Does brother have share of house?

someonesmum_3

I'm sorry if this is long and complicated, will try to keep it brief and clear. My mum and dad bought a house, but for what ever reason decided not to live there and bought another house elsewhere. At the same time my grandparents were being evicted so mum allowed them to live in the house as long as they paid the mortgage. My parents divorced later and the judge gave the house my grandparents were living in to my mum solely in her name in lieu of any support from my dad and because my mum didn't want to kick out her parents, the judge said it was OK for them to live there and she would get a council house, which is what happened. My grandparents lived there for over 35 years, they paid off the mortgage, but it was understood that when they died, the house would be my mums to do with as she wished, but there is nothing written down to verify this, but one of my mums brothers agrees that this was the case. The problem is my mum has another brother who lived with my grandparents, but didn't contribute to the mortgage or house, he wasn't working throughout that time, he only started working in the past 10 years or so. Now my grandparents have died and her brother is refusing to move out and wants a share of the house when it is sold. Does he have a right to do this? There was no written tenancy agreement nor did anyone pay rent to my mum.( she never asked them to). She is seeking legal advice as soon as she can but i was hoping someone could give us an idea of her and her brothers rights.
Thanks in advance.

moneyistooshorttomention

It would probably help assist people in answering if you said:

- was there a noticeable deposit paid on the house when it was bought and did your parents cover the costs involved in buying the house (eg solicitors bill, etc)?

- how did the amount of money paid out in mortgage payments by the occupants compare to rent money they would have paid to rent an equivalent place elsewhere?

- was there any sort of rental agreement at all (verbally or written) or was it just put verbally as "You will pay the mortgage whilst you live there"?

I wouldn't have thought that the brother had a leg to stand on - as he wasn't the tenant/"tenant" himself but was merely living with the tenants - but it would be as well to pay for an hour of a solicitors time to get their verdict on this and, possibly, an official legal letter evicting him.

jackomdj

Whose name is on the deeds? Whose name was the mortgage in? And finally you mention a judge, do you have any record of the award or know which court to go back to?

moneyistooshorttomention

Another thought - was your brother paying any rent money to his parents whilst they were alive? (ie contributing towards the mortgage)

....or was he just paying the "board and lodge" level that an adult child would usually pay to a parent if still living with them (ie just enough money to cover his food and a share of the fuel bills)?

I'm assuming he was only paying standard adult child "board and lodge" - and not paying anything at all towards the accommodation as such iyswim?

zzzLazyDaisy

First, check the deeds at the land registry tomorrow, when the land registry opens

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public

This will tell you who owns the house.

If the house was originally bought by your parents, it would have been owned in their joint names. When the house was awarded to your mum in the divorce, her solicitor should have had it transferred to her sole name- unless she instructed him to put it in her parents name. Either way, if the divorce happened after 1st April 1998 the change of ownership would have triggered compulsory registration and this will be recorded at the land registry (in some areas compulsory registration came in before that date, so even if the divorce was earlier, it is still worth checking). Otherwise, you need to locate the original deeds.

So that is the first thing to establish - anything else is just guesswork.

someonesmum_3

Thank you all for your replies.
The deeds to the house is definitely in my mums name and i think the mortgage was in her name too. I'm presuming she and my dad paid the deposit and legal fees as my grandparents were being evicted from their rented accommodation at the time so they didn't have any money.. but i will check on that.
It was just a matter of her saying to my grandparents " whilst you're living in this house, you have to pay the mortgage" There was nothing written down.
My uncle didn't pay rent or contribute to the mortgage as he wasn't working throughout the length of the mortgage.And I'm pretty sure from what my grandmother would say he didn't pay them any rent. Although in the past few years I'm sure he contributed to the household bills.
The judge I mentioned was the a judge who presided over my mum and dads divorce. We haven't moved cities since then so i guess its the local crown court? Is there any way we could find court papers dealing with the divorce? My mum can't remember who was her solicitor(was about 30yrs ago).

Imp

Depending on when the tenancy started, the brother may have a right to became a secure tenant of the property.

System

Imp wrote: »

Depending on when the tenancy started, the brother may have a right to became a secure tenant of the property.

Only tenants of a local authority can be secure tenants.
I believe that you mean it is possibly a protected or regulated tenancy.

However the crunch point is the following

(Shelter PDF on regulated tenancies)

Some types of tenancy cannot be regulated tenancies.
These include:

• business tenancies
• tenancies where no (or a very low) rent is paid

I assume that no rent has been paid since the mortgage was paid off

nearlyrich

Divorces are usually dealt with in a county court not a Crown court.

someonesmum_3

Thanks again all. No rent has been paid by either my late grandparents or my uncle since the mortgage was paid off. We guessed he might have some sort of tenancy and would have to go through the legal route to get him out, but until we can speak with a solicitor, we just don't know what kind. Thanks for telling me about the court, will check with them or hunt down some paperwork at mums house.

zzzLazyDaisy

someonesmum wrote: »

Thank you all for your replies.
The deeds to the house is definitely in my mums name and i think the mortgage was in her name too.

Okay, are the deeds registered at the land registry? If not, do you have the deeds (or know where they are kept)?

Assuming you are correct, and the deeds to the house are in your mum's name, then the divorce papers are a red herring, as the order to transfer the house into your mum's name was carried out at the time (as would be expected). The only use the original order my have would be if it expressly recognised that your G'parents were the tenants of the property (which isn't very likely, but it is possible). There is little point in trying to track down the solicitor - even if you found them, they only need to keep files for 6 years, and even though most keep files for longer than that, they are very unlikely to still have the file after 30 years.

So there is no question of the brother being entitled to a share of the house, because your G'parents did not own it, they were just tenants, and he cannot take over the tenancy as succession does not apply to private tenancies. Even if he did take over the tenancy, these days private tenants only have 6 months security unless there is an agreement in writing for a longer tenancy.

In legal terms, your g'parents paid rent, and the rent paid the mortgage. It is irrelevant whether the brother made any contribution towards the rent etc, as that was an arrangement between him and your g'parents, and there is no way that this could give him an interest in the property.

Unfortunately, if he refuses to move out, the only way is to go to court to have him evicted.

You don't say when your G'parents died. If it is very recently, is it possible that he is still grieving and not able to think about moving? If that is the case, is it possible that your mum could come to an arrangement with him to give him some time to sort himself out and leave? (I say this bearing in mind the cost and time in going to court).

Bottom line - the house belongs to your mum, and she is entitled to do what she wants with it. If she wishes to sell it, she will definitely need to get him out, because the pool of buyers will be greatly reduced while the brother remains a tenant.

One final thing (and I don't want to worry you) but the money that your G'parents paid was officially rent (and this enabled your mum to pay the mortgage). Legally that rent was taxable subject to certain deductions, and should have been declared to HMRC. In real terms, depending on your mum's income at the time, there may have been no tax to pay, but it is something to be aware of.