Letter with a will

benidorm59

Many years ago a house was put in a siblings name, fast forward six years ago and the father died and left a letter with the will that stated that the other sibling was to be given a share of the property when the house was sold. The house was sold a few weeks ago but the sibling named on the deed has not adhered to the letter and seems to be keeping all the proceeds for themselves in as they have made no contact to date. Its tricky because since the death of the parent there has been no contact between the siblings and the sibling who sold the house doesn't know the other one knows.

MovingForwards

A letter of wishes, it's just that, a wish / would like.

Is there any reference in the will to the letter of wishes or a trust or anything to do with the house?

benidorm59

No there isn't just that when sold the share should be given. Up the point of the will being read one sibling knew nothing of the letter, the other one did

Keep_pedalling

The only person to blame is the foolish parent who gave his home away. You can’t leave anything in your will you no longer own.

Owain_Moneysaver

It's very questionable whether a letter with the Will has any legal effect whatsoever.

Also, if the house was put into the sibling's name as a gift without any conditions, then the sibling can do what they want with it. The house ceased at that point to belong to the father who cannot attach conditions to its future disposal.

NB - if the father was still living in the house then this may count as a gift with reservation and the value of the house may be counted towards the Inheritance Tax due by the estate if the gift was within the last 7 years.

If the sibling was not living in the house then there may be a Capital Gains Tax payment due by the sibling when the house is sold, and the sibling can't claim residence exemption It is possible for the house to be caught by both IHT and CGT and CGT is calculated from the date of gift, not the date of death.

Hectors_House

One knows about the letter and the other doesn’t.

Whichever way around it is doesn’t matter if they are not prepared to sit down and discuss it.

It’s a moral question rather than a legal one I guess.

Let’s hope greed doesn’t get in the way - you can lose the money in many varied ways but you can only lose a sibling once for the relationship to be damaged for good.

Brynsam

benidorm59 wrote: »

Many years ago a house was put in a siblings name, fast forward six years ago and the father died and left a letter with the will that stated that the other sibling was to be given a share of the property when the house was sold. The house was sold a few weeks ago but the sibling named on the deed has not adhered to the letter and seems to be keeping all the proceeds for themselves in as they have made no contact to date. Its tricky because since the death of the parent there has been no contact between the siblings and the sibling who sold the house doesn't know the other one knows.

I'm afraid you've missed out. Your sibling was given the house six years ago, at which point the property ceased to belong to your father, so 'stating' that you should be given a share has no effect.

You seem to be having rather a lot of these property situations e.g. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75851642#Comment_75851642 Are they real, or some sort of student exercise you're expecting forum members to help with?

benidorm59

No its real very horrible and miserable for the person involved, not me btw and not some sort of student exercise wish it was A solicitor was consulted looked like an open cheque book was needed there and wasn't very forth coming either

Brynsam

benidorm59 wrote: »

No its real very horrible and miserable for the person involved, not me btw and not some sort of student exercise wish it was A solicitor was consulted looked like an open cheque book was needed there and wasn't very forth coming either

Bother - theory is always so much easier to deal with.

Can't see why any solicitor would need more than a half hour consultation to deal with this, if it's as straightforward as your first post suggests. Suggest the person involved gets all the paperwork together and sees a different solicitor.

Sea_Shell

Sorry, but your friend's been done over here!!

First by their Dad, who gave their property away to just one sibling, and then again by said sibling who is ignoring (which they have a right to do legally) the letter of wishes.

If the sibling is more interested in the money than their relationship with your friend, then at least your friend knows where he stands, if nothing else. Out in the cold!!!

Is your Friend "comfortably off" in comparison to the Sibling? Maybe the sibling feels MORE entitled to everything, if they're struggling. Not saying that's right, just could be a factor.

benidorm59

No the sibling with the house is extremely wealthy the other one works hard but gets by. The Money would have meant quite a bit to him, Think Greed is the word