Property dispute

LizW

Mum's will left an amount of money to my sister's 2 adult children and the balance to be split equally between myself and my sister. Only asset is a property solely owned by mum (and is still in her name) some 15 months after her death which my mum and sister lived in. Mum bought the house as sister had come out of a relationship and couldn't afford her mortgage so her property was repossessed. Laterly my sister looked after mum. My mum paid all the bills and my sister hasn't worked full time for 20 years, she's now 58. She is refusing to move out of the house so it can be sold because she won't have enough left to buy another property outright and believes she won't get a mortgage because of her age, previous bankruptcy and because she doesn't earn very much because she won't make the effort to get a full time job, like I've always had to do. In fact it came as a bit of a shock to her that she isn't getting everything because she feels entitled. Mum used to be reasonably wealthy but 15 years of living with my sister and paying for everything, even holidays, for my sister and niece and nephew left her with nothing in the bank on her death so I don't see why I should give up what mum wanted me to have when my sister and her family bled mum dry. I've tried talking to my sister but she point blank refuses to do anything.
I sorted the probate to save money, which I'm regretting now as a solicitor would have dealt with this issue. Is there a time limit after probate before the estate is dealt with?
I feel that my sister has already had so much, why should I give up what mum wanted me to have and it would certainly come in handy but I can't see how to resolve this without resorting to legal action.

Yorkshireman99

LizW wrote: »

Mum's will left an amount of money to my sister's 2 adult children and the balance to be split equally between myself and my sister. Only asset is a property solely owned by mum (and is still in her name) some 15 months after her death which my mum and sister lived in. Mum bought the house as sister had come out of a relationship and couldn't afford her mortgage so her property was repossessed. Laterly my sister looked after mum. My mum paid all the bills and my sister hasn't worked full time for 20 years, she's now 58. She is refusing to move out of the house so it can be sold because she won't have enough left to buy another property outright and believes she won't get a mortgage because of her age, previous bankruptcy and because she doesn't earn very much because she won't make the effort to get a full time job, like I've always had to do. In fact it came as a bit of a shock to her that she isn't getting everything because she feels entitled. Mum used to be reasonably wealthy but 15 years of living with my sister and paying for everything, even holidays, for my sister and niece and nephew left her with nothing in the bank on her death so I don't see why I should give up what mum wanted me to have when my sister and her family bled mum dry. I've tried talking to my sister but she point blank refuses to do anything.
I sorted the probate to save money, which I'm regretting now as a solicitor would have dealt with this issue. Is there a time limit after probate before the estate is dealt with?
I feel that my sister has already had so much, why should I give up what mum wanted me to have and it would certainly come in handy but I can't see how to resolve this without resorting to legal action.

The harsh reality is that if you were executor you have a clear legal obligation to the beneficiaries to distribute the estate within a reasonable time usually a year. Are you the executor or are there any others? Eventually your sister will have to leave and if need be may have to be evicted. If she is evicted the local authority will rehouse her. From what you say you will have to resort to legal action. Don't let her bully you.

Newly_retired

Why do you say the local authority will have to rehouse her? Under what criteria?

Marktheshark

What amount of money was listed in the will ?

Yorkshireman99

Newly_retired wrote: »

Why do you say the local authority will have to rehouse her? Under what criteria?

The local authority has a statutory obligation to house homeless people unless they have made themselves intentionally homeless. If the person leaves voluntarily they don't qualify. The sister might have had a claim on the estate under provisions for dependent relatives but that has to be done within six months so no longer applicable. A very sad situation but that is the law.

Savvy_Sue

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

The local authority has a statutory obligation to house homeless people unless they have made themselves intentionally homeless. If the person leaves voluntarily they don't qualify.

You may find they have to be 'vulnerable' as well as homeless. I've just run through our local council's 'can I apply to be on the housing register' questionnaire and from the bare details given here the answer is that she can apply, but is very unlikely to be offered a council property. She would be expected to find private rented accommodation.

Having said that, I see mention of sister having children: their ages might make a difference to that.

LizW

My niece and nephew are in their mid 20's - one is still at university and the other has a son and works part time, so they aren't in a position to help her. The property is valued at approx £90,000, my niece and nephew get £5,000 each (but my sister has 'guilt tripped' them in saying they don't want it), and then after a small credit card debt due to the bank, we should get approx £40,000 each.
The problem is that she won't do anything to sort the situation out, my mum sorted everything before or look into what her options are. She only gets in touch with me when she wants me to do something for her and whilst I know this is going to create a big rift I'm not sure I'd miss her that much which is awful to say.

getmore4less

You are the executor it will be your job to sort things out like putting the property on the market to sell it.

If you do nothing she can just sit there till you decide to so something.

The exact wording of the will determines if the house is within the estate to be sold or just held on trust with the beneficiaries having beneficial interest.

Keep_pedalling

If her children are really prepaired to give up their share then there is not a lot you can do about it although you will need to obtain a deed of variation. You should also warn them that if either of them are on means tested benefits this could be treated as deprivation of assets, so they could lose some benefits without actually having access to the capital.

You really are going to have to start to get heavy with your sister. Tell her to start looking to find something to rent, or something much smaller in her price range, because you are going to put the house on the market on within the month.

Mojisola

LizW wrote: »

I sorted the probate to save money, which I'm regretting now as a solicitor would have dealt with this issue. Is there a time limit after probate before the estate is dealt with?

There's no reason why you can't involve a solicitor now.

You can stay as executor but can employ a solicitor to do the necessary work to get the estate finished. The costs will come out of the estate and so will reduce the amount you and your sister get.

getmore4less

There is no need for a DOV if the children want to give up their inheritance.


Their legacy fail and in most cases will fall into the residue unless will has terms that send it elsewhere.