaining 25 acres would be divided equally between my dad and his two sisters (the original 5 acres given long ago would not count as part of his 1/3 upon my grandfathers death). Well, like all bad inheritance stories, this was never put in writing. The original agreement is in place, saying the original 30 acres will be divided in thirds, and the 5 my father got will count towards his share.
So my grandfather died 3 years ago. Because my dad lives adjacent to the property in question, he has been cutting the grass. This is a huge job. It would cost over $200 per cut to have someone come in and cut it. He has been doing it for free. His two sisters have not volunteered to help at all. He had a $5000 lawn mower that he has run in the ground. He has repaired it, at his own expense. The most recent repair is going to cost more that the mower is worth. He needs to buy another.
He told his sisters and they said he could buy one and they would pay him for their 2/3 share of it over time. He sais that was not fair as he had already “dontated” a $5000 and his labor, why should he have to pay for the new one? They also said they would only spend $1500 on a lawn mower. $1500 will buy a great mower for a regular yard, but not for cutting a place like this.
My dad wants to maintain the place so they can get the most money for it. He also can’t bear watching the old homeplace go to pot, so he is emotionally atached as well. I think his sisters realize this and are taking advantage of him. There is a 3 rail fence in the back that is rotting. He can buy cheap boards for $3 each and paint them and it would really improve the aesthetics. The sisters don’t want to spend that.
He paints the house. Paints the garage. Buys weed killer. Does repairs. All for free.
It gets better.
The roof has a leak. My dad has been up there on several occassions trying to fix it.
In the rain.
He is 61.
He has vertigo from an inner ear problem.
He does it during the day, when no one else is alone.
Do you see where this is going?
I completely expect to come in here to post and tell you guys thata my dad fell off the roof alone, and my step mom found him hours later when she got home from work.
He was doing all of this hoping that his sisters would be appreciative and offer to split the remaining 25 acres in thirds, and honor the non-written agreement. It is apparent that they will not.
So my dad has been a fool. Will he continue? I don’t know. How can he stop at this point? His sisters know he does the repairs, they know he gets up on the roof alone. It is not their responsibility to make him not do stupid things, but they are not discouraging it either.
The thing that makes me angriest, after all of this, is that he is going up on the roof alone. Mark my words, he is going to get hurt or worse. It is completely his responsibility if it happens, but his sisters are allowing it. Wouldn’t you expect them to say, “Don’t go up on the roof, we don’t want you to get hurt. If we need to pay someone we will.”? My kids are going to grow up without a grandfather because of this stupidity.
So my dad is getting screwed, and he is bending over and firmly grabing his ankles and lubing up.
They treat him like he is the hired hand.
He acts like the hired hand.
Then he complains about it.
The whole thing pisses me off.
Both make me furious.