Should I give him the money?

My ex husband called to say that the water pump for our well has died, and he needs $900.00 to replace it. He says he has no water at all, and has to carry it in from the neighbor’s house.

A little quick history lesson iserted here: He is an alcoholic, and goes through money like water. (excuse the pun)

He lies to people to get money all the time, and if there is a grain of truth to the reason why he needs it, he always asks for a lot more than he needs.

I am 1000 miles away, so I have no way of verifying his story and to be frank, I don’t feel like I can trust him to tell the truth.

I own the property, but gave him a life estate when we divorced. One of the stipulations was that he has to keep things in good repair, so the pump is his financial responsiblity.

I feel cold hearted saying no because I hate to think of him living there with no water, but on the other hand, he just got a $5000.00 check 2 weeks ago, so I don’t understand why he needs any money from me.

If he is telling the truth, I have no idea what condition I will find the house in when I take it over again one day, but I just don’t have that kind of money to take such a risk.

So what do you think I should do? Would I be a cold hearted bitch if I say no? or would I be a stupid woman who is out a bunch of money if I say yes. What would you do in a situation like this?