Possible dispute over jointly inherited house

DepositSaver

My father died at the end of last year. His will leaves everything to my brother and me equally. The estate consists a mortgage-free house, some money and a car (together worth about a sixth of the value of the house) , so in theory straightforward. However it's complicated by the fact that my brother lived in the house with my dad and wants to continue to live there, probably for the rest of his life. I have my own home and don't want to live in my dad's house, and also don't want to own half a house as I don't want to be responsible for upkeep and maintenance of a second home from which I get no benefit.

The ideal solution would seem to be that my brother buys me out of my half, but he is unemployed and on benefits and so can't afford to do this. I would therefore prefer to sell the house and split the money between us. Half of the estate may not be enough for him to be able to buy a new home, and I obviously don't want to see him homeless so have suggested we could sell and split the money so he has more than me and enough to buy a new home (with perhaps a 2/3 to 1/3 split). He is adamant that he doesn't want to sell, even if gets more of the proceeds than me. He wants to continue to live in the house. I assume that if I own half the house and get half the cash, I am deemed to have inherited half the estate, but owning half a house which gives me no benefit and which I can't sell or rent out but which I have to pay to upkeep, seems pointless, especially if my brother never wants to sell and I die before him - it would feel as if I might as well have inherited nothing. I know my dad and I know that isn't what he would have wanted or intended. 

My brother has already got angry when I tried to discuss things and is generally a very awkward, difficult person, so the executor (not me or him) will be getting a solicitor to help with most of the work involved in getting probate. I intend to ask advice from the solicitor but wondered if anyone had any thoughts on some questions, or had been through similar and how it worked out? 
1. Does the house have to be transferred into our names? Or can the executor make the decision to sell it and split the proceeds between us? The will makes no specific reference to the house and says something along the lines of "sell call in or convert the same into money" 
2. If we did end up owning the house jointly would I definitely have to be responsible for half the maintenance and upkeep? Could my brother agree to pay the whole cost? House is in ok structural condition but not great decor/fixtures and fittings wise - it's very dated and in some parts damaged. I'm not sure my brother would ever get round to fixing a lot of it and may not be able to afford to, so either he would demand that I pay all of the cost, or would just leave it to get into a worse state of repair
Thank you

getmore4less

Who are executors? 

xylophone

so the executor (not me or him) will be getting a solicitor to help with most of the work involved in getting probate. I intend to ask advice from the solicitor 

The solicitor may cite "conflict of interest" and decline to advise you in this matter.

It seems from the wording of the will that once he has probate, the executor has the authority  to transfer in specie or in cash to the beneficiaries.

It would be normal for the executor to seek the views of the beneficiaries but it seems to me that in a situation such as this, he will need to exercise his discretion and this may well be in favour of a sale.

DepositSaver

Executor is a relative of my dad, who would like to do what is fairest for both me and my brother. They asked us to discuss with each other to see if we could agree on what to do but so far we haven't been able to.

jonesMUFCforever

Would you forgo all of the house in return for any bank balances and the car?
If so a deed of variation could be drawn up - of course you would have to mean that you did not want it in the future?

DepositSaver

xylophone said:

so the executor (not me or him) will be getting a solicitor to help with most of the work involved in getting probate. I intend to ask advice from the solicitor 

The solicitor may cite "conflict of interest" and decline to advise you in this matter.

It seems from the wording of the will that once he has probate, the executor has the authority  to transfer in specie or in cash to the beneficiaries.

It would be normal for the executor to seek the views of the beneficiaries but it seems to me that in a situation such as this, he will need to exercise his discretion and this may well be in favour of a sale.

Thank you, sorry I should have been clearer, the advice would be to both my brother and me regarding what options there are to ensure we both end up with something fair (I suspect not many?).
I think there is a chance the executor may want give up the role (if that's possible?) as he's finding it quite stressful because my brother has been getting quite angry with him. I'm not sure what happens then - the other executor named in the will died a few years ago.       

DepositSaver

jonesMUFCforever said:

Would you forgo all of the house in return for any bank balances and the car?
If so a deed of variation could be drawn up - of course you would have to mean that you did not want it in the future?

I have considered that. It would leave me with probably around 15% of the value of the estate so way less than 50% but also removes stress and hassle. I haven't suggested it to my brother yet, not sure how happy he would be at getting zero cash.

tacpot12

If you do nothing, the executor has to give you half the estate, so you could just sit back and wait to see what happens - the expenses of maintaining the house are your father's until the house is transferred to someone else's ownership.

If you end up owning half the house, it is likely that you will be liable for half the maintenance costs, but you can agree he will pay them all. If your brother doesn't maintain the house (and my experience is that he won't), you could find that you are liable for the entire cost of emergency repairs that the council have to make to ensure the house is not a danger to others. Equally you will also be liable for all the council tax if he doesn't pay it. I would not want half a house if the other owner is already showing signs of being intransigent. 

Really the executor should renounce their executorship if your brother is going to make it difficult to abide be the terms of the will. That will leave you with the problem of who will apply for a Grant of Probate to that the estate can be distributed. You can apply, but to solve your dilemma you need to think whether you would be prepared to fall out with your brother permanently, or not. If you are not prepared to fall out with him over money, the Deed of Variation suggested above will allow a split that the executor can easily achieve if they transfer the house to your brother and everything else to you. 

Savvy_Sue

Is there anyone your brother might be willing to listen to? Another relative, a friend of the family? 

DepositSaver

tacpot12 said:

If you do nothing, the executor has to give you half the estate, so you could just sit back and wait to see what happens - the expenses of maintaining the house are your father's until the house is transferred to someone else's ownership.

If you end up owning half the house, it is likely that you will be liable for half the maintenance costs, but you can agree he will pay them all. If your brother doesn't maintain the house (and my experience is that he won't), you could find that you are liable for the entire cost of emergency repairs that the council have to make to ensure the house is not a danger to others. Equally you will also be liable for all the council tax if he doesn't pay it. I would not want half a house if the other owner is already showing signs of being intransigent. 

Really the executor should renounce their executorship if your brother is going to make it difficult to abide be the terms of the will. That will leave you with the problem of who will apply for a Grant of Probate to that the estate can be distributed. You can apply, but to solve your dilemma you need to think whether you would be prepared to fall out with your brother permanently, or not. If you are not prepared to fall out with him over money, the Deed of Variation suggested above will allow a split that the executor can easily achieve if they transfer the house to your brother and everything else to you. 

Thank you. When you say the expenses of maintaining the house are my father's until the house is transferred to someone else's ownership, how does that work if nobody currently has access to his bank accounts? My brother has changed the utility and council tax bills, and house/contents insurance into his name and is paying those - I said I would pay half the insurance as I think I am probably liable but he said he was ok to pay for the moment (this was before he started getting awkward).

I agree with your point about not wanting to own a house with someone already being intransigent. He really isn't a person I would feel happy co-owning a house with. It had occurred to me about council required repairs (though the house is pretty solid so not massively worried at the moment about it being a danger) but I hadn't realised I could be liable for council tax if he doesn't pay. I think he is entitled to council tax benefit/reduction but don't know how much this would be.

The Deed of Variation suggested does fell perhaps the sensible, lease hassle thing to do, but I have a nagging thought that I know my dad would be really upset if he knew the estate ended up being split so unevenly. 

  

DepositSaver

Savvy_Sue said:

Is there anyone your brother might be willing to listen to? Another relative, a friend of the family? 

I don't think so. He has either fallen out with or isn't in touch with most of the rest of the family, my dad didn't really have any friends, and friends of other relatives would be strangers to him.