Her Mother-In-Law Threatened To Sue, So She Called Dave Ramsey. His Advice? 'Give Somebody 10 Grand And Keep Her Tied Up Till She Dies'

A woman from Tampa, Florida, called into “The Ramsey Show” recently, looking for help with a family dispute that turned legal, bitter and deeply personal. Jamie explained that her mother-in-law, who lives just feet away in a tiny house built on their property, has threatened to sue her.

Decade-Long Tension Over A Gifted Property

In 2006, Jamie and her husband were gifted a piece of land by his parents. “We couldn’t afford to build on it at the time, so we saved and ended up building our house in 2012,” she said. Not long after, the in-laws asked if they could build a small home on the back of the same lot, having moved from upstate New York and struggling to keep up with their home and health needs.

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Jamie and her husband agreed. Her in-laws sold their house up north and used the proceeds to build a 900-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom accessory dwelling on the back acre. However, things went south fast when the family realized the new home was technically built on land Jamie and her husband owned outright.

“We kind of all realized at the same time that technically they did not own it,” she told Dave Ramsey. It caused a huge fight.

From there, it spiraled. For the last 10 years, the family has argued over who owns what. Jamie's father-in-law passed away three years ago, and since then, her mother-in-law has only grown more hostile.

“In January, there was a huge fight where she accused us of doing this on purpose for the sole purpose of taking her home. In essence, taking her money,” Jamie said. “She said, ‘You could take me out at any time.'”

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The mother-in-law, now 80 and still in good health, has not spoken to the couple since. She recently had an attorney send Jamie a letter accusing them of elder exploitation and demanding a lump-sum payment of $180,000.

Ramsey, stunned, asked, “She's not only not speaking to you — she's in your back window?”

“Oh yeah,” Jamie replied. “Eight feet away.”

Ramsey called the situation “bizarre” and said, “She's lost her marbles. And we can't find them. They're somewhere in the backyard near a tiny house.”

When Jamie mentioned she was considering paying out of guilt, Ramsey shut that idea down: “Morally, giving her anything? No. You didn't do anything wrong.”

He advised her to hire an attorney and tie the case up in court as long as needed. “Give somebody 10 grand and keep her tied up till she dies,” he said bluntly. “That's really all you can do here.”

The legal advice Jamie already received backed this up. As one lawyer told her, any value her mother-in-law added to the property has been offset by her living in it for a decade.

Ramsey concluded with a warning for listeners: “For the rest of you listening, don't do this. Ever.”

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