house not to be sold in will?

rosegirl36

I have a situation where a friends parents who live abroad have told him that they are going to stipulate in their will that their house will not be sold in any circumstances on their death, as they want to leave it for all the family to visit in the future, he has 2 other sisters.
His concern is who will look after the house and who will pay for the upkeep bearing in mind everyone lives in a different country.Is this a normal practice and is it enforcable

DVardysShadow

Parents are barmy. Bound to cause friction between the beneficiaries when the place needs repairs, unless everyone is content to let it rot. The way forward is probably to lease it out on a 999 year lease [or whatever works out locally], take the money and forget about it. But not let on to parents, so they don't redraft the will.

googler

Daft idea.

Annisele

If all the beneficiaries want to sell, a "deed of variation" will sort it.

G_M

Either they leave it to one person - who can do with it what they they want.

Or they leave to several people - who will have to agree what they want to do with it (which might include selling if that's what they all agree)

Or they leave it in a trust. Complicated. The trustees would have to manage it on behalf of the beneficiaries (which may be the same people!), but there would still be circumstances where all the trustees could decide/agree to wind up the trust and sell the property.

Of course they could appoint complete outsiders (say a firm of solicitors?) as trustees to manage the property for the benefit/use of the family but this is going to be expensive. The trustees will need paying (somehow) and the house will need maintaining (by the tustees, again costing money which would have to be provided).

The reality is that once you go, you cannot continue to dictate what happens to what you leave behind. People change. Circumstances change. Leave it to the family and hen let them decide if they actually want a holiday home to share or not.

edit:

Is this a normal practice and is it enforcable

a key factor is going to be the jurisdiction of the will. Does UK law apply? Or the law of whichever country the property is in?

silvercar

rosegirl36 wrote: »

I have a situation where a friends parents who live abroad have told him that they are going to stipulate in their will that their house will not be sold in any circumstances on their death, as they want to leave it for all the family to visit in the future, he has 2 other sisters.
His concern is who will look after the house and who will pay for the upkeep bearing in mind everyone lives in a different country.Is this a normal practice and is it enforcable

What comeback, from the other side, can they impose if they are ignored?

rosegirl36

Thanks for all the replies,the problem here is one of the sisters is adamant that her parents wishes are paramount,lots of future arguments to come i think

paddyrg

Do the parents realise they are saving up years of bitter arguments between the family? They must not be aware as they cannot really want the end result of their life to be fighting kids and a decaying property

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

G_M wrote: »

Of course they could appoint complete outsiders (say a firm of solicitors?) as trustees to manage the property for the benefit/use of the family but this is going to be expensive. The trustees will need paying (somehow) and the house will need maintaining (by the tustees, again costing money which would have to be provided).

I know of someone who has done just that with a holiday house in the western isles of Scotland.

Not that complicated, and also not that expensive.

I don't know what it cost to set up, but Solicitors fees to manage the trust are about £1000 a year, and of course in Scotland the solicitor is also an estate agent who manages the property and rents it out (for a percentage) when family don't want to stay there.

This more than covers the costs of maintenance and council tax, and generates an income for the beneficiaries of the trust. Around 12K per year, last time we spoke about it.

rosegirl36

Interesting, but will it only take 1 of the family to not be happy with the arrangement to put a spanner in the works so to speak

Owain_Moneysaver

As property law varies widely between countries, even between England and Scotland, unless you say which country is involved, no one can make any knowledgeable comment.