With my savings, her $50,000 and a small mortgage, I was able to close.’ 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. 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. We see each other at Thanksgiving and Christmas; I send cards and birthday texts, and that’s about it.
My aunt has been a big part of my life. She helped me through the divorce, sat with me when my father was dying and stayed with me for a week after my surgery a few years ago. She has never held the $50,000 over me until now.
At dinner last month, she asked me to change my will so the house goes to her two children when I die. IMAX CEO on ‘The Odyssey,’ Chris Nolan, and Company’s Sudden Ascent Play video: IMAX CEO on ‘The Odyssey,’ Chris Nolan, and Company’s Sudden Ascent She said it isn’t unreasonable and wanted me to consider her offer. She doesn’t need the money herself.
She just wants her kids to eventually benefit from what she gave me. I told her I’d always understood the money as a gift to me, not an investment in the house or an early inheritance for her children. She had a poker face, but I could tell she did not like my response.
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