Sister and her boyfriend want to kick out my brother

Dear Pastor,

I have a sister and one brother. My brother is not very well, so he has not been able to work. My sister is working and she has a boyfriend.

My parents died and left a home for the three of us. My sister and her boyfriend live at the house, as well as my brother. They know that he has not been well, so he is not able to go out and work. He does a little work to help himself, getting jobs from the people who are in the neighbourhood, but he is not able to contribute to any of the bills.

My sister's boyfriend, who is living here for free, told my brother that if he can't pay for anything he should not be living here. So my brother told him that the house is ours, so he is the one who should not be living here for free. They got into an argument and he threatened my brother. I was called to the house and when they told me what was said, I told my sister's boyfriend that my brother did not say anything wrong. He started to argue with me, so I told my sister that he would have to go. My sister told me that she has a right to have her man live with her. I told her that I didn't say she didn't have a right to have a man live with her, but he didn't have a right to live at the house.

This thing has brought a big rift between us. I am not against my sister having her man, but I will not allow them to try and put my sick brother out of a house that was left for all three of us. My sister is unfair, because she knows that our brother is not well and he is not working; neither is he giving any problems.

What is upsetting to my sister's boyfriend is because my brother eats Sunday dinner from them. So, I told my brother to stop eating anything that they provide. He should either cook his own Sunday dinner, or go and eat at his girlfriend's house.

This thing really hurts me to see a total stranger living at my parents' house and attempting to put out one of their children. My brother has nowhere else to go at this time. He has about five CXC passes, but he cannot do any hard work.

What do you suggest he should do?

V.T.

Dear V.T.,

I would suggest that you discuss this matter with a lawyer. You say that the house in which your sister and brother live was left for all three of you.

I suppose what you mean was that a will was made, and if a will was made, then it should be probated; definitely, a lawyer has to take care of that. Sometimes a property might be left for children and no will was made. Parents may just say I am leaving this for all of you, but the correct thing is that a will should be made to avoid contention. The lawyer could advise that the property be sold and the money be divided correctly. But I am not a lawyer, so let me be careful about what I say.

Your sister believes that she has a right for her boyfriend to be living there, and your brother has a right to be there because it is his parents' place. But I beg you, try to live in peace with your sister. Do your best to help your brother, who is not well. It would be good if he could have his own little place, so that he can live in peace. So put this matter into the hands of a lawyer.

Pastor