Tennants in common can they force sale need advice ?

00ec25 · 25 September 2017 at 3:46PM

Hrp86 wrote: »

i will only be able to.pay for the mortgage until it is sold if I live in the property as I cannot afford to pay a mortgage and rent ...

if you cannot afford to buy out your siblings share of the property, which it seems they will inherit, and neither you nor they can afford legal action, nor are you as a family able to deal with this now in a civilised manner, then let the family die when your parents die

thus the most sensible thing to do is to sell the property and you go your way and your siblings go their way and the family never sees each other again

Jenniefour · 25 September 2017 at 4:00PM

It doesn't matter whether your mother got a solicitor to do her will or whether it's a DIY one. What matters is whether it's legal. If it turns out to be a worthless piece of paper legally then the laws of intestacy will be used - which will give you a share of your mother's remaining 50% as well. No-one has the right to see a will before someone dies.

When your mother dies there's nothing to stop you contacting the mortgage company anyway. That's where your siblings wanting their share out might help, they'd be unlikely to want to delay getting their money.

A difficult situation, at least you have a bit more information to go on.

Pixie5740 · 25 September 2017 at 4:04PM

Jenniefour wrote: »

So, in terms of what you would get out of it financially it's not bad at all - you would benefit from a 50% share of the equity but without having paid the corresponding percentage of the mortgage. Your 50% share is protected. I assume you know that if your parent fails to keep up the mortgage payments the mortgage lender will be expecting you to cover the lot.

Is it best to leave this alone since the family relationship are not good? At least you know what the position is now and this means you can make plans for your future taking that into account.

OOec25 is right about moving in - ignore my previous comments.

It's not necessarily a good deal for the OP unless it's a very high valuable property. Currently there is £100k of equity in the property only £50k of which is the OP's. It's very possible the OP has shelled out more than £50k in rent and letting agency fees over the past 10 years whilst contending with the lack of security that comes with renting and remaining on the hook for the mortgage. Who knows how long it will be until the OP sees any money from this property and when (s)he does there will be a Capital Gains Tax liability.

If family relationships have already broken down I would be tempted to force a sale of the house now. Let the other siblings step up since they will inherhit anyway.

aneary · 25 September 2017 at 4:20PM

If a solicitor hasn't created the will and it is a DIY one I would leave well alone, you have a very good chance of contesting the will unless your mother has left a letter explaining why she has excluded you from the will.

Jenniefour · 25 September 2017 at 4:26PM

Pixie5740 - that's right, looking at OP's overall position. It's probably prevented him from taking out another mortgage, even if he could afford it anyway. I was thinking about it from the investment angle, so to speak, on his/mother's property alone - he will still get 50% not having paid the corresponding percentage of the mortgage. Not enough to compensate for the disadvantages, financial and otherwise, I agree.

Forcing a sale of the house now is an option - but I suspect it's something OP might not be able to afford. But could possibly get offset at least some it against the sale proceeds.

FBaby · 25 September 2017 at 6:10PM

i haven't paid any mortgage payments for many years they have been fully taken care of by my parent ...

Are you saying that you did pay toward it at some point? Surely if you did, it was because it was part of the arrangement. The arrangement would then make sense. You contribute towards the mortgage, you get the whole house.

However, if your parents have been paying the entire mortgage, in essence you've benefited from the investment without paying anything for it. In that case, do you really think it would be fair that you should get the full house (that you didn't pay for) whilst your siblings should get nothing at all?

I totally understand why your parents would have made this will because that's what is fair to everyone and yes, it would mean that they could then potentially force a sale (although if you refused, taking you to court would be an expensive business) so that they too could get a share of the equity. Surely if you wanted to have the whole house for yourself, you should at least be paying half of the mortgage now?

gingercordial · 25 September 2017 at 6:11PM

Is your mother ill or very old? Is her death imminent?

If not, you haven't said how old you are or she is but if she lives to 100 are you prepared to still be renting and waiting to move in when you're (say) 70?

Or have you thought about what happens if she needs care in her old age and her half of the house needs to be sold to pay the bills?

Is your father on the scene? Does mother have a partner? What if she re-marries and leaves her half to him, not your siblings, and he wants to stay living there?

What I'm trying to say is that realistically there may not be a house for you to move into any time soon or at all. I don't think you should live your life waiting to move into this house. You would be better off focusing on ways to extract yourself from the house and mortgage now rather than worrying about inheritance of what may be nothing at all.

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Tennants in common can they force sale need advice ?

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