Leaving house shares to charity?

getmore4less

How did they get to this position?

Are there any conditions on the current ownership?

if they bought did mum ensure she had a life interest to stop the aunt forcing a sale.

if inherited what were the terms.

ccluedo

Sorry to butt in on someone else's thread but rather than start a new thread - how do u find out if u are "tenants in common" or "joint tenants" pls?

kazwookie

How do the mother and aunt own thep roperty in the first place, how did this come about.

If they were left the house by their parents, then a check needs to be made on that will to ensure there was not a codecile relating to when one of them passes on.

barbiedoll

You should be having a full discussion with your aunt about this. If she does leave a "share" of the house to a charity, the charity can and will aggressively chase your mum and/or you and your sister for their money.

This will also mean that you will be expected to get the very best price for the house, or else they may try to sue you for any difference if (for example) you sell it to another family member at a reduced price.

Your aunt would be better to leave a will giving a precise amount to the charity, of course, it will still need to be paid at her death, but at least you will know exactly how much cash you will need to find to pay their bequest. By then, you may be in a better financial position and be able to raise a mortgage to pay for it?

Savvy_Sue

ccluedo wrote: »

Sorry to butt in on someone else's thread but rather than start a new thread - how do u find out if u are "tenants in common" or "joint tenants" pls?

You check on the Land Registry website.

Land_Registry

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

You check on the Land Registry website.

How you hold a property be it as joint tenants or TIC is not defined by the land register alone. There can be a number of reasons which impact on how your beneficial ownership is held as explained in the link jackieblack provided earlier.

Many people assume the land register defines, through the existence of a form A restriction on the register, that you are TIC. That is not the case and this thread is an example of that as you can leave your share in the beneficial ownership in your will and not register the restriction and still be TIC.

The legal ownership (the land register) of the property and the beneficial ownership are separate things. Often linked but quite separate.

JustAmy - others have covered it as yes you can leave your share in the beneficial ownership to a charity or children for example. The key is to consider all aspects both for the joint legal owners as well as the beneficiaries in any will. Whilst age can impact on how you see events panning out that is not always the case of course so covering off all possibilities, inc if anyone can live on in the house before the beneficial share can be taken out, shoukd be considered.

Always best to all know what happens next so there are no extra costs involved in contesting/unravelling things later due to a lack of awareness/understanding.

A final thing to add is that if one of the joint owners dies then the legal ownership passes to the survivor. If there is a form A restriction on the register this will restrict their ability to sell on their own but they could appoint someone to act with them and deal with it that way. The beneficial interest is in the sale monies so that is where a beneficiary would expect to receive their share. Everyone knowing how that works can be crucial in ensuring the monies don't get spent on legal advice/action

Malthusian

barbiedoll wrote: »

Your aunt would be better to leave a will giving a precise amount to the charity, of course, it will still need to be paid at her death, but at least you will know exactly how much cash you will need to find to pay their bequest. By then, you may be in a better financial position and be able to raise a mortgage to pay for it?

And inflation will reduce the true value of the bequest as well, making it easier to pay (or raise a sufficient mortgage to pay it). We don't know how old the protagonists are, but we know the aunt is 10 years younger than the mum. So if e.g. she lives another 20-25 years, it would reduce the real value of the bequest by around half (at 2.5% inflation).

Of course, if the aunt left a precise sum to the charity, she'd have to decide where the rest of her estate is going. If the rest of her estate is left to another third party who will want to realise their inheritance as soon as they inherit then we are back where we started.

Yorkshireman99

JustAmy wrote: »

Hi all - first time poster!

I'm looking for advice on a matter that's started to arise between my mother and aunt. They currently hold (what I believe) is equal share in a house - the home I currently live in with my mum and brother. My aunt lives elsewhere.

We're trying to plan ahead and sort out my mum's will. She wants to leave her share of the house to my sister and myself. Ideally, we would like my aunt to leave her share to one of us, and my mum leave her share to the other, so that in the end, my sister and I would have equal share in the property.

It's starting to come to light that we are extremely unsure and in the dark about my aunt's intentions, and we think she could end up leaving her share to charity.

What happens in this instance? Would my sister and I have to sell the house?

My mum would ideally like my sister and I to have full, shared ownership of the house, rather than a three way split with my aunt (who is around 10 years younger than my mum).

We understand it's for my aunt to do with as she wishes, I just don't understand how leaving a share of a property would work.

Any information on this is greatly appreciated! Sorry for the rambling.

Your mother and aunt need to get together and talk! then they each need professional advice to explore the options and hopefully come to some agreement that the solictor can draft wills and possibly trust deeds,

Keep_pedalling

Assuming she gets paid no rent the aunt is rather foolish to hang on to a portion of a property she obtains no benefit from, but I suspect the right thing to do financial does not overrule some emmotional tie to the home.

Clinging on to the family home seems to cause so many problems and family rifts a lot of people would be better off instructing it to be sold in their wills.