Last Will and Testament

Tyler119

Hi there everybody.

So my partner lost both her parents in the last few months. Both of them had wills leaving everything to their daughters in (one being my partner) equal share.

The other daughter is 24 years of age and recently moved back into the family home. The will has a right of occupation in her favour under restrictions of her marrying, cohabiting or failing to pay the bills and keep the house in good upkeep and must pay ALL outgoings.

We have no issue with her being in the property as she now owns half of it and certainly are not pushing for her to get out; quite the opposite to be honest.

My partner and myself are now in the final stages of buying our own home, although it does need substantial work done to it. This could take up to 6 months and staying in our current rented house, this would cost us upwards of 6k. We suggested that we move in with my partners sister as the house left by the parents in very large, 4 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms, dining room, kitchen, garage and a very large garden. She has basically told us where to go and said that if we try to move in she will change the locks. She said that we are lucky that she has not told us to pay for half of her bills and that it is her house.

She is not keeping the house in good repair as several things need fixed, such as old guttering that is broken, causing water to stream down a big bay window which is causing dampness in a wall. Both fridges in the house smell like sewage and always seem to have rotten food in them. The garden is quite a mess and the large decking now needs repainting. The outside of the house also needs repainting.

The sister agreed that the house needs to be sold and so it was put on the market. It needs some work to bring it up to a good selling standard (its quite personalized at present) and we decided that while we lived there we would pay for half the costs and do alot of the work.

We think that she is being very unreasonable (considering I put in weeks of full time work to sort of the parents financial affairs) and do not know where we stand. We are thinking of going to a solicitor for legal advice. I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this sort of situation.

Thanks in advance.

mrsmchapman

I haven't been in this position, I would however seek professional advise from solictor if I were.

SailorSam

I wouldn't see it that you should be paying her for half the upkeep of the house until it's sold. If you go to a Solicitor i'd ask can't the sister be expected to pay the Estate for renting the house until it's sold.

DaftyDuck

I was recently in a similar, if less confrontational situation with a sibling on my mother's death. I'd echo mrsmchapman's advice. I used a friendly solicitor who offered advice to us both, but made it plain where both our legal liabilities lay. This entirely removed the "sting" from all the difficult decisions.

NO blood was spilt. Sib kept house. I got cash. Bills were paid. Love all around:kisses: ... It was worth the cost (which was ~ £300, but he's a nice guy & I've used him before ... )

Yorkie1

I think this is one where good legal advice at this point might save difficulties later on.

Were the wills drawn up by a qualified wills practitioner? A couple of the things you mention seem a little unusual. For example, does it stipulate who decides whether the house is being kept in good order such as to enable a sale to be triggered if not?

I don't know whether her rights of occupation for as long as she keeps to the will's conditions (assuming they are valid) over-ride any rights you have as a joint owner.

Tyler119

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I think this is one where good legal advice at this point might save difficulties later on.

Were the wills drawn up by a qualified wills practitioner? A couple of the things you mention seem a little unusual. For example, does it stipulate who decides whether the house is being kept in good order such as to enable a sale to be triggered if not?

I don't know whether her rights of occupation for as long as she keeps to the will's conditions (assuming they are valid) over-ride any rights you have as a joint owner.

Yes they were drawn up by a local firm. It stipulates that it is the executors/trustees that decide. This happens to be my partner and her sister which seems to me was a very bad idea.

I had thought that the right to reside would not over-ride the rights that my partner has a the joint owner. If it did then effectively my partner would have assets that she has no control over which would seem to no make any sense We offered for the sister to buy us out of the property and she refused even though she has the cash to do it.

Thanks for all your replies so far. Good to hear some thoughts on it.

princeofpounds

I had thought that the right to reside would not over-ride the rights that my partner has a the joint owner.

This will be a critical point, and it's one of the main things you will need legal advice for. The sister's right to occupation may or may not be exclusive of your partner's right.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Yorkie1

Tyler119 wrote: »

Yes they were drawn up by a local firm. It stipulates that it is the executors/trustees that decide. This happens to be my partner and her sister which seems to me was a very bad idea.

I had thought that the right to reside would not over-ride the rights that my partner has a the joint owner. If it did then effectively my partner would have assets that she has no control over which would seem to no make any sense We offered for the sister to buy us out of the property and she refused even though she has the cash to do it.

Thanks for all your replies so far. Good to hear some thoughts on it.

Sounds a completely unenforceable idea to me. Nobody has a casting vote, and each party has a vested interest in voting in opposite ways!

It may mean that the only way to resolve it is to force a sale through the courts!

I am also not sure that the joint owner's rights over-ride the occupying interests of the sister.

You could either go back to the original firm and ask for their advice about the implementation of the will they have drawn up.

However, to be honest, I'd perhaps consider approaching a different firm for their independent view.

http://www.step.org/about_step.aspx is a membership for specialist practitioners.

Tyler119

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Sounds a completely unenforceable idea to me. Nobody has a casting vote, and each party has a vested interest in voting in opposite ways!

It may mean that the only way to resolve it is to force a sale through the courts!

I am also not sure that the joint owner's rights over-ride the occupying interests of the sister.

You could either go back to the original firm and ask for their advice about the implementation of the will they have drawn up.

However, to be honest, I'd perhaps consider approaching a different firm for their independent view.

http://www.step.org/about_step.aspx is a membership for specialist practitioners.

Thanks very much for all the thoughts, much appreciated. Going to contact an independent firm tomorrow so find out what is what.

For the short term we have no problem with her living in the house. However she now has considerable financial resources to find her own residence. I would have thought that a court would take the view that there is no financial reason stopping her doing this and currently she is not wanting to move because she is living in the house at almost no cost at all (student so no council tax even).

Hopefully some legal advice will clear this up.

Thank you all very much once again!

Yorkie1

If she has a right to live in the house for as long as the conditions are met, then I don't think that the right can be withdrawn just because you think she might be in a position to afford a different house (unless the will contains further information about situations in which the house might be sold).

The independent firm should be able to advise. Ensure you get details of their fees first.

gfplux

I think you should at least ask for advise from the original solicitors. If they have been negligent you need to know.