BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE

The fight started in a house full of grief: a newly dead brother, a live-in fiance named Steve, and a family home the poster called "the only thing I have left of my family."

After the brother died, the poster said they became next of kin. Their parents were gone. Their sister was gone. The house itself had been the grandparents' place, then bought by the brother in 2021 after the grandparents passed. Now, the poster said, they had inherited it.

Steve was still living there.

At first, the poster tried to keep things simple. They told Steve he could stay if he paid the mortgage and property taxes, "Similar to renting." But Steve said he couldn't afford that. Instead, he pushed the poster to sell the house.

Then came the question that turned the conversation. Steve asked what profits he would get from the house. The poster said no: they would not be selling, and he would not be inheriting any money from it. Steve responded by threatening court over inheritance.

The poster also said they were named as the brother's life insurance beneficiary. To help Steve get on his feet, they offered to pay for an apartment for a year. Steve's answer was not enough. He demanded "everything," including the insurance money, even after the poster repeated, "I'm named."

When Steve again threatened court and refused to leave, the poster filed for eviction.

Then the story shifted.

In an update, the poster said they spoke with the brother's best friend, Anna, and the conversation raised a red flag. Anna told them not to give Steve anything and said she would testify if needed. She also said the brother and Steve had "major problems," that the brother had spent the last year of his life trying to make it work, and that Steve was "using my brother at every turn."

According to Anna, about a week before he died, the brother had given Steve "a month to pack up and leave."

The poster said they had not talked to their brother since Christmas a couple weeks earlier, so they had not known any of that.

They added more details too: Steve and the brother had been together six years and engaged for two. The brother named the poster as beneficiary one year before he died, after the engagement. Common law marriage did not exist in their state. Steve had never paid into the house. The brother had paid all of their bills. And the poster, who had already been paying the mortgage on the family home for the last year, said they could not afford to cover both mortgages regularly.

Now they planned to speak with an attorney.