Mum passed intestate, need to change name on house

skizz_b

Thanks again for the help, we will have to wait and see. Attempting to get a deed of variation with my brother and Mum's husband seems to be the best way forward. Here's hoping!

zzzLazyDaisy

It very much depends on what your mum's ex wants to do.

If he is happy to comply with your mum's wishes, regardless of what the intestacy laws say, then you can agree anything you like between you.

But if he is not willing to cooperate, if there is no will then the intestacy laws apply. Just to be clear, a will must be in a particular legal format and signed and witnessed according to law. So even if she left a letter clearly setting out her wishes, or a home-made will which didn't meet the legal formailities, those documents would be invalid as far as the law is concerned.

The other thing to consider is whether she ever put the house into joint names with her husband. This could change the advice completely. You can easily check this on-line with the land registry by putting in the address of the property and checking who the legal owners are.

skizz_b

Hi, the house was solely in her name, he was never added onto it.

margaretclare

skizz_b wrote: »

Thanks again for the help, we will have to wait and see. Attempting to get a deed of variation with my brother and Mum's husband seems to be the best way forward. Here's hoping!

This is just one more illustration of the folly of not making a will. Verbal wishes go nowhere once a person is dead. The laws of intestacy kick in and 'wishes' are ignored.

dzug1

skizz_b wrote: »

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Tell me then, if wishes "died" with the person who made a will, why are they often contested?

I don't think that wills are contested that often, and successfully even less often. Most contesters give up when they realise what the rules are and what it will cost them to pursue an unsuccessful try.

It seems like it because you only hear about the exceptional cases.

securityguy

spacey2012 wrote: »

Her "wishes" Died with her.
No will = Husband is sole beneficiary of everything.

First £250K and a lifetime interest in the house, surely?

getmore4less

skizz_b wrote: »

Thanks again for the help, we will have to wait and see. Attempting to get a deed of variation with my brother and Mum's husband seems to be the best way forward. Here's hoping!

if that is the house to the 2 kids than thats a heafty £50k tax bill unless there is some/all of a previous spouse nillrate band

getmore4less

securityguy wrote: »

First £250K and a lifetime interest in the house, surely?

No.

First 250k and life interest in 1/2 the rest.


This(all posts so far) asumes the house was the mothers alone.

MotownFox

In simple terms
IF Estate is just the House worth £450k
Spouse gets £250k + life interest in £100k of it
Children get £100k + £100k when Stepfather dies
If you can wait do a deal with stepfather that he gets ALL the house as a Life Interest via a Deed of Variation and on his death then the estate goes to your mothers children with perhaps some to his family.

Has he got much of an estate himself do you know?

skizz_b

He doesn't own any sort of assets himself. The estate is pretty much the house.

In all honesty I believe he wants to respect my Mum's wishes and give the house to me and my brother, all of this is just a debate as to what would happen if he did the opposite.