Advice/comments appreciated

suzandthecity

Hi
I lost my mum at the beginning of the year. She left a will and named her Solicitor as executer. It goes without saying he is very slow!! Her will stipulated that I was to be left 80% of her house and my sister 20% ( small house worth about 180k). The will had been written 15 years ago after my sister had received a large payment from a joint business venture with my mum that they sold. My sister broke up with her husband and moved back in with my mum but paid just £50 a week for her keep. I supported my mum financially for years, nothing written down I just wanted to help her in any way I could.
I am still devestated about my mum no longer being with me and it has been such a difficult year made more difficult by a) my sister stating the will is very unfair. She remains living in the house and demands I contribute to household bills and, b) probate just been granted and the DWP freezing the estate to investigate. I think she left about 20k, she received state pension, a small abount of pension credit and Attendance Allowance which had build up in her bank as she was very careful with her money. I realise I have to wait for the outcome. Someone once told me that the worst thing about death is the vultures who circle the grave, how true. Sorry for the long post. Would welcome your advice and comments.

daska

Sorry for your loss, yes, death can bring out the worst in people. Unfortunately your sister has a degree of control as she is living in the house and getting her out could be costly so you have some hard choices to make. Are you happy with the Will as it stands or would you consider changes that your sister would feel fairer? Perhaps increasing her share or giving her a life interest so she doesn't lose her home? Obviously you have to consider the financial impact on you as we'll but if you were able to support your mum financially before then I'm guessing you're not in dire need of selling up quickly. The Will can be amended as long as it's with the agreement of all beneficiaries.

getmore4less

Is part of the issue that 15 years ago 80:20 was a sensible split based on the value of the house and business but now the realtive value of the house has squewed things.

depends how far you want to push things.
The house belongs to the estate
you could argue
You should not be paying the bills as a non occupant.
she should be paying market rent.

On the other hand she may have a claim under dependancy rules to challenge the will.

What does the executor think.


what are the DWP looking into

suzandthecity

Many thanks for your reply's. My sister has her own money from the sale of her own house, she just didnt feel it was right that she had to pay my mum. The executor's view is that she was not a dependent so she could not challange. The DWP are ensuring that they didnt overpay any benefits even though we informed them of the death immediately.I'm unsure if the capital she built up from not spending her benefits will go against the estate.
Some of the things my sister has done since my mums death are appauling, but I have tried to ignore them and just want to do the right thing and dont want any more ill feeling.

Tuesday_Tenor

I think there are several issues here which it might help to untangle in your head, so that you can cope with the elements separately in the most helpful way for all concerned. You are right to not want to generate more ill-feeling, while also needing to protect your own position. It's been a difficult time and I feel for you. (Some) Families are never easy!

1) Slowness of the process. The executor (the solicitor in this case) is responsible for dealing with the estate as efficiently as possible. If Inheritance Tax had been involved (I assume not from what you say) then the first intallment would need to have been paid by now!
Probably a bit premature at the moment, but you could ring the Probate Office for general guidance as to whether/how the executor could be deemed to be failing in their duty.

At the moment the Executor can't move more quickly due to the DWP investigation, so you will have to be patient. If, after that, you think the solicitor is being particularly tardy, make a formal complaint in writing (with specific concerns informed by your discussion with the Probate Office) to see if that shakes them up a bit.

2) 'Fairness' of the will. It doesn't sound as though your sister has any grounds on which to challenge the will. If your mother had wanted to change the will, she had 15 years in which to do so. If now, due to changes in the ages and cirumstances of both of you, and changes in house values, (and possibly your mother's inability to change the will in her latter years?) you wanted to adjust the proportions to go to each of you, then (if all the beneficiaries agree) this can be done by something called a Deed of Variation. A decision on this doesn't have to wait until the Estate is 'unfrozen'. It might help all of you in looking to the future if this can be clarified as soon as possible. If you believe the will is fair then get the solicitor to write to your sister confirming that the split will be 80:20 as there are no grounds for contesting the will and no unfairness perceived. If you want to adjust the proportione (70:30 or whatever) then get the Deed of Variation sorted.

3) House rent and maintenance etc. The house now belongs to the Estate and it is up to the Executor to ensure that the property is protected prior to sale and to set the terms of residence for anyone living there. It might be decided that it is better to have someone (sister) living there, at no/nominal rent than leaving it unnoccupied. So it would be up to the Estate to cover insurance, and normally the estate would cover the utility bills, but they would be minimal if no one was living there/ So your sister should now be paying these (or her 'rent' covering them) as they are HER living costs. There is no way you should be subsidising her. All matters pertaining to the house costs and the terms of her residence there should be handled by the Executor, so there is no need for you to be invovled with this at all.

4) Emotional stuff.
(i) Your resentment towards your sister. You seem resentful that your sister has been getting such a good deal while living with your mother, but this arrangement was made with your mother, nothing to do with you. You appear to have been financially supporting your mother while there may have been no need to do so, as you say in the same post that her savings were building up. Whatever the ins and outs of past arrangements, those are are in the past now, and can't be corrected or improved, so let go of the feelings attached to them. From now on though, there is no need for either you or the Estate to be subsidising your sister. If she doesn't like the terms for residence set by the Executor (and you make clear to both of them that you are keeping out of this), she should move out.

(ii) Your sister's emotional state. Sister may be grieiing/failing to cope in different ways to yourself. On the face of it she sounds an unreasonable person who has become unnecessarily dependent upon her subsidised (cheap rent etc) lifestyle. But we don't know her financial situation; is she paying maintenence/education for children, for instance? What has happenend to the money she received in the past? Maybe what she received from the 'sale of her own house' wasn't as much as you think, as it was heavily mortgaged, and the small amount of equity was split with ex-husband? [We don't need to know these; just things for you to consider]. Maybe she is scared that she is never going to be able to buy a property on the basis of the 20% inheritance, whereas you will inherit a potentially life-changing sum. So she feels resentful towards you. Whether reasonably, given answers to the above questions, is another matter. But perhaps talking with her about her perceptions and feelings would help? Would she want to buy you out of your share of the house. but can't afford to do so on the basis of inheriting only 20%? Assuming the house is going to be sold she needs to be thinking about where/how her future life is going to be lived. Maybe her stage of grieving hasn't let her get to this point yet? You are all in a period of adjustment. Maybe making the proportional split crystal-clear will help her focus?

Just a few things that occurred to me while reading your posts. You asked for comments - good idea, as even if we (not having all the facts) get the wrong end of the stick, it'll still help you be clearer in your own head. All the best ...

Tuesday_Tenor

On re-reading your opening post I realise there's an important point I'm not clear about. I don't need to be, but you do:

>>>> I was to be left 80% of her house and my sister 20% ( small house worth about 180k).

Does the will state that
(a) You and your sister become co-owners of the house 80:20 or
(b) The house is to be sold and you and sister receive the proceeds distributed 80:20.

These are two very different scenarios: (a) will require MUCH more liaison with sister in future, as you will have some joint decisions to make as co-owners; (b) won't involve liaison with sister but the Executor's role will last longer.

If (a) then the probate process should not take very long once the DWP investigation is completed. The ownership of the house will be transferred to you and sister during the estate administration. After this is completed the Executor's role is finished and you have no ongoing relationship with him. You and your sister, as the new owners. decide what you want to do about the house. Will you sell it? Does sister want to buy you out? Will you rent it out to someone else for an income (remember being a landlord is really like running a small business; repairs and other costs to pay for, probably paying tax on income received etc - and would you want to be a co-landlord with your sister?!?)? Will sister want to continuing living there - on what terms?
[Also, on inheriting a property you might want to look into whether there would be future capital gains tax issues for each of you).

If (b), then, by the terms of the will, the house will HAVE to be sold as part of the estate administration. Your sister could be the purchaser (at market value) if she wants to buy you out. If she can't, or doesn't want to, then sister needs to be making plans for moving elsewhere when the house is sold. Clearly the estate administration will take a lot longer as it involves the sale of the property.

suzandthecity

wow thank you so much TT for your sound advice.....lots for me to think about