How to ensure my Mums wishes are followed?

xylophone

I've asked her to speak to a solicitor (who is also an old friend of hers).

https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership/change-from-joint-tenants-to-tenants-in-common

It would be possible for her to act as above but if her current will remained unaltered, her interest would simply pass to your father.

Therefore she would need to sever the tenancy and have a new will drafted, signed and witnessed.

Keep_pedalling

Well there is one way to get a 50/50 split of the assets and that is to divorce him, but the stress of doing that is probably not going to help with her health.

She should however sever the joint tenancy on the jointly owned house and change her will to leave her share to you and your sibling.

As for the rest you will have to trust your dad to do the right thing with his will.

Does she have lasting powers of attorney in place?

gwynlas

My mother died of motor neurone disease so I am sorry to hear of your mothers situation.
I would advise that she speaks to her solicitor friend as soon as possible and makes a new will. She should take advice as to whether she is considered of sound mind to prevent your father contesting this. She should also consider divorce if she feels up to it
If your father marries his girlfriend this would negate any current will he's had and if he dies intestate his estate would automatically go to her.

onwards&upwards

It sounds like divorce would definitely be the best option. Can you approach any charities to see if they can provide an advocate for her or ask her to give you LPA to take some of the stress off her.

What a truly crappy situation for her to find herself in, my heart goes out to her.

Malthusian

atfcrick wrote: »

My Mum hasn't got the strength to fight a long battle with him. She simply asks that he respects her wishes that eventually their property is passed to her children. He has said that he will put it "in trust" to us, so that this happens when he passes.

What exactly does this mean?

Unless he gifts the properties to you (her children) during her lifetime and shows her the paperwork, this means absolutely nothing from her perspective.

Divorce is the only thing that achieves her objectives.

She could instruct solicitors and ask them to handle all negotiations for her to the maximum extent they possibly can, even if it means extra legal expenses. As she is in a care home she has already taken care of one of the biggest stresses of divorce (finding somewhere to live).

If she is already worrying about what her children will get on her death then I don't see that having solicitors negotiating a divorce for her in the background adds any additional stress to her life. It will reduce stress because it will reduce the uncertainty over what Dad will do with her half of the assets of the marriage that will currently pass to him on her death.

As KP says she should sever the joint tenancy immediately which will take much less time than divorce.