<prompt> Human: Just getting a read from the community... My two siblings and I are working out our inheritance, one piece of which is our late mothers home. My wife and I had been living here, rent-free and unemployed and at a mid-career impasselife confusionetc, when she passed away about 5 weeks ago. Things have been somewhat in limbo for emotional and paperwork reasons and some understandable procrastination but now it is getting to the point where we need to have a plan in place. My sister has offered us an option, and I just want to suss it out here.She has said the house will not be ready to go on the market until about March or April, since we need to get much of our mothers possessions out of the house so that the closets look empty, etc, so that the house will sell. which Im not as sure about, but go with it for a moment. My wife and I have discussed with my siblings possibly buying this house--which I asked about on this forum recently are not yet sure what we want to do. My sister said that we could stay here during this time of readying the house, but, and here is the key point: we have to pay the property taxes and homeowners insurance, as well as the utilities. I told her that would be OK, but now Im a little less sure about this arrangement, at least in terms of us paying the entire property tax and insurance. It occurred to me that whether my wife and I were living in this house, the property tax and insurance would need to be paid; if the house were empty until April, I assume my two siblings and I would split the amount, each paying 13rd of the amount. I could see asking my wife and I to pay the full taxinsurance if that magically only applied to occupied homes, but since the tax and insurance must be paid whether the home is occupied or not...Im not sure why we should have to pay all of them, other than that it would be more pleasant for my siblings though less for us.My sisters very briefly stated justification was that since my wife and I are getting the benefit of living here, we should pay the entirety of the property taxes and insurance. But, of course, neither of my siblings have any opportunity to make use of this benefit, since they are happy in their own properties. In fact, my being here provides a service to the family, in that by living here we are monitoring the home and caretaking it. Yes, of course, we get a big benefit out of it, too, but only we can make use of it.I could definitely see paying the full property taxes if our staying here prevented the house from selling, and, in fact, that would still not even be fair to my siblings and I wouldnt do that. But the point is, if my wife and I dont take this deal and dont live here, this pre-sell period is going to have an unoccupied house sitting here anyway, which our family is unwilling to rent out.It is sort of like that episode of I Love Lucy where the Ricardos are going to California by car and the Mertzs ask if they can go with them but then say they dont have to pay any gas because the back seat is going to CA anyway. Of course, the Mertzs weight would reduce mileage considerably, but my wife and I living here will not affect the property taxes and insurance at all. I am, of course, totally willing to pay for the utilities. Strictly speaking, some of the heat and electricity bill would be paid whether anyone is in the house or not, since we have to keep the pipes from freezing and there is a minimum customer charge each month, but I would be willing to pay those fully because that seems more like splitting hairs. The additional property tax and insurance, though, will be something like 2k spent by my wife and I over the period discussed--and more if we wind up staying here longer if the house doesnt sell and we have no other option. What do you think is fairappropriate?  <response>: The house will generally sell for more and quicker if it is vacant.Aside from that, there are only three things in life that are fair; the county fair, the state fair and the worlds fair.When speaking of what is equitable, it sounds as if your morals are not.It does not matter if you can take advantage of it and they cannot. Just because you can do something, does not mean you should do it.If the house were setting vacant, it would be fine for the short time before sale without a live on caretaker.The value of rent you are taking advantage of belongs to the estate. The estate belongs to more people than just you.You should graciously accept covering the expenses of your residence. Alternatively have the honor to move out.Do you propose your siblings pay part of your living expenses until you develop enough honor to move out of the house so it can be more easily sold? How come you are not insisting they pay their share of your food costs while you act as an unnecessary caretaker? It seems you might think that is fair as well.Do the honorable thing. Be equitable. Do not take advantage of your fellow beneficiaries and sully your mothers passing.Many times I have seen families destroyed after a passing. Your thought processes epitomize why. 