How do I evict my adult stepdaughter?

Compliments of ScottGem from a similar question:

As long as the person has established residency, they have to be evicted according to local laws.

Do you have a written or verbal agreement that the child agreed to pay rent or any proof of that?

You should go to your local housing court to find out the exact process for your area. But generally it works like this:

1- serve resident/tenant with a 3-10 day pay or quit notice or a 30-60 day termination of residency notice. The amount of time you have to give depends on local laws.

A pay or quit notice means they can pay up and stay. A termination notice means they have to leave no matter what.

2- when the notice expires, if they haven't left, you need to go to court for an eviction order. This involves a hearing where the resident can fight the eviction.

3- An eviction order is issued given the resident a few days to vacate.

4- If they still haven't vacated, then the landlord hires a sheriff to physically remove them.

Just to add, it doesn't matter whether they are a relative or not.

I'll throw my two cents in, as well.

You say your "adult stepdaughter" - are you and your husband on the same page about this? Whose name(s) is/are on the title to the house?

Compliments of ScottGem from a similar question:

As long as the person has established residency, they have to be evicted according to local laws.

Do you have a written or verbal agreement that the child agreed to pay rent or any proof of that?

You should go to your local housing court to find out the exact process for your area. But generally it works like this:

1- serve resident/tenant with a 3-10 day pay or quit notice or a 30-60 day termination of residency notice. The amount of time you have to give depends on local laws.

A pay or quit notice means they can pay up and stay. A termination notice means they have to leave no matter what.

2- when the notice expires, if they haven't left, you need to go to court for an eviction order. This involves a hearing where the resident can fight the eviction.

3- An eviction order is issued given the resident a few days to vacate.

4- If they still haven't vacated, then the landlord hires a sheriff to physically remove them.


I see no indication that the stepchild isn't paying rent. A pay or quit notice (and all that goes along with it) is not necessary and, in fact, would not make sense in this situation.

I don't know what Scott answered because the thread isn't given but I doubt he was addressing this situation. Not a criticism but sometimes it's easier to post the thread so that the people following the question know what the "other" situation is/was.

And, yes, the owner files the eviction. Who owns the property?

And, yes, the owner files the eviction. Who owns the property?

My thoughts precisely - coupled with, "Why does she want her stepdaughter out? Where is the girl's father/OP's husband? What's actually going on here?"

My thoughts precisely - coupled with, "Why does she want her stepdaughter out? Where is the girl's father/OP's husband? What's actually going on here?"


Out of greenies!

Knowing the facts will only complicate the answers.

In this case, it may not be the owner, but the leaseholder who files the eviction. The quote of my previous post does apply here as long as the party doing the eviction is the owner or leaseholder.

However, it is a valid point that we need to know whether both parents are involved here and in agreement.

She hasn't been back since her first 7 word post. Sure a lot of activity going on in this thread without the OP present. :)

Slow day in the AMHD Law forum, I guess. Slow few days, actually.

Well, I just got here yesterday. Seems like a slow day all over the Board. Also seems like a LOT of people lose interest between posting and signing back on to read the answers.

I'll throw my two cents in, as well.

You say your "adult stepdaughter" - are you and your husband on the same page about this? Whose name(s) is/are on the title to the house?

The wife is on the deed because we chose to build her credit to get the house. The stepdaughter has been in the house for five years. She is 26 years old and does not pay rent or pay for any bills. Recently, she and her boyfriend tried to have me arrested. This was after I filed for the eviction. Her answer was that she is not a renter or a tenant, but stays in the house with her mother. Her mother filed an answer in the case which says
That she is the only one on the deed. She is not a party to the action. The hearing date is August 4, 2011.

Is there any specific law that says the husband, who is not on the deed, is entitled to evict grown stepchildren (age 26) from his house. The house was obtained after the parties were married.

No - the person who owns the house (the person "on" the deed) decides who goes and who stays - legally.

What goes on within a marriage is up to the parties.

Her mother filed an answer in the case which says that she is the only one on the deed. She is not a party to the action. The hearing date is August 4, 2011.

If the owner of the house refuses to be part of the eviction action it will be dismissed.

Any attempt to have you arrested might give you grounds for a false arrest suit. While you have no right to file for an eviction, that's a civil matter. The daughter goes into court, she produces the answer the mother filed, the eviction case gets dismissed, but no grounds for arrest.

The wife is on the deed because we chose to build her credit to get the house. The stepdaughter has been in the house for five years. She is 26 years old and does not pay rent or pay for any bills. Recently, she and her boyfriend tried to have me arrested. This was after I filed for the eviction. Her answer was that she is not a renter or a tenant, but stays in the house with her mother. Her mother filed an answer in the case which says
that she is the only one on the deed. She is not a party to the action. The hearing date is August 4, 2011.

So the house is owned by your husband's exwife/the mother.

It doesn't matter if they tried to have you arrested or not. That has no bearing on whether they are legally allowed to stay in the house.

You have no grounds to file for eviction because you do not own the property - the mother does. I also don't see how you think the property owner is not a party to the lawsuit which you filed without grounds. You cannot evict someone from a property which you do not own.

So to answer your original question: buy the property from her mother, then file for eviction against the stepdaughter. That is the only legal way you can evict her.

I also don't see how you think the property owner is not a party to the lawsuit which you filed without grounds.

I think that was from the mother's answer stating she was not a party to the eviction. Which means the eviction request will be dismissed.