Can an executor insist on access to an occupied property?

chocolatecakeyumyum

Hi all, I'm so glad I found this forum & I'm really hoping you can help me.

A brief summary of the current situation, my partner has lived in his parents home all of his life, more so in the later years just to be carers for them. His mum died years ago and his dad has just passed unfortunately. I, as his partner (not married but been together for forever), moved in nearly 2 years ago to help care for his dad. The will states that the house should be sold and split between my partner and 2 other siblings. This brings me to my questions:

1. What right does my partner have to live in the house still? As it's been his only home all his life.
2. Does the executor have right to access the house as they please to sort out the dad's affairs, or can my partner object for the sake of privacy?

Thank you so much in advance for any help.

xylophone

 1. What right does my partner have to live in the house still? As it's been his only home all his life.

He has no such right. Is he able to buy out his siblings?

2. Does the executor have right to access the house as they please to sort out the dad's affairs, or can my partner object for the sake of privacy?

It is the  legal duty of the executor to value the estate (which includes real estate, belongings, cash, shares and any other assets),  apply for probate ( which will involve rendering an account to HMRC), pay any IHT, receive the Grant, gather in the assets, pay any debts and pass on the bequests to the beneficiaries.

The executor will need access to accomplish all the above.  Your partner will need to co-operate with him/her.

The executor can arrange for the funeral costs to be met before probate by asking the funeral director to present his bill to the deceased's bank.

Mojisola

chocolatecakeyumyum said:

my partner has lived in his parents home all of his life, more so in the later years just to be carers for them. His mum died years ago and his dad has just passed unfortunately.
What right does my partner have to live in the house still? As it's been his only home all his life.

It would be very unusual for a resident family member to asked to move out at short notice - it's much better to have a property lived in and looked after than left empty.  Obviously, this will only last until the house is to be sold so you need to start looking at finding somewhere else.

The executor has to sort out the estate so will need access to the house.

It would be worth separating your and your partner's possessions from those of his father to make life easier for the executor.

Brynsam

chocolatecakeyumyum said:

A brief summary of the current situation, my partner has lived in his parents home all of his life, more so in the later years just to be carers for them. His mum died years ago and his dad has just passed unfortunately. I, as his partner (not married but been together for forever), moved in nearly 2 years ago to help care for his dad. The will states that the house should be sold and split between my partner and 2 other siblings. This brings me to my questions:

1. What right does my partner have to live in the house still? As it's been his only home all his life.
2. Does the executor have right to access the house as they please to sort out the dad's affairs, or can my partner object for the sake of privacy?

Thank you so much in advance for any help.

1. No right, but if he's on good terms with his siblings, why would they object, especially if he is paying the running costs and keeping the property generally looked after until it is sold?
2. The executor is entitled to necessary access, but again, if the siblings are on good terms, visits would be at mutually agreed times. He would certainly need to allow access to an estate agent/viewings by potential purchasers.

I wonder if, given you are asking these questions, there may not be the greatest relationship between your partner and his siblings. If that's the case, it is even more important to try and keep things as amicable as possible, which may mean keeping your involvement to a minimum if it's likely to inflame matters. This is for your partner and his siblings to sort out.

Without wishing to strike a discordant note, but while we're on the subject of death, I trust you/your partner have valid wills, given that you would have no rights to inherit anything from each other's estate however long you've been together?

chocolatecakeyumyum

Thank you so much Xylophone, Mojisola and Brynsam for your kind and helpful replies. 

As Brynsam suggested there isn't a great relationship between the siblings so we just wanted to make sure what we were being told was correct.

As for the will thing, we are getting married very shortly so that will negate the need for that but thank you for the thought. If anything goes awry with that plan due to covid I'll make sure we do wills as a priority.

Thanks all again.

Keep_pedalling

chocolatecakeyumyum said:

Thank you so much Xylophone, Mojisola and Brynsam for your kind and helpful replies. 

As Brynsam suggested there isn't a great relationship between the siblings so we just wanted to make sure what we were being told was correct.

As for the will thing, we are getting married very shortly so that will negate the need for that but thank you for the thought. If anything goes awry with that plan due to covid I'll make sure we do wills as a priority.

Thanks all again.

Whatever their differences it is important not to let those get in the way of winding up the estate.  As a start I would suggest that your partner contact his brother to ask when he would like to come over to do an inventory of their parents stuff, rather than be difficult over providing access.

If your partner want to keep the house and has the means to do so he could also offer to buy his brother out of his share of the house.

As for wills, being married does not negate them. I assume your partner does not want his brother to inherit if anything happened to you, so a will needs to cover what happens if you died first or if you died together. A will can be done in contemplation of marriage so there is no reason to put off making one.

 

Browntoa

If the property gets sold then your partner will be asked to sign paperwork agreeing to vacate on completion. This is standard practice and not some Dodgy move by the executor

Middlestitch

chocolatecakeyumyum said:

As for the will thing, we are getting married very shortly so that will negate the need for that but thank you for the thought. If anything goes awry with that plan due to covid I'll make sure we do wills as a priority.

Have you seen the number of posts on this forum from people stuck with dealing with the intestacy of a loved one, who 'hadn't made a will because they didn't expect to die'?

Get on and make your wills (as KP points out, these simply need to say they are in contemplation of marriage, which will mean you don't need to re-make immediately after the wedding reception!), and remember to include what happens if you both die in the same car crash or whatever. If the siblings aren't on good terms, then possibly your partner won't want them inheriting - and what would you want to happen to your assets?

Thinking clearly is much easier while you are both fit and well. If you wait for the next COVIS-19 spike, which isn't going to be that far away, you'll struggle to find a solicitor with capacity to do the wills, judging by what happened a few months ago.