House Inheritance, Am I Entitled to Anything?

DBGage

Hi everyone.

A few years ago my folks split and they had a lot of debt with CCJ's etc...

My mum could not buy a house outright with her pot of money from the sale of the family house and she couldn't get a mortgage due to the bad credit.

So my mum and sister took out a mortgage in my sisters name and I wasn't involved in any of the process. My sister has her name on the deed and no one else, my mum had to give her the money to secure the mortgage.

A few years on and my mum has always paid the small mortgage for the house and no one else has been added to the deed. Even if my mum wanted to give us the house 50/50 could she?

I am concerned that we are a few years down the line and if we were going to split it fairly why haven't I been put in the deed?

G_M

DBGage wrote: »

Hi everyone.


So my mum and sister took out a mortgage in my sisters name and ........

My sister has her name on the deed and no one else, my mum had to give her the money to secure the mortgage.

This is unlikely. Please confirm:

1) who is named as the owner on the property Title at the Land Registry (you can check here for £3)

2) Whose name is on the mortgage? Usually the name(s) for both must be the same)

If it is all in your sister's name, then it is all hers. If your mum were to die, it would still be your sister's.

If both names are on the Title, then it depends if they own as

a) joint tenant or
b) tenants in common

For the difference, see here.

You need to understand all the above, and then talk to your mum. She could write a will leaving the property to you, but it would make no difference if

* your sister is the sole owner or
* they are joint tenants

If they ARE joint tenants, your mum could change that to tenants in common, and then leave her share to you in a will.

If your sister is the sole owner of the property, your mum could leave her savings/investments/premium bonds etc to you in her will.

BrassicWoman

your sister appears to have taken on all the risk and reduced her ability to get borrowing herself by helping your mum.

You seem to have done nothing.

Isn't it right your sister gets more?

Mossfarr

If the house is solely in your sisters name then its all legally hers whether your mum contributes or not.
As your Mum ages she will need more support which your sister will no doubt be providing so maybe its fair that she will get the lions share.

You are only entitled to inherit what your Mum leaves you in her will so its her you should be asking!

Poppy9

Who lives in the house? If only your mother and your sister owns it and your mother gives her the mortgage money each month as rent then she's a tenant and your sister has a buy to let.

You should have thought about inheritance issue when your mother and sister entered the arrangement.

When my OH helped his parents buy a house he asked his sister to go halves so we couldn't be accused of taking advantage of them. In our case though we give them 50% of purchase price and they obtained a mortgage for the other 50% and they retained full ownership of the house.

TBagpuss

You don't have any automatic entitlement to any inheritance. Your mum may feel that as your sister took the risk that it would be fair for her to have any gain.

However, you are only going to find out what your mum's plans are by asking her. It may be that the hosue is in your sister's name but on trust for mum, or it may be in joint names.
Are you now in a position to offer to add your name to the mortgage to share the risk with your sister?

AdrianC

If the property and the mortgage are both in your sister's name, then it's your sister's house. Who has paid the mortgage repayments, and who lives there, are irrelevant. Your sister owns the house, and your sister is the one who is legally liable for the mortgage debt. Your mother can't give it to anybody, because it isn't hers to give.

The mortgage lender won't allow the property to be transferred into joint names unless those names are also on the mortgage, which would require those people to pass credit-checking, because those people will be legally liable for the mortgage debt.

macman

This is a conversation you need to have with your sister, not with your mum. As above, there will be nothing to inherit, since your sister already owns the property and will have a potential CGT liability on it should she sell it when your mum dies, assuming she already owns a property.
Your mum appears to have no security of tenure either, other than as a lodger.

Johnnytwostep

DBGage wrote: »

Hi everyone.

A few years ago my folks split and they had a lot of debt with CCJ's etc...

My mum could not buy a house outright with her pot of money from the sale of the family house and she couldn't get a mortgage due to the bad credit.

So my mum and sister took out a mortgage in my sisters name and I wasn't involved in any of the process. My sister has her name on the deed and no one else, my mum had to give her the money to secure the mortgage.

A few years on and my mum has always paid the small mortgage for the house and no one else has been added to the deed. Even if my mum wanted to give us the house 50/50 could she?

I am concerned that we are a few years down the line and if we were going to split it fairly why haven't I been put in the deed?

why are you entitled to anything?

Dird

AdrianC wrote: »

Who has paid the mortgage repayments, and who lives there, are irrelevant.

What is it that people always say on these forums...isn't she building an interest(?) in the property if she's contributing?

AdrianC

Dird wrote: »

What is it that people always say on these forums...isn't she building an interest(?) in the property if she's contributing?

You're getting confused with failed relationships where people have been living together.

In this case, the mother is a tenant in her daughter's BtL property. No more, no less. It just happens that her rent is the same as the mortgage payments, and her tenancy is implied. Oh, and the mortgage lender are almost certainly unaware of the tenancy, so the borrower is in breach of their contract...