How to Evict a Family Member from Your Home

Asking a family member to leave your home is one of the hardest things a homeowner ever has to do. Maybe an adult child won't move out, a sibling has overstayed, or a relative you took in has become impossible to live with. The good news is that you have legal options. The hard truth is that you almost always have to go through the courts, even when the person never paid a dime in rent. This guide explains, in plain English, how to evict a family member the lawful way, and where the rules tend to differ from one state to the next.

First, figure out the person's legal status

Before you do anything, you need to know what the law calls the person living in your home. This matters more than how you are related to them. In most states, a relative who lives with you usually falls into one of these categories:

• Tenant. If they pay rent, share expenses by agreement, or you promised them a place to stay for a set time, courts often treat them as a tenant even with no written lease.
• Tenant-at-will. Someone who lives with your permission, with no fixed end date and no real rent, is frequently a tenant-at-will. They have the right to stay until you properly end the arrangement.
• Licensee or guest. A person you let stay as a guest, with no expectation of a tenancy, may be a licensee. Some states still require a court process to remove them; others allow a faster path.

Here is the key point: in many states, once a person has lived in your home long enough and made it their residence, they gain legal protections whether or not you ever signed anything. That is why you usually cannot simply tell them the deadline has passed and change the locks.

Why you cannot just kick them out

It is tempting to handle this yourself. Do not. Nearly every state bans what is called self-help eviction. That means a homeowner cannot legally change the locks, remove the person's belongings, shut off the power or water, or threaten and intimidate someone into leaving. Doing so can expose you to a lawsuit, money damages, and sometimes even criminal charges, no matter how clearly the home is yours.

This surprises a lot of people. You own the house, you pay the mortgage, and yet the law still requires you to use the formal process. The reason is that courts want a neutral judge, not the stronger party, to decide who has the right to stay. So if you are wondering how do I evict a family member who refuses to go, the honest answer is almost always: through proper notice and a court order.

Step one: give proper written notice

The eviction process nearly always starts with a written notice to leave, sometimes called a notice to quit or a notice to vacate. This document tells the person they must move out by a certain date. The required notice period varies widely. For a tenant-at-will or a relative with no lease, many states require something like 30 days, though some require more and a few less.

Get the details right, because small mistakes can force you to start over:

• Use the exact notice period your state and city require.
• Deliver the notice the way the law allows (often personal delivery, certified mail, or posting).
• Keep proof of when and how you delivered it.

If the person leaves by the deadline, you are done. If they do not, you move to court.

Step two: file in court (eviction or ejectment)

If the notice expires and your relative is still there, you file a case asking a judge to order them out. Depending on your state and the person's status, this is called an unlawful detainer, a summary process action, or an ejectment case. Eviction or summary-process cases are typically used for tenants and are designed to move quickly. Ejectment is an older, sometimes slower lawsuit often used when the person is not a true tenant, such as a relative occupying property they have no ownership interest in.

At the hearing, you will need to show the court that the person has no current legal right to stay and that you gave proper notice. The relative gets a chance to respond. If the judge rules in your favor, the court issues a judgment for possession.

Step three: let the sheriff carry it out

Even after you win, you still cannot remove the person yourself. The court issues a writ of possession (sometimes called a writ of restitution), and a sheriff or marshal enforces it. The officer gives a final deadline and, if needed, physically removes the person and oversees the removal of their belongings. This is the only lawful way to force someone out, and it protects you from claims that you acted illegally.

State examples: Florida and Texas

People often ask how to evict a family member in Florida or how to evict a family member in Texas, because the steps look a little different.

In Florida, a relative living with you without a lease is commonly treated as a tenant-at-will, and you generally must give written notice before filing an eviction in county court. Florida also has a separate process for removing certain transient occupants who are not tenants, but homeowners should be careful, because misjudging someone's status can backfire.

In Texas, removing a family member usually runs through the justice of the peace court as an eviction (a forcible detainer suit) after a written notice to vacate. The required notice is often three days unless a longer period applies. As in every state, the local rules and timelines control, so confirm the current requirements for your county.

Evicting a sibling from inherited property

One of the most painful versions of this problem is how to evict a brother from inherited property after a parent dies. The answer depends on who actually owns the home now. If the estate left the house to you alone, your sibling is usually an occupant you can remove through notice and, if needed, an ejectment or eviction case.

But if you and your sibling both inherited the property, you are co-owners, and one co-owner generally cannot evict another. In that situation, the legal tool is often a partition action, which asks a court to divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split. Because inheritance cases mix probate law with property law, this is a point where talking to an attorney early can save you a great deal of money and heartache.

Special protections to watch for

Some occupants have extra legal shields, and ignoring them can derail your case. The Fair Housing Act bars eviction based on protected traits such as race, disability, or familial status. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) gives certain active-duty military members protections against eviction. Survivors of domestic violence may have rights under VAWA or similar state laws. And if your home is in foreclosure, the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act may affect timing. These rarely block a legitimate eviction outright, but they can change how and when you proceed.

When to call a lawyer

You can sometimes handle a clean, uncontested eviction on your own, especially with free court forms and a self-help center. But it is worth talking to a local landlord-tenant attorney or legal aid office when the relative fights back, claims to be a co-owner, raises a disability or domestic-violence issue, or when inherited property is involved. A small consultation fee is far cheaper than losing your case on a technicality and having to start the clock over.

Above all, remember that landlord-tenant and property law varies by state and even by city, and it changes over time. The general steps here apply broadly, but the exact notice periods, forms, and court names depend on where you live. Confirm your state's current rules or get advice tailored to your specific situation before you act.