Hey, I’m 23M. We’re a family of four my mother, me, and my two siblings.
We’ve been living in a rented place in the city for the last 7 years, managing everything on our own. Meanwhile, my father stays in our family house in the village. He hasn’t supported us financially or taken any responsibility during all this time.
We left that house when I was around 17, and my siblings were even younger. We had to drop out of school and somehow manage things ourselves. Now we’re a bit stable, but only enough to get by.
Recently, I went back to the village thinking maybe things had changed, but nothing really has. My uncle is living in that house with my father and is rebuilding it. He doesn’t listen to anything I say. He told me I could stay there, but only like a dependent, no financial support, no responsibility from their side, just a roof.
At this point, I don’t understand why I should accept that kind of “help” when we’ve survived all these years without them.
Living on rent forever is really hard. We keep shifting every few years and it feels like we’ll never truly settle.
I don’t want money from my father. I just want to know if we have any right to that house. Can we claim it and live there properly?
I spoke to a couple of lawyers and they said we could file for divorce for my mother, but that still wouldn’t guarantee us the house.
I don’t understand why. He abandoned his responsibilities when we were still kids, and now we don’t even have a right to live in our own family home?
Is there anything I can do legally in this situation?
TL;DR: Father lives in ancestral house, didn’t support us for 7+ years while we struggled on our own. Now refuses responsibility but won’t give us rights to the house. Do we have any legal claim to it?