Living in a house with permission

smilechaser

Hi there,

We have lived in my grandfather's house along with my grandfather for over 30 years. He was going to change his will and leave the house to us but he sadly died before he could do it. His will appointed my uncle and aunt as executors and in it unfortunately leaves the house solely to my uncle.

My aunt refuses to execute the will because she was well aware of my grandfather's wishes for us to continue living here and suspects my uncle will move to evict us if the property becomes his. I am assured that the will cannot be executed without her jointly signing off on it and so nothing has been done. My uncle therefore does not own the property at this point and it is still registered to my grandfather's name.

So we are basically living in the house right now "with permission" I guess (as opposed to squatting). How can we protect ourselves? Our wish is to remain living here for our lifetime as this is and has always been our home. I know we can continue living here as long as my aunt is around to block any possession but what if something happens to her and my uncle is left as the only executor on the will? Is there anything we or my aunt can do to make sure we can stay here. It would be nice if there was a way we could claim the property but I would be happy with the lifetime security.

I am going to a solicitor about this of course, but wanted to see if anyone had any different opinions. Many thanks for your time.

TonyMMM

Your aunt as executor has a duty to execute the will correctly- if she declines to do it or obstructs the process the co-executor , your uncle, can apply to court to have her removed and he would then be sole executor of the will. She could find herself liable for any costs or losses caused by her actions.

The property will belong to your uncle and whether you can stay there and on what terms will ultimately be his decision.

Can you offer to buy or rent the property from him ?

sneekymum

(I know nothing about legal things but) isn't there some potential to challenge the will as people living in the house for over thirty years were surely dependent on the roof over their heads, and provision should have been made ?

Mojisola

sneekymum wrote: »

(I know nothing about legal things but) isn't there some potential to challenge the will as people living in the house for over thirty years were surely dependent on the roof over their heads, and provision should have been made ?

Your aunt can delay things but, as Tony says, she can be removed if she doesn't eventually agree to fulfill her duties.

Was your grandfather being paid rent? If not, you may have a challenge to the will using the 'financially dependent' argument as above.

It's very unlikely you would be given the house but may be able to get a lump sum that would enable you to move somewhere else.

jackyann

I am wondering who "we" are, what their situation would be if they are evicted, and whether that makes an difference legally.
I think that your aunt, sadly needs to take advice as well - may be from the Probate Office, and you need to re-assure her that you understand her position.

Shelter will sometimes give helpful advice on this.

Glad you are seeking legal advice, please update us if you have the time, as I think there are a few people in similar situations.

g6jns_2

smilechaser wrote: »

Hi there,

We have lived in my grandfather's house along with my grandfather for over 30 years. He was going to change his will and leave the house to us but he sadly died before he could do it. His will appointed my uncle and aunt as executors and in it unfortunately leaves the house solely to my uncle.

My aunt refuses to execute the will because she was well aware of my grandfather's wishes for us to continue living here and suspects my uncle will move to evict us if the property becomes his. I am assured that the will cannot be executed without her jointly signing off on it and so nothing has been done. My uncle therefore does not own the property at this point and it is still registered to my grandfather's name.

So we are basically living in the house right now "with permission" I guess (as opposed to squatting). How can we protect ourselves? Our wish is to remain living here for our lifetime as this is and has always been our home. I know we can continue living here as long as my aunt is around to block any possession but what if something happens to her and my uncle is left as the only executor on the will? Is there anything we or my aunt can do to make sure we can stay here. It would be nice if there was a way we could claim the property but I would be happy with the lifetime security.

I am going to a solicitor about this of course, but wanted to see if anyone had any different opinions. Many thanks for your time.

You don't say who "we" is. There is a possibility that that the testator, your late uncle, had some obligation to provide for you in his will. You need to sees solicitor about this ASAP. Shelter would also be worth contacting. Currently you probably have no right to occupy the property as the executors together have to give permission, not just one of them. As an executor your aunt has a legal operation to execute the will and if she refuses to do so the court can remove her as executor. She would be liable for the costs of doing so and for any losses the estate suffers by her refusal to act.

smilechaser

Many thanks for everyone's replies.

"We" are basically me, my two mentally handicapped siblings and my parents who are unable to work because they are their full time carers. If we were to be evicted it would mean they would be on the street and the council would have to house them. I'm not sure that changes things in terms of our situation?

The advice I received previously from solicitors a while ago is that we are staying there "with permission" "for life" and that although my uncle could take us to court he would have to possess the house and my aunt can stop that due to it meaning our eviction (which is not what my grandfather wanted). But I too am confused about how she can do that so am going to ask again.

I believe when my grandfather was alive, my parents were paying him a small "rent" as well as all the bills/council tax in return for staying there. Sadly there is no evidence of this.

I forgot to mention that my grandfather died 20 years ago so any time limits on changing the will have now passed. The will went through probate at the time but was not acted on because my uncle didn't want to inherit/pay inheritance tax and wanted to sell. My aunt stopped it because she believed we should have been provided for in the will and nothing was done since.

Many thanks again

nom_de_plume

smilechaser wrote: »

I forgot to mention that my grandfather died 20 years ago

Probably a very important point.

I wonder, if there's a lack of any formal agreement, how squatters rights could affect an outcome.

Ignore that as the definition of a squatter is someone who has entered a property without permission. That aside, the fact you have lived there some 20 years since his passing will carry a heck of a lot of weight.

antrobus

smilechaser wrote: »

......I forgot to mention that my grandfather died 20 years ago so any time limits on changing the will have now passed. The will went through probate at the time but was not acted on because my uncle didn't want to inherit/pay inheritance tax and wanted to sell. My aunt stopped it because she believed we should have been provided for in the will and nothing was done since.....

You can't get probate without incurring inheritance tax, so that doesn't make any sense.

Of course, now that 20 years have gone by, someone will probably have a big capital gains tax bill to pay, if and when the property is ever sold.

g6jns_2

smilechaser wrote: »

Many thanks for everyone's replies.

"We" are basically me, my two mentally handicapped siblings and my parents who are unable to work because they are their full time carers. If we were to be evicted it would mean they would be on the street and the council would have to house them. I'm not sure that changes things in terms of our situation?

The advice I received previously from solicitors a while ago is that we are staying there "with permission" "for life" and that although my uncle could take us to court he would have to possess the house and my aunt can stop that due to it meaning our eviction (which is not what my grandfather wanted). But I too am confused about how she can do that so am going to ask again.

I believe when my grandfather was alive, my parents were paying him a small "rent" as well as all the bills/council tax in return for staying there. Sadly there is no evidence of this.

I forgot to mention that my grandfather died 20 years ago so any time limits on changing the will have now passed. The will went through probate at the time but was not acted on because my uncle didn't want to inherit/pay inheritance tax and wanted to sell. My aunt stopped it because she believed we should have been provided for in the will and nothing was done since.

Many thanks again

It sounds to me as if Shelter might be your best option. They have expertise in this area.

smilechaser

Update on this, many many thanks for your opinions I took them all to the solicitor.

My uncle has agreed that it is worthless for him to inherit/evict us because the capital gains tax (going from 1956 to now mind)/IT would practically leave him with nothing from a sale anyway and it's not worth putting a family on the street for that.

He would, understandably, appreciate some money to leave to his kids.

My solicitors have advised me to do nothing and to continue living in the property until he or his kids choose to act on it. We have a highly implied licence for life and chances are they could prove it in court (not sure the details on that yet but am getting clarification from the barrister) so it would be a wasted exercise.

Now, this situation isn't ideal for us because the house needs some fundamental repairs (new roof etc) in order to continue being livable, and I wouldn't want to invest my money into a house I don't own or couldn't own in the future.

My solicitor has suggested one approach which would be for him to agree to be "bought out" and sign a deed of variation leaving his share of the will to us, but ofc with us agreeing to pay the tax. This way the house would be ours but we'd obv have a massive tax bill. We would be financially in a position to pay in instalments since the house is freehold and we have no other loans/mortgages but it's still a lot of money.

What do you guys think? I am happy to give my uncle some money to get him and his family to "ignore" or show his disinterest in inheriting the property. Could he sign something to that affect? Could I apply for adverse possession after he dies? Is there a way to avoid or cut down a tax bill in our situation?