Property in Will.

stuart2088_2

My mothers house is willed to my brother and myself.
My brother together with the solicitor are the executors of the will.
My brother wants to rent the house out for a few years and i wish to sell it.

Who has the overriding decision in this if anyone.

Not sure if its relevant but my share of the estate is to be heldi trust and i receive income generated from the capital for the rest of my days.

Can i insist it is sold or force him to buy me out.

I have sought legal advice but the advice is a bit wooly.

Thank You.

rpc

stuart2088 wrote: »

Not sure if its relevant but my share of the estate is to be held in trust and i receive income generated from the capital for the rest of my days.

As it is held in trust, the trustees do surely? Your share isn't actually yours - it is in a trust.

If you've had proper legal advice, follow it! It may be that the will is a little wooly and you are in the realm of "whatever a court decides but probably X instead of Y."

ValHaller

Who are the trustees? Is your brother's share held in trust too?

madbadrob

The question should actually be what is the exact wording of the will? That determines what can and cannot be done with the property

Rob

John_Pierpoint

Basically you are the beneficiary of an interest in possession trust that is intended to prevent you from "wasting" the capital - you just get the income.
Your trustees are expected to act in the best interest of the trust and at the moment it is difficult to effectively protect the capital value of the trust as inflation is much higher than net interest on savings accounts.
Why do you think that an investment in a rental property is not in your best interests, the gross yields are several orders of magnitude greater than available from a bank deposit?
Why do you think that the deceased set up the trust in this format; could you be thought of as a bit of a "waster"?
Who is the "remainderman" who inherits when you die?
What is the value, of the trust and your own net worth? Will InHeritance Tax (IHT) be payable on the combined total, when you pop your clogs?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_in_possession_trust
http://www.step.org/wasted-asset

madbadrob

reading the OP again the simple answer is no you cannot force a sale of the house because you havent been given ownership of it just the right to a share of any income generated from that house. The trustees have the power to do with it what they wish. Has John pointed out you will earn more money from renting than if you sold and placed your share in a bank with the way interest rates are at the minute

stuart2088_2

Thanks to all for your replies.
The Trustees are the two Executors ie. my brother and the Solicitor.

On sale of the property my brothers share goes to him in cash..... no Trust there.

The issue i have now is my brother wishes to improve/refurbish the property ready for rental.

He expects me to pay half the costs as i will benefit from the rental income.

Where do i stand on this one as it would appear i do not own the property.

st999

He expects me to pay half the costs as i will benefit from the rental income.

He's having a laugh


What did your legal advice say?

madbadrob

Has the property is being left in trust to you I think you will find you have no legal reason to help pay for any repairs. The property will never be yours as such only the share of the rents/sale price. I would now think it is time to obtain independent advice about this. If need be instructing a solicitor to act on your behalf

Rob

ValHaller

stuart2088 wrote: »

Thanks to all for your replies.
The Trustees are the two Executors ie. my brother and the Solicitor.

On sale of the property my brothers share goes to him in cash..... no Trust there.

The issue i have now is my brother wishes to improve/refurbish the property ready for rental.

He expects me to pay half the costs as i will benefit from the rental income.

Where do i stand on this one as it would appear i do not own the property.

I am far from an expert in this. I really know nothing.

But it seems to me that your brother is has a strong conflict of interest between his duties to you as trustee and his own share in the same property. Added to the clout that the role of executor gives him, I cannot see that he is in any position to fulfil his duties to you as trustee.

You need legal advice here

nom_de_plume

stuart2088 wrote: »

The issue i have now is my brother wishes to improve/refurbish the property ready for rental.

He expects me to pay half the costs as i will benefit from the rental income.

Where do i stand on this one as it would appear i do not own the property.

I know nothing about trusts but do know a bit about rental property.

I don't know the condition of your particular property but I guess it would need some work doing if it's to be let out. Whether that's a quick lick of paint or a £20,000 refurbishment, I can't answer.

What I would expect is that money spent wisely on a property can be recouped on rental or sale and ideally with a profit attached.

He may actually be increasing your income potential by 'investing' some money onto the property.

The issue, as I see it and if the two of you do decide to keep the property, which could be a wise investment as JP has already suggested, is the mechanics of paying for the improvements. I suspect the rental income should eventually pay for the works. The trouble is, the works probably need doing to make the place rentable so we have a chicken / egg situation.

I assume your brother wants you to pay half the cost as you have a half share in the property. That sounds fair to me. If you do not have the means to do so for one reason or another perhaps he can fund it all and pay himself back from the rent?

Lets say the property is a 2 bed flat in central London worth around £260,000 that, with £20,000 spending on it would be worth £300,000. If your brother put in the £20,000, would you expect him to take £170,000 and you £130,000 if it was sold after improvement? I doubt it. £160,000 for him and £140,000 for you would be more appropriate.
That same 2 bed flat could perhaps be let out for £1,500+ a month. What return would £300,000 make in a deposit account?

The long and the short of it is that I assume you will benefit financially from any money spent on the property and should therefore be expected to contribute towards in at the same rate as your share (50:50?) either by a cash input now or by a reduce income from it whilst any debts run up on the property are repaid.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling but I hope it makes some kind of sense.