Tenants in Common with Mother + Dispute over division of property

AdrianC

D'oh. You are right.

jtprobs

No - that is joint tennancy, where the other party gets the deceased share.

Tennants in common, means either side can leave their half to someone else via a will.
I obviously want my family to inherit my half - as my mother expects that she will outlive me.
She said as much, and with her carefreee, stressfree life, doing what she wants, whenever she wants, not caring about anyone - i believe her!

As I am the only one that has always paid off her debts, even took out a 5k loan a couple months into my very first job - i would hope that she would leave me half her share, and my brother the other half.
But she could leave my brother the whole of her share.
As we cannot know what will happen - i think it very selfish of my brother to want something from me now.

marksoton

What a bloody mess. Professional legal advice asap i'd say.

Person_one

AdrianC wrote: »

I can kinda see his point.

When a Tenant-in-Common dies, their tenancy of the property simply ceases to exist, so the other T-i-Cs continue to be 100% owners of the entire property.

Situation before father signed his tenancy to you - mother dies, father is 100% owner of property.
Situation now - mother dies, you are 100% owner of property.

Any will she may have is irrelevant, as are the intestacy rules if she doesn't have a will, because her ownership of the property simply ceases to exist on her death.

I don't think that's right, I think you're getting confused with joint tenants.

A tenant in common can will their share to whoever they wish and they become the new tenant in common with the other owner.

Either way, inheritances only happen when somebody dies, they aren't a god-given right, especially if finances are in a mess and need sorting in the here and now.


Edit: didn't realise others had responded on a new page, sorry to pile on!

moneyistooshorttomention

Presumably then both you and mother have made out Wills?

Yours will obviously leave everything you own (ie the "safe" half of the house) to your family.

Hers should leave her half share equally between you and your brother - ie because you've "bought and paid for" your half share. So your brother would stand to inherit a quarter of the house in total (ie half her share).

That is academic, of course, as she might not have made out as fair a Will as that. There is every chance she has quite deliberately made out a Will leaving all her half share to your brother. There is an even bigger chance her half share will be worth zilch net money - as creditors queue up to be paid what she owes them from her half share.

ChemistDude

OMG what a situation to be in. If it was me I'd make certain my legal rights to the property, then saved up and put a deposit on a new place. After all the bailing out you've done probably have no further contact and then inherit when it happens.

Cheeky_Monkey

mdkzeus wrote: »

No - that is joint tennancy, where the other party gets the deceased share.

Tennants in common, means either side can leave their half to someone else via a will.
I obviously want my family to inherit my half - as my mother expects that she will outlive me.
She said as much, and with her carefreee, stressfree life, doing what she wants, whenever she wants, not caring about anyone - i believe her!

As I am the only one that has always paid off her debts, even took out a 5k loan a couple months into my very first job - i would hope that she would leave me half her share, and my brother the other half.
But she could leave my brother the whole of her share.
As we cannot know what will happen - i think it very selfish of my brother to want something from me now.

Let's hope her demise comes a lot sooner than yours (the sooner the better )

I wouldn't mind betting that the OP's father doesn't live in the house any more as he saw the light and has escaped from this evil woman - I hope so.

I think there is absolutely no chance of her leaving her half to both sons equally. She will undoubtedly get her revenge by leaving it just to the OP's brother.

fairy_lights

So if she's taken up one of the upstairs bedrooms but is not using it, where does she sleep? In another downstairs bedroom? If so, can't you just move one of your children in to one of the rooms she's not using when she goes out?

moneyistooshorttomention

I am wondering what the exact size of this house and its attendant garden are. I am assuming its quite a small house? I assume her half share (ie downstairs) has two reception rooms (one for a bedroom for her and one for a sitting room for her) and THE kitchen (which she is being the sole user of).

It would be interesting to know how many rooms mother has for herself (excluding the bedroom she is in illictly).

I am also wondering about "off the wall" ideas like a "garden office" in the garden (OP's half) to help out a bit with room. I dont know how much of a goer that idea would be....planning permission and money wise...

xylophone

When a Tenant-in-Common dies, their tenancy of the property simply ceases to exist, so the other T-i-Cs continue to be 100% owners of the entire property

.

The tenant -in - common can pass his interest by will - if he dies intestate his interest is still part of his estate.

http://www.turbervilles.co.uk/blog/property-co-ownership-disputes-whose-house-is-it-anyway/

A warning here however

http://www.practicalconveyancing.co.uk/content/view/9057/1111/

It would seem that the OP should obtain an order for sale from the court as soon as possible?