Hello! My brother passed away a year ago and when he came to Florida, he was penniless so we (my wife and I) bought a manufactured home for him 2005, I believe and paid off all of his bills and gave him a $25,000 gift so he could afford the mortgage. The agreement was that when he died our $73,000 would be returned to us. His death was quick and his son agreed to pay off the real estate that we did (both closing costs) the gift and the bills. Neither one of his children bothered him but the son was better than the daughter. Now that the house is for sale, they are not willing to pay us the full amount. We have taken care of this house for the last year, cleared some of it out and have done more than enough for both them and their father (they live out of state). Is there any sort of lien that we can put against the home to obtain what we put in that is all that we want? They are looking to sell the home at $150,000 but we just want we put out in closing costs, gift to their dad and paying off over $35,000 worth of debt? Thank you in advance for your help.
I am sorry for the loss of your brother and that the sitution with his children has deteriorated. You need to seek advise of experienced probate/real estate litigation counsel regarding this matter. The short answer is the types of claims you raise almost certainly do not support the statutory imposition of a lien agains the property and doing so could expose you to counterclaims for, inter alia, slander of title or tortious interference with contractual rights. You may well have other equitable or legal claims, including the claim for the court to impose an equitable lien that could attach to the property, however, counsel will need to review the specific facts of the matter. I wish you luck.