Rights of Tenants in Common. Ripped off in my fathers will

joyfully

My sister managed to persuade my father last August to change his will to give all his assets, house car ect to her. He was 94 and I only found out last week when he died.

Everything as a family had always been 50/50 which my mother insisted upon.

My parents had mirror wills with 50% of the house (their main asset with approx £600,000) going to the surviving partner and 25% each to me and my sister.

My mother died two years ago and so I now own 25% of the house. My father died two weeks ago and my sister had bamboozled him into giving all of his 50% share to her, supposedly because she liked living there for free (who wouldnt) and I might force a sale (as I would have).

So now I am not at all impressed with her (she did let him fall down the stairs whilst looking after him in the night and he died five days later).

She now wants to live in the house. What precisely are my rights with 25% held as Tenant in Common. I could I presume take a court order and force her to sell or buy me out.

I have looked around the web and it seems to say that even though I only own 25% I have beneficial use of the whole property. What does that mean whilst she is living there.

For instance as there are two double bedrooms could I rent one out on Airbnb or sparerooms. She would then have to give my tenants access to the common areas including bathroom, kitchen. Lounge and garden.

Any pointers on my rights much appreciated.

Yorkshireman99

joyfully wrote: »

My sister managed to persuade my father last August to change his will to give all his assets, house car ect to her. He was 94 and I only found out last week when he died.

Everything as a family had always been 50/50 which my mother insisted upon.

My parents had mirror wills with 50% of the house (their main asset with approx £600,000) going to the surviving partner and 25% each to me and my sister.

My mother died two years ago and so I now own 25% of the house. My father died two weeks ago and my sister had bamboozled him into giving all of his 50% share to her, supposedly because she liked living there for free (who wouldnt) and I might force a sale (as I would have).

So now I am not at all impressed with her (she did let him fall down the stairs whilst looking after him in the night and he died five days later).

She now wants to live in the house. What precisely are my rights with 25% held as Tenant in Common. I could I presume take a court order and force her to sell or buy me out.

I have looked around the web and it seems to say that even though I only own 25% I have beneficial use of the whole property. What does that mean whilst she is living there.

For instance as there are two double bedrooms could I rent one out on Airbnb or sparerooms. She would then have to give my tenants access to the common areas including bathroom, kitchen. Lounge and garden.

Any pointers on my rights much appreciated.

The on;y right you have is to force a sale and pocket your 25%. Your sister may try to stop you but the court will force to. If she obstructs it she will face a bill for the costs. You need to consult a solicitor to get the process started.

joyfully

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

The on;y right you have is to force a sale and pocket your 25%. Your sister may try to stop you but the court will force to. If she obstructs it she will face a bill for the costs. You need to consult a solicitor to get the process started.

But what about my rights to access and beneficial use. It seems that I have exactly the same rights as her to the whole house and the percentage is not relevant.

It is in a desirable holiday location with good Airbnb possibilities and I could not only get income I could also seriously !!!! her off (as she deserves) by forcing her to accept my guests

Sea_Shell

I really think you need to breathe and try and stay calm. Everything is still very raw at the moment.

You cannot force your Sister to accept guests into her home. It is her home, even if only 75%. She just won't let them in...then you'll be in trouble with your paying guests!!! That route is a non starter. Sorry.

Tigsteroonie

joyfully wrote: »

It is in a desirable holiday location with good Airbnb possibilities and I could not only get income I could also seriously !!!! her off (as she deserves) by forcing her to accept my guests

Nobody's going to give you a good review if they find they are having to share the acommodation with a reluctant and obstructive co-owner.

Flugelhorn

Just concentrate on agreeing with your sister about either buying you out or putting the house up for sale.

Also you need to have some agreement about maintenance of the property and you might consider asking her for rent on 25% of the property

Keep_pedalling

Unless you want to shackle yourself to your sister financially forever you best option is to get her to buy out your share of the house. If she won’t or can’t do that then you need to start to make moves to force the sale.

You could also challenge the will as this seems to have been done quite near death, but that is likely to be very expensive and may take years.

joyfully

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Just concentrate on agreeing with your sister about either buying you out or putting the house up for sale.

Also you need to have some agreement about maintenance of the property and you might consider asking her for rent on 25% of the property

She does not have enough money to buy me put so only option would then be to force a sale which would cost in legal fees.

I am still waiting to see if anyone can advise on my access and use rights under Tenants in common. All that I read says I have full access and use of the whole property. How does that work? There are two bedrooms. Do I just take over one.

joyfully

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Unless you want to shackle yourself to your sister financially forever you best option is to get her to buy out your share of the house. If she won’t or can’t do that then you need to start to make moves to force the sale.

You could also challenge the will as this seems to have been done quite near death, but that is likely to be very expensive and may take years.

I think challenging the will would not work out. It was all signed and witnessed and dated, even though one of the witnesses was her best friend. I have thought of asking the police for a statement about how he managed to fall down the stairs. Might stir her conscience and she could restore my rightful (as my deceased mother and father agreed) inheritance. Families, don't you love them!

happyandcontented

Have you spoken to your sister about getting your share?

getmore4less

The costs of forcing a sale will be prohibitive

Buyout or sale are your best options moving forward

Moving in would motivate the sister to do something.
While she lives there rent free there is no motivation to do anything

Moving others in can create a tenancy.