My grandma has a beautiful house on a lake up in Wisconsin. She’s had some health problems and hasn’t been able to live in her home for a few months now. The way things are looking, she probably won’t be able to return to her home.

Since she’s currently looking at assisted living homes, her children, including my mom, are trying to figure out what their options are for the home. They have a couple options, but they are struggling with coming to an agreement. The main reason a decision needs to be made is they need to cover the bills and property taxes for the home. Since my grandma cannot afford those right now, the kids are in charge of figuring it out.

One of their options is to rent out the house and use the rental income to pay the bills, the property taxes, and use the remaining money to help my grandma with her medical bills. This option also allows the family to use the home whenever we want, which is a big thing, especially for my uncle.

Another option, is to sell the home on the open market. But with the volatility of the housing market, they probably wouldn’t get the best price for the home. Another big downfall is that the home would no longer be in the family and we wouldn’t have access to it anymore.

A third option involves my uncle buying out my mom’s and my other uncle’s “shares” in the home. He would own the home outright and have full use of it. This would keep the home in the family, but doesn’t necessarily help my grandma if she needs it.

My family is having a very tough time coming to an agreement that suits everyone. It’s been very tough on all involved and makes me wonder why this wasn’t sorted out a long time ago. I think this is an experience I will remember when I’m older.

Has your family had any issues regarding money, assets, or estates?