Hi my parents currently live in a home that is homestead. They are married and have been living there for 15 years now. My parents allowed m...

Question

Hi my parents currently live in a home that is homestead. They are married and have been living there for 15 years now. My parents allowed my brother who is currently divorced and his 2 children move

in about 5 months ago. Now my mom and my brother are having trouble getting along an my mom has asked my brother to leave. My brother now refuses to leave stating that the house belongs to the whole family because it's a homestead house. My question is can my brother legally live in the home that my patents have occupied and payed taxes on for the last 15 years? Shouldn't my mom have the right to ask him to leave since her husband pays taxes on the house and own everything in it?

Answer

I do not understand what you mean by a homestead home. Someone owns the house and land whether by purchasing it or possibly by acquisitive prescription. If you are speaking about obtaining title by acquisitive prescription, then one must have a duly recorded deed to the property, even though it may not be valid, AND live continuously on the land for a period of 10 years. If you have no deed and live on a piece of property for 30 consecutive years, then you can obtain ownership that way. If you grandparents lived there 25 years and then your parents, for 15, you can add your parents to the grandparent's time to total the 30 consecutive years. However, it just does not automatically happen by magic. After the required amount of time, the person claiming ownership must file documentation of that ownership. So if ownership was obtained by consecutive physical possession on the property, then it appears your parents own it and can kick out whomever they wish.