Buying the family home - a good idea?

According to my father, the stepmother is not allowed to have any say at all regarding the house. My father only said once that if he were ever to agree to anything, she would need to have a right of residence. That is fine by me as well. I just don’t want to be financially responsible for the house during that time.

But that is exactly what would happen – she would have the right of residence and you would have to maintain the house! Or you let it fall into ruin and destroy your own inheritance.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

But isn’t there a way to arrange that the person who lives inside pays? Best regards

I think you are still very emotionally attached to the story, which is why you will not come to an optimal solution. I know it myself, how you are attached to the house you grew up in and that you do not want to put it into foreign hands. But think about how it should continue when at some point in the distant future your father no longer lives there. No one from the family wants to live in the house. Do you then want to maintain an empty house as a kind of hobby? Of course, you do not necessarily have to think about it now, but as long as you do not have a long-term plan for it, it is not particularly sensible to change the ownership structure of the house. If you want to support your father, do it as suggests and give him the money directly.

I would just try to do what is obvious to me: rent it out.

And once again briefly about the "lifelong right of residence" -> that can also be disadvantageous. A better formulation would be something like "as long as he can live alone" (of course in official bureaucratic language). Because if he has to go to a nursing home and you own the house with a "right of residence," the nursing care fund can financially offset this right of residence against the nursing home costs and you would have to pay part of it. But a tax advisor or notary would certainly be good points of contact regarding legal clarification!

I think it would be good if you simply clarify the "inheritance order" now. Your father should create a will / notarial document and as mentioned above, the stepmother and your brother should sign a waiver regarding the compulsory portion... That could all be arranged through the notary, for example also to ensure that he could not be thrown out of the "house," etc... A gift would also be more advantageous tax-wise than an inheritance. I believe with the gift you would be below the tax exemption threshold and with the inheritance taxes generally apply?!?

Edit: oh yes, I think he could also "reinsure" himself if he includes a clawback clause. So that under certain conditions he can also claim the house back from you...

If the house is worth around 160k, then no taxes are incurred in the case of direct inheritance.

This is the typical thing where people unnecessarily scare themselves and believe that the tax authorities or whoever are going to snatch their inheritance because they think they are so wealthy. And then there's so much half-knowledge going around. My uncle already educated my grandparents about inheritance tax. But since with 4 heirs the assets would have to exceed 2 million, that was absolutely nonsense. But no one really understands it, and when you then read that the Oetkers or Aldis are shifting assets back and forth here, it makes you worried about your own possessions.