I allowed an old pensioner to live in my farm house rent-free. It is in a country area and I had to move away to find work and it seemed the best thing to do at the time. She has been there now for 22 years. Not only has she not maintained the property, she has not allowed me to maintain it. Recently, while visiting neighbours, she had an accident and is now disabled. Because she is a pensioner, it appears the most insurance will cover is medical care, to a maximum of $50,000 and only on the basis of receipts. She will not claim the insurance from the neighbours and is expecting me to convert the house (ramps, etc.). I am retired and do not have the money to do this. She refuses to move to more suitable accommodation and has threatened suicide. The house is a wreck and totally unsuited for a disabled person to live in. For example, the downstairs floor has collapsed with white ants. Even the furniture is unsafe: 3 chairs fell to pieces under visitors in one day. Because I want her to move to more suitable premises, now she is threatening to take the property from me, on the grounds that she has been there such a long time. This is my only property and has depreciated significantly in recent years: even the veranda has collapsed. The place is unsafe and insanitary. It would cost a fortune to fix it up, and I do not have the money to do this. This means if she continues to live there, it is another accident waiting to happen. I cannot sell it in this condition and with a sitting and extremely irascible and uncooperative tenant. Now she wants to move her ex-partner in on a carer’s pension, which means I will be indirectly supporting both of them for at least another 10 years, if not more. It is highly unlikely that I will live that long.  I am a sitting duck for future insurance claims because of the condition of the house. I cannot forcibly evict her: that would demean us both. I cannot sell the house in this condition and use part of the proceeds to build her a granny flat suitable for disabled people (some other neighbours have offered her the use of their land for this purpose). I am in somewhat of a quandary. Also I understand that, if we go to court, she may well be successful in claiming the property. Even if she only gets half, I still can’t sell it in order to get my share. I suppose the lesson to be learnt here is NOT to let people live on your property without paying rent. At the back of my mind I recall a case where a woman let one of her bedrooms to an overseas student but did not declare the rental, in order to avoid paying tax. When she died the student successfully sued her family and was awarded the house on the basis of being her dependant. The law is a funny thing. To summarise: she has nowhere to go. I have no money to fix the property. I cannot borrow money for repairs because I also am a pensioner and do not have an income. Because it is in a country area, I am not eligible for a reverse mortgage.  I suspect if I knowingly allow people to live in unsafe premises that it will affect any future insurance claims: i.e. I will be deemed negligent and my insurance company will not cover me. Really, it seems to me it would be best just to sign the property over to her, but it is my only asset. I don’t own anything else. Your advice would be appreciated.