who Has the Right

kevin51

Hi,
A property was left to my Father, as our sister died.
However he is to old to deal with it, so the whole family agreed
to appoint my eldest brother as executor of her affairs. My Father signed a declaration with two witnesses present.
Bearing this in mind, who then has authority my Brother or Father, who has the rights.
Now I know the duty of the executor is to inform banks go through paper work i.e.. Clear debts and eventually sell the property, and then divide what's left accordingly, if any.
The snag here, it was a shared ownership. She owns 30% of the dwelling and the housing association owns the rest.
The property was on the market for 14 months, and we had two buyers, that fell through because the housing association would not move fast enough.
Now the executor my brother, wants to clear the debts with his own money and move in, which we all agreed he could do. no one else in the family has in financial means to do.
And now he's thinking of buying the property and told us that if he goes ahead, he will own the lot even the 30%.
My feeling are that the other 30% still belongs to the rest of the family, and that he needs to buy our share of the percentage we own. am I right in saying this, or have we lost alrights and want about our Father does he have any rights at all.
I think the executor will eventually profit from this idea, without being vindictive. I myself do not care about the assets involved or whether he gains or not, just would like to know where the rest of the family stand. Any help would be much appreciated.


Thanks

Kevin

Treevo

If your sister's share of the property was left to your father then it is his, not yours.

How much were the debts worth? How much is the 30% share worth? The estate must pay the debts and then whatever's left goes to your father, if anything. If nothing, then there's nothing for you to have. And if your brother buys the entire property then it's his.

carolan78

The 30% the HA own is not part of the estate so your brother would be buying that part from them. Nobody will lose anything from the estate with him doing so.

thorsoak

The only person who has any rights to the property/money is your father. If your father is in receipt of benefits, then his benefits may be affected by the amount of the bequest, but if he disposes of it between his children,then he will be deemed to have disposed of assets and would still be penalised.

Take proper legal advice rather than arguing amongst yourselves.

kevin51

carolan78 wrote: »

The 30% the HA own is not part of the estate so your brother would be buying that part from them. Nobody will lose anything from the estate with him doing so.

The Housing Association does not own 30%, my sister does. The housing Association own the rest 60% of the property.

thorsoak

So the total value of the estate is 30% of the value of the property. If your brother buys 100% of the property, then 70% of the cost that your brother pays will go to the Housing Association. The remaining 30% goes to your sister's estate. The first call upon your sister's estate is payment of her debts. Any monies remaining can then be distributed according to your sister's will.

Does that make things clearer?

kevin51

Treevo wrote: »

If your sister's share of the property was left to your father then it is his, not yours.

How much were the debts worth? How much is the 30% share worth? The estate must pay the debts and then whatever's left goes to your father, if anything. If nothing, then there's nothing for you to have. And if your brother buys the entire property then it's his.

In one instant you saying my brother has every right and the next your saying my Father has all the right, Confusing.
There is some what 58000 30% involved here, if none of the family signed any declaration giving him permission to buy in writing. How does he have this Authority, just because he's executor. Thx Kevin

Kayalana99

Your brother is executor of the will, its his job to make sure the will is done properly to what it says.

If the will states that the property is to be left to the father, then his job is simply to sort out all paperwork for him.

If father chooses to sell his 'asset' then thats up to him, his brother doesn't get first rights to buy because he is executor...

It doesn't quite add up what you've said though..so I wonder if you actally have it right ..no offense :-)

Kayalana99

kevin51 wrote: »

In one instant you saying my brother has every right and the next your saying my Father has all the right, Confusing.
There is some what 58000 30% involved here, if none of the family signed any declaration giving him permission to buy in writing. How does he have this Authority, just because he's executor. Thx Kevin

All that posts says is that if the brother BUYS the property then its his - but the money should still go to the father.

I think the only time the brother would have rights to sell the property without fathers consent (as he owns the property in the will) if other debts need to be paid first, as in this case it would be a force sale to cover debts.

Saying that as executor of the will, he will have the power to sell the house - but it would be illegal for him to do so as its going against the will i belive.

dancingfairy

Really your dad owns 30% of a house and the housing assoication 70% of a house.

If your dad or the housing association want to sell their part then fine. If the housing association sell their share (70%) then your dad will still own 30% of the property unless he wants to also sell his share.
You may find their are added complications with selling a housing assoication property in terms of who can/can't buy the property. They may also not be happy for part of the rights to be sold.
df

dancingfairy

Treevo wrote: »

If your sister's share of the property was left to your father then it is his your fathers , not yours.

How much were the debts worth? How much is the 30% share worth? The estate must pay the debts and then whatever's left goes to your father, if anything. If nothing, then there's nothing for you to have. And if your brother buys the entire property then it's hisie your brother can buy the entire house - 30% of the money goes to your dad (As he owns 30%, the rest goes to the housing association .

Your brother has no claim on the house because he is executor. his job is to maximise the value of the estate. He is merely acting as an administrator. IF the beneficiary (ie your dad) wants to sell to your brother then that's a seperate arrangement. You are getting confused because your brother has 2 roles:
1) as executor (A legal duty) etc etc.
2) as someone who happens to want to buy the house.

He (like any other person) is able to purchase the house for a fair market value. The conflict is going to come between 1) being executor and getting the best possible price for the house and 2) him wanting to get the cheapest price he can for himself.
df