‘I have no children’: My aunt gave me $50,000 for a down payment. Now she wants me to leave my home to her two children.
‘I have no children’: My aunt gave me $50,000 for a down payment. Now she wants me to leave my home to her two children.
The Moneyist
‘The house cost $385,000. With my savings, her $50,000 and a small mortgage, I was able to close.’
Dear Quentin,
Eleven years ago, my aunt gave me $50,000 toward my house, and I’m still grateful. I was 44, newly divorced and buying my first home on my own. I had about $65,000 saved but was short on the down payment for a three-bedroom in a neighborhood I liked. My aunt had money in a savings account earning next to nothing, and she said she’d rather see it go toward a home. She called it a gift and never asked me to sign anything.
The house cost $385,000. With my savings, her $50,000 and a small mortgage, I was able to close. Since then I’ve put in about $90,000 more: a new roof, kitchen appliances, plumbing work and new windows. The house is worth around $650,000 now, though that isn’t cash in my pocket, and I still owe about $180,000. My aunt is 78 and has two adult children, a son,52, and a daughter, 49.
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