Inherited House Share

ben9090

My wifes mother died a few years ago, leaving a property she lived in with her disabled son/wifes brother as part of her estate.
They had a 50/50 share of the property.
He still lives there with carers, the mother in laws share was split equally between her 5 children so one now has 60% the rest 10% Ea.
Everything else from her estate is dealt with and paid out, it just leaves this property in question.
He is to remain living in the house until circumstances ever change.
No rent is paid but he pays for everything like maintenance, improvements etc
My wife would ideally like her share to invest and get a return on, we have other investment property and could make a difference to our life now rather then having it just sat tied up in as a small share in this property . Finance is not a problem as the brother is sat on a small fortune so could easily buy out all the other siblings, However it seems like my wife is the only one that wants to do this. The rest are happy to have their share tied up indefinitely with zero return except for potential increase in house prices.
I presume the only option is for her bother to buy her out? Can this just be done with her and her brother or do the whole family need to get involved? Between the 5 of them they cant agree on anything, so if they all need to be involved then its not even worth pursuing.
We're not desperate for the money and she doesn’t want to fall out with them or cause a big fuss, it just seems crazy to us to not be investing this money wisely.
Would this need to be done through a standard conveyancing solicitor or through a will/probate solicitor?
Are there any other options available?
Thanks for your help.

g6jns_2

ben9090 wrote: »

My wifes mother died a few years ago, leaving a property she lived in with her disabled son/wifes brother as part of her estate.
They had a 50/50 share of the property.
He still lives there with carers, the mother in laws share was split equally between her 5 children so one now has 60% the rest 10% Ea.
Everything else from her estate is dealt with and paid out, it just leaves this property in question.
He is to remain living in the house until circumstances ever change.
No rent is paid but he pays for everything like maintenance, improvements etc
My wife would ideally like her share to invest and get a return on, we have other investment property and could make a difference to our life now rather then having it just sat tied up in as a small share in this property . Finance is not a problem as the brother is sat on a small fortune so could easily buy out all the other siblings, However it seems like my wife is the only one that wants to do this. The rest are happy to have their share tied up indefinitely with zero return except for potential increase in house prices.
I presume the only option is for her bother to buy her out? Can this just be done with her and her brother or do the whole family need to get involved? Between the 5 of them they cant agree on anything, so if they all need to be involved then its not even worth pursuing.
We're not desperate for the money and she doesn’t want to fall out with them or cause a big fuss, it just seems crazy to us to not be investing this money wisely.
Would this need to be done through a standard conveyancing solicitor or through a will/probate solicitor?
Are there any other options available?
Thanks for your help.

The Land Registry rules permit a maximum of four joint owners. So the most likely thing is that the property is held in trust. You need to look at the exact terms of the will to find out more. Assuming that is the case then it is likely to remain as it is. Far from being a bad investment it sounds quite good. Your wfe is not paying any bills or taxes and the property is almost certainly appreciating at a good rate.

ben9090

Thanks for your feedback. We will speak to the solicitor, I just generally like to have an idea before I speak to experts!

Its not a bad investment but we could use the money better.
The property will appreciate in value but she only owns 10% of that appreciation. If we had the cash and could invest it in another property then we would be able keep a 100% of the appreciated value. We also live in an area where 7-8% yield is achievable so it would also produce a healthy postivive cash flow.

Mojisola

ben9090 wrote: »

Everything else from her estate is dealt with and paid out, it just leaves this property in question.
He is to remain living in the house until circumstances ever change.
My wife would ideally like her share to invest and get a return on, we have other investment property and could make a difference to our life now rather then having it just sat tied up in as a small share in this property .

Depending on how the will or trust is worded, your wife may have no right to her share in the property until he no longer wants to lives or dies.

getmore4less

As above if there is a life interest then it's not hers yet.

They could if all agree including the life tenant(if the can) change the terms and release funds through buy outs.