r/AITAH•
tossmeinthetrash01

AITA for not wanting to live in a family compound?

My mother (60s F), brother (30s M) and I (30s F) do not have the best relationship. While we stay connected digitally (phone calls, texts, telegram etc), we do not see each other in person more than a handful of times per year, though we live in the same state and are driving distance apart. Growing up my parents divorced when I was 11/12 (brother was 8/9) and I (eldest daughter) became the primary source of support for my mother. As soon as I was able to leave for college, I did, and tried spending as much time away from the home in the summer so I could live my own life. To this day we still do not see eye to eye on many things and she still triggers me despite years of therapy on healthy coping techniques.

She is now of the age to retire and has decided she wants to share her generational wealth via real estate - mainly, buying a family compound the three of us can live in and my brother and I will inherit one day. My brother and I are seeking relationships (I'm in one; he's dating) and neither one of us wants to be cooped up with her while we date, as she likes to snoop and pry. She messaged me privately and asked if WE (just she and I) wanted to live together - she'd buy the home and in exchange I'd take care of her, chauffeur her, etc. I explained I'd be open to discussing two homes on one plot of land so we could be close but not sharing a space, which she said "defeated the purpose".

Each time she brings it up, my brother and I say we don't agree to these living conditions, and each time she whirls into the same speech about wealth and not wanting to pay tax on it. She has never disclosed the dollar figure so we don't know what sort of money she has stashed away. I personally feel she is afraid of living alone without work companions, as she does not make/have close friends locally, does not have hobbies, does not like to travel, and will not get remarried. I'm afraid I'll wind up being that emotional support she is looking for again (she will not go to therapy, either.)

I'm running out of polite, measured, and kind ways of saying no - especially with the holidays coming up where I know she'll ask again. Part of me wants to yell and shout but WIBTA if I did so?

Posted Oct 30, 2025, 3:56 PM UTC

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