Trustee of will moving into jointly inherited house

Margot123

Hi, I am one of 2 executors/trustees/beneficiaries, inc my brother. Our Dad left his house between the 2 of us, and the will states it is to be held in trust and sold. Brother is now saying he is moving into the house and that I can't do anything about it. Can he legally do this?

Yorkshireman99

Margot123 wrote: »

Hi, I am one of 2 executors/trustees/beneficiaries, inc my brother. Our Dad left his house between the 2 of us, and the will states it is to be held in trust and sold. Brother is now saying he is moving into the house and that I can't do anything about it. Can he legally do this?

No he cannnot, You need to tell him in writing , a eltter, not email, that he has no right. It may be difficult but eventiually you will have have him evicted. You probably need a solcitor to get him evicted using a High Court writ. Don't allow him to bully you.

Malthusian

It is unclear what is meant by "executors/trustees/beneficiaries" - if the Will states that the house is to be held in trust with the two siblings as both trustees and beneficiaries then it seems a pointlessly overcomplicated way of leaving it to the two of them jointly. Which of course does not mean that isn't what has happened.

As I understand it (could be wrong) if you are a joint owner of a property you have the right to occupy it, even if the other joint owner doesn't want you to. If you can't come to an agreement the other owner will have to go to court to force the sale of the property. Do you not have the same right if the house is in trust and you are both the trustee and the beneficiary?

Either way the OP will have to go to court to either force a sale, or to evict the brother and force a sale, so it is of rather academic interest. The important thing is that in saying "I can't do anything about it" the brother is dead wrong.

Keep_pedalling

You should tell him that if he goes ahead, that you will force the sale through the courts, which is going to to cost him a lot of money. Hopefully that might do the trick, but if not you have to follow through and appoint a solicitor to act for you.

All costs will come out of the estate so it will be expensive for both of you in the long run, but better a reduced inheritance than one that cant be touched because of your selfish brother.

getmore4less

The op has said the will said house was to be sold.

The two of them will have 2 legal hats executor/trustee and beneficiary.

A reasonable(but could be wrong) assumption is the house is currently still in the estate trust.

beneficial interest of the property should not have transferred to the beneficiaries

The exact terms of that trust need to be determined.

The op will probably need to act in their capacity as joint executor/trustee to deal with this.

Margot123

Thank you for your responses. I consulted a solicitor who has basically said either of us can occupy the property, and as has previously been advised, I would need to force the sale and then evict him. The issue would be that he wouldn't even let anyone in to view it so they could at least put an offer in. Caught between a rock and a hard place apparently. As he is a trustee, then he could be taken to court but then it could take years. Please, anyone writing a will, make sure it is properly worded for your beneficiaries' sakes.

Sea_Shell

Pack your bags and move in too!! What's good for the goose....

on a serious note, i hope you get them to see sense, and to see the situation from your side.

Yorkshireman99

Margot123 wrote: »

Thank you for your responses. I consulted a solicitor who has basically said either of us can occupy the property, and as has previously been advised, I would need to force the sale and then evict him. The issue would be that he wouldn't even let anyone in to view it so they could at least put an offer in. Caught between a rock and a hard place apparently. As he is a trustee, then he could be taken to court but then it could take years. Please, anyone writing a will, make sure it is properly worded for your beneficiaries' sakes.

You can get him evict pre-sale. This needs High C ourt action. The cost can be deducted from his share.You have to be very hard nosed and not allow youself to be bullied. It will not take years. Go to another solicitor if need be.

PasturesNew

What is his reasoning?

Is he idle/good for nothing and seeing an opportunity?
Is he grieving and can't/won't let go?

What is it?

Margot123

To answer a couple of queries; I couldn't move in with him as he takes drugs and would run up debts, apart from having weird mates about all the time. I also have my own home and family, so not even an option.
The reason he is moving in is because it is free! I'm sure he's running away from debts as he owes people all over the place inc Council Tax.
I think my best option would be to give him grief before he gets settled in. I can always give the authorities a nudge as to where he might be ;-)

Malthusian

Get the locks changed. He would have the right to change them again, but the £100 to do so may be enough of a deterrent.

Telling the authorities where to send their debt demands is probably not going to speed up the process. Unless he is wanted by the police, which I'm sure he isn't as otherwise you would have committed a criminal offence yourself by not telling them already.