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How to best protect 50% share of property
BonOeuf
Posts: 2 Newbie
Dad died 2016 leaving Mum in a large bungalow last valuation £650k. Mum has cash @£120k with no income other than state pension amounting to £500 pcm.
Retrospective DOV being done to protect Dad’s 50%. Mums will ready for signing, executors and named beneficiaries being myself and older sister.
Sister and husband both 60 are intent on moving into bungalow and modifying it to become 4 bed property, at an estimated cost of £150k. Sister claims it is to provide care and company to mother (we both live very close and visit daily at the moment). I suspect her and husband intend to retire to the property, and I am concerned that when the time comes, I will be unable to claim my share without considerable difficulty and expense.
Their financial situation is that they live in a house last valued at £410k, on which there is an interest only mortgage of £170k. They also own a property in Cyprus which I understand cannot be sold due to title issues. This was bought for £100k plus using a disastrous Swiss franc mortgage which subsequently had to be imported into their UK property. IF the title issues can be resolved then the value may be £70k. Therefore their net assets are at best £300k.
The care of mother is of course our primary concern, but I can see that when she has passed there is a high probability of dispute, particularly if sister and husband have grown used to treating it as their home. Sister and husband are refusing to consider the potential difficulties. It is causing strain between what has always previously been a harmonious family. I worry as they prefer to have brand new cars every two years rather than face the looming reality of the end of their interest-only mortgage.
What is the best way to ensure I can claim my share when the time comes?
Retrospective DOV being done to protect Dad’s 50%. Mums will ready for signing, executors and named beneficiaries being myself and older sister.
Sister and husband both 60 are intent on moving into bungalow and modifying it to become 4 bed property, at an estimated cost of £150k. Sister claims it is to provide care and company to mother (we both live very close and visit daily at the moment). I suspect her and husband intend to retire to the property, and I am concerned that when the time comes, I will be unable to claim my share without considerable difficulty and expense.
Their financial situation is that they live in a house last valued at £410k, on which there is an interest only mortgage of £170k. They also own a property in Cyprus which I understand cannot be sold due to title issues. This was bought for £100k plus using a disastrous Swiss franc mortgage which subsequently had to be imported into their UK property. IF the title issues can be resolved then the value may be £70k. Therefore their net assets are at best £300k.
The care of mother is of course our primary concern, but I can see that when she has passed there is a high probability of dispute, particularly if sister and husband have grown used to treating it as their home. Sister and husband are refusing to consider the potential difficulties. It is causing strain between what has always previously been a harmonious family. I worry as they prefer to have brand new cars every two years rather than face the looming reality of the end of their interest-only mortgage.
What is the best way to ensure I can claim my share when the time comes?
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Comments
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Sounds like a recipe for disaster. You ALL need independent, paid for, legal advice. Ignoring the Cyprus property that may well be worth nothing then their assets are £410K-170K = £240K - conversion costs of £150K=£90K. Get mum to appoint an independent solicitor as executor. From what you have said you don't trust your sister, and with good reason it seems.Dad died 2016 leaving Mum in a large bungalow last valuation £650k. Mum has cash @£120k with no income other than state pension amounting to £500 pcm.
Retrospective DOV being done to protect Dad’s 50%. Mums will ready for signing, executors and named beneficiaries being myself and older sister.
Sister and husband both 60 are intent on moving into bungalow and modifying it to become 4 bed property, at an estimated cost of £150k. Sister claims it is to provide care and company to mother (we both live very close and visit daily at the moment). I suspect her and husband intend to retire to the property, and I am concerned that when the time comes, I will be unable to claim my share without considerable difficulty and expense.
Their financial situation is that they live in a house last valued at £410k, on which there is an interest only mortgage of £170k. They also own a property in Cyprus which I understand cannot be sold due to title issues. This was bought for £100k plus using a disastrous Swiss franc mortgage which subsequently had to be imported into their UK property. IF the title issues can be resolved then the value may be £70k. Therefore their net assets are at best £300k.
The care of mother is of course our primary concern, but I can see that when she has passed there is a high probability of dispute, particularly if sister and husband have grown used to treating it as their home. Sister and husband are refusing to consider the potential difficulties. It is causing strain between what has always previously been a harmonious family. I worry as they prefer to have brand new cars every two years rather than face the looming reality of the end of their interest-only mortgage.
What is the best way to ensure I can claim my share when the time comes?0 -
Yorkshireman99 wrote: »Sounds like a recipe for disaster. You ALL need independent, paid for, legal advice. Ignoring the Cyprus property that may well be worth nothing then their assets are £410K-170K = £240K - conversion costs of £150K=£90K. Get mum to appoint an independent solicitor as executor. From what you have said you don't trust your sister, and with good reason it seems.
Agree this is madness. Your mother has more than enough assets to provide for herself in her latter years, and if she needs care don’t you think if she ever needs residential care that she would be better off being able to afford quality care in a home of her choosing rather than have sons choice in LA funded care.
Seems to me that this is mainly driven by greed in trying to protect an inheritance rather than what is best for you mum. I don’t even think the DoV is that important for a property of that value, as she would have to be in care for a very long time to eat up £325k.0 -
What accommodation is best for your Mother?
As an example my Mother moved from own home to independent living (bedroom, wet room, lounge diner and kitchen- included 1 meal per day but restaurant open for all meals).
She sold house and was able to pay for the costs and assets were more practically dividable (this was an unexpected consequence rather than driver)
Accommodation made her more independent and less stressed (no maintenance etc)
She had a fantastic life, merely by thinking differently about accommodation.Debt is a symptom, solve the problem.0 -
From your post, it is obvious you don't trust your sister. You have managed to glean rather a lot of private financial information about her so this indicates you are highly concerned right now.
Countless times, people move in with older relatives on the pretext of 'caring' for them, and many are well-intended. However circumstances change, and caring for a vulnerable person can take its toll. What invariably happens is that the one allegedly being cared for is forced to leave their own home.
Having witnessed what can and does happen, I'd strongly advise your Mum to take professional legal advice, on her own, without influence from anyone close.
Take action now, as the situation you foretell can/will happen before your Mum passes away, and the emotional turmoil is quite unbearable.0 -
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I assume when your sister moves in she will only own a 25% share ( ie 50% of your Dad's share). Without some sort of agreement with the other two owners, ie you and your Mum, it would seem very risky for your sister to spend £150k on improving the property.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Have you asked your sister how she intends to get back this £150k worth of improvement?[/FONT]0 -
What DOV is being done to protect the share.
How will the house be owned?0 -
getmore4less wrote: »What DOV is being done to protect the share.
How will the house be owned?
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Hopefully OP will clarify but my reading was that Dad left everything to Mum, but Mum's DOV will give Dad's 50% share of property to OP and sister.
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]House will then be owned Mum 50%, OP 25%, sister 25%, with Mum's will leaving her 50% to OP and sister.
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sister is planning to spend £150k improving house whilst only owning 25%.[/FONT]0 -
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Hopefully OP will clarify but my reading was that Dad left everything to Mum, but Mum's DOV will give Dad's 50% share of property to OP and sister.
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]House will then be owned Mum 50%, OP 25%, sister 25%, with Mum's will leaving her 50% to OP and sister.
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sister is planning to spend £150k improving house whilst only owning 25%.[/FONT]
Disaster if that is what they do. That's why it needs clarification and not a good idea to guess.0 -
Thank you for all the input so far, the last post is essentially correct. Sis had planned to legally ring fence her input. It is not that I do not trust her, but that she does not see how circumstances may change in the future which will cause massive issues. I do not want to find myself having to resort to legal means to force a sale of the property after Mum has gone. Hopefully that will not be for some years, but I can think of any number of ways by which it might not be a good time to sell in the future.
My preferred option would be to sell the bungalow, offer some money to sis for modification of her property to accommodate Mum (which she has indicated is an option) and buy a couple of houses with the remainder to give Mum a decent retirement income which would allow her to build a decent nest egg and also be able to pay for any care as and when required. At the end the properties can be retained or sold. I appreciate there are tax and administrative issues but it seems a much cleaner way of dealing with it in the best interests of all.
I just think sis fancies being a PD but with no real experience I think it exposes the whole family to risk, both financial and emotional. Thanks again for all the replies so far.0 -
Thank you for all the input so far, the last post is essentially correct. Sis had planned to legally ring fence her input. It is not that I do not trust her, but that she does not see how circumstances may change in the future which will cause massive issues. I do not want to find myself having to resort to legal means to force a sale of the property after Mum has gone. Hopefully that will not be for some years, but I can think of any number of ways by which it might not be a good time to sell in the future.
My preferred option would be to sell the bungalow, offer some money to sis for modification of her property to accommodate Mum (which she has indicated is an option) and buy a couple of houses with the remainder to give Mum a decent retirement income which would allow her to build a decent nest egg and also be able to pay for any care as and when required. At the end the properties can be retained or sold. I appreciate there are tax and administrative issues but it seems a much cleaner way of dealing with it in the best interests of all.
I just think sis fancies being a PD but with no real experience I think it exposes the whole family to risk, both financial and emotional. Thanks again for all the replies so far.
Do you or your mother have any experience in being a landlord?0
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