Questions, being handed half of a house!

agarr

Hi all, I'm asking on behalf of my bf as we both would like to know what he can do in his situation, so here's the story so far......
His parents own two properties, one of which the family live in which is to be his sisters, and one which is currently being rented out which was intended to be his. It was agreed that he would make the mortgage payments and this year be put on the mortgage in name and also on the deeds so he was effectively buying the house from them by making the payments. He was doing this until 2 months ago when an argument occurred whereby his mother was happy to take him through the relevant people to get him on the deeds/mortgage but his dad decided to withdraw altogether saying he was not now, nor ever going to sell him or give him the house leaving my bf understandably confused and upset. His mum wants to completely sign over her half of the house and mortgage his dad won't so our question is;
Can his mum sign over her part without his dads signature?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

kingstreet

No, she can't.

She could force a sale via court order, but that's about it.

Mojisola

agarr wrote: »

His parents own two properties, one of which the family live in which is to be his sisters, and one which is currently being rented out which was intended to be his.

It was agreed that he would make the mortgage payments and this year be put on the mortgage in name and also on the deeds so he was effectively buying the house from them by making the payments.

So his sister is going to inherit a house while your BF is buying a house off his parents?

I hope he's stopped paying the mortgage for them!

His mother could make sure the properties are owned by her and her husband as "tenants in common" and make a will that leaves her half of the property to your BF. Not an immediate solution but at least he would see some return for his money.

agarr

His sister is treated rather differently, but she will eventually be expected to pay something I think.
He has stopped paying it, and they know they are late paying for last month but my worry is that they won't be ale to afford it in the long term and the house could eventually be repossessed.
Would his mum assigning power of attorney to him be of any use? That way he would be involved with any decisions on the house instead of his mum and then he would have time to get his mum to make a will with him just getting her half of that house, and if he does need to step in, he could do so without fear of losing everything.

Mojisola

agarr wrote: »

Would his mum assigning power of attorney to him be of any use? That way he would be involved with any decisions on the house instead of his mum and then he would have time to get his mum to make a will with him just getting her half of that house, and if he does need to step in, he could do so without fear of losing everything.

Is there any possibility of finding out why his father has reacted in this way? It would be better for longterm family relationships if everyone could talk it through and then get an agreement in writing so that minds can't be changed later.

His mother giving him POA and a battle starting between father and son is going to lead to a serious family breakdown.

BitterAndTwisted

His parents have been receiving rent from the tenants of the property and they've been pocketing the mortgage-payments from their son as well? Crikey! They've been using him in the most cynical way.

Power of Attorney does not give a person rights to control someone's assetsy to use for their own benefit. That is not the purpose of such a legal instrument. In fact, it's the very opposite.

Mojisola

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Power of Attorney does not give a person rights to control someone's assetsy to use for their own benefit. That is not the purpose of such a legal instrument. In fact, it's the very opposite.

But it would give the son the right to be in on discussions involving his mother's interests and speak for her (as long as the son was saying what the mother wanted).