Being asked to pay for elderly parent’s house repairs

[Noname1234567890]

My widowed MIL is in her mid 80’s, she is still living in the family home she has owned for around 50yrs and doesn’t wish to move. Out of the blue she has emailed my DH and his 2 siblings saying the house needs extensive repairs such as roof, central heating, repairs to outbuildings etc. She has got a quote for rendering for £10,000.

She has asked that all siblings contribute to the repairs as the house is their inheritance and obviously will be worth less if in disrepair, we have a small amount of savings but these repairs could wipe those out but obviously don’t want MIL living in deteriorating home conditions, she is still fit and active and is likely to be around for a long time yet.

Just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation?

twoshedsjackson
I totally agree with you. I tried in vane to get my friend to move to a flat. She could have sold her house and bought a really nice flat with the proceeds and have had money to spare. She wasnt for shifting.
Best solution all round has been found.

Sounds like a scam to me.

Sorting out elderly cousins affairs revealed that she was tricked of £8k, yes £8k, to have her roof painted.

Terracotta red by the way.

For less than a thousand you could get a chartered building surveyor to inspect the house and suggest the priory of the repairs. You can mend one thing that leads to another and another. Also why spend on dilapidated outbuildings -that may be throwing good money after bad. Get professional advice and then go through all the options with her. Lots of scams at present including the roof painting, spray foam insulation. Last week I watched some rip off roofer swap tiles around on someone’s roof to ‘repair’ the roof. No safety wear no roof ladders...