Possible dispute over jointly inherited house

buffalito

DepositSaver said:

mrschaucer said:

Horrible situation for you, but I'm glad you are starting to realise that you have needs as well as your brother. 
You DON'T unilaterally have to tell the administrating solicitor that "the house needs to be sold".  You DO need to state clearly and calmly to him that your considered wish is to have your 50% of the estate as set down in the will.  How the solicitor achieves that is up to him, and if you cannot agree a way forward with your brother then it is for the solicitor to take steps to sell the house.  It is for the solicitor to deal with your brother and his insistence on staying put.

Thank you. The solicitor had told us we need to agree what happens to the house, and that if we can't agree we both need to take independent legal advice. I'd be concerned that if I just say I want 50% of the estate the solicitor would just spilt the cash and put the house into both our names, which I really don't want. Although he did say in his email to us that to fulfil the terms of the will the house would need to be sold and the proceeds split, so I would hope that means his solution would be to sell. 

I can see myself in exactly the same situation in a few years time. My brother has been living with my Dad all his life due to mild learning difficulties and I can't see him moving out when the time comes. Fortunately, he worked full time for 24 years so has savings. Hope it all goes well for you.

Keep_pedalling

buffalito said:

DepositSaver said:

mrschaucer said:

Horrible situation for you, but I'm glad you are starting to realise that you have needs as well as your brother. 
You DON'T unilaterally have to tell the administrating solicitor that "the house needs to be sold".  You DO need to state clearly and calmly to him that your considered wish is to have your 50% of the estate as set down in the will.  How the solicitor achieves that is up to him, and if you cannot agree a way forward with your brother then it is for the solicitor to take steps to sell the house.  It is for the solicitor to deal with your brother and his insistence on staying put.

Thank you. The solicitor had told us we need to agree what happens to the house, and that if we can't agree we both need to take independent legal advice. I'd be concerned that if I just say I want 50% of the estate the solicitor would just spilt the cash and put the house into both our names, which I really don't want. Although he did say in his email to us that to fulfil the terms of the will the house would need to be sold and the proceeds split, so I would hope that means his solution would be to sell. 

I can see myself in exactly the same situation in a few years time. My brother has been living with my Dad all his life due to mild learning difficulties and I can't see him moving out when the time comes. Fortunately, he worked full time for 24 years so has savings. Hope it all goes well for you.

It might be worth your father consulting a solicitor regarding the best way to structure his will to avoid a mess after he has gone.  If your brother’s needs are greater than yours then you may have to accept a less than equal spilt or your brother getting the benefit of a lifetime trust over some of the assets.

xylophone

It might be worth your father consulting a solicitor regarding the best way to structure his will to avoid a mess after he has gone.  If your brother’s needs are greater than yours then you may have to accept a less than equal spilt or your brother getting the benefit of a lifetime trust over some of the assets.

Indeed - your father might wish to consider  leaving your brother an interest in possession of the property while  leaving you as inheritor of his cash assets/remainderman of the IPDI.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78120242#Comment_78120242

mrschaucer

xylophone said:

Indeed - your father might wish to consider  leaving your brother an interest in possession of the property while  leaving you as inheritor of his cash assets/remainderman of the IPDI.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78120242#Comment_78120242

In turn, the OP might wish to ponder the fact that his father specifically did NOT leave the house to his brother in the will so that he could live there, nor did he leave him an interest in possession of the property in his will so that he could continue to live there.  His will - his last wishes which both brothers surely should honour - demanded an equal division of the estate.  If it comes to the solicitor having to "evict" the brother (which it won't if his bluff is called sufficiently) then it proves what a nasty piece of work HE is, not the OP.

Keep_pedalling

mrschaucer said:j

xylophone said:

Indeed - your father might wish to consider  leaving your brother an interest in possession of the property while  leaving you as inheritor of his cash assets/remainderman of the IPDI.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78120242#Comment_78120242

In turn, the OP might wish to ponder the fact that his father specifically did NOT leave the house to his brother in the will so that he could live there, nor did he leave him an interest in possession of the property in his will so that he could continue to live there.  His will - his last wishes which both brothers surely should honour - demanded an equal division of the estate.  If it comes to the solicitor having to "evict" the brother (which it won't if his bluff is called sufficiently) then it proves what a nasty piece of work HE is, not the OP.

Xylophone’s point was a aimed at another poster whose father is still alive not the OP.

xylophone

Xylophone’s point was a aimed at another poster whose father is still alive not the OP.

Yes indeed but I think that Mrs C is saying that in the OP's case ( the OP being Deposit Saver), as father did not choose to leave an IIP to his brother, he should not feel guilty about enforcing the terms of the will.

It still seems to me that in view of the OP's concerns about his brother, the happiest solution could be for the occupier to agree to sell the property and accept the OP's kind offer to lend him part of his share against a first  charge on a replacement (more suitable, better maintained) home. 

In that way, the occupier would be housed in a dwelling for which he was solely responsible, and both brothers would receive their inheritance, albeit that the OP (or his heirs) would receive a portion of it at a later date.

And if the occupier has no wife or children, he might choose to will his estate to his brother/any nieces or nephews?

DepositSaver

So, I have an update (but not one with a huge amount of progress). After much thought, and looking at my financial situation, including my mortgage, pension situation and savings, I made the decision that I need to look after my own financial security first. I let my brother know my preference would be to sell the house and split the proceeds equally, and asked him for his thoughts and if he had any suggestions for any other way of sorting things which would be fair to both of us. He said he needed to speak to his solicitor which was understandable. I heard nothing from him for weeks, so contacted him to ask what his solicitor said. Solicitor has told him he needs to agree to sell, unless he is going to contest the will. I asked if he planned to contest the will, and again he went silent for a couple of weeks. I again contacted him, and he said is now looking at his finances which are in a bad way, he can't give me an answer now, and will be in touch when he has finished doing whatever he is doing with his finances. He is refusing to discuss it any further at the moment. 

I have no idea what's going on with his finances, earlier in the year he was adamant he could afford to run the house, pay the bills and pay for upkeep and maintenance, he had savings, and now his finances are in a terrible state. I don't know if he is genuinely really struggling or of he is trying to stall things. 

wannabe_a_saver

Time to get the ball rolling on the sale.  Start calling estate agents. 

gozaimasu

Sell the house ASAP. The brother gets benefits and so should be able to continue to live for free off the state, but just in a different property. Unless of course 50% of the equity leaves him with more than £16k then he'll need to pay his rent until he drops below that level before the taxpayer funds his existence.

DepositSaver

wannabe_a_saver said:

Time to get the ball rolling on the sale.  Start calling estate agents. 

Unfortunately it's not quite that simple. We're getting a solicitor to administer the will - it's already hard enough dealing with my brother when we are just trying to agree what to do with the house, I'm not going to put myself in the stressful position of trying to administer the estate against his wishes.  I also live hundreds of miles away from the house, and my brother lives in it, so difficult to get estate agents to value the house and take photos without his agreement as he just won't let them (or anyone wanting to view) in.

I am going to contact the solicitor who we're wanting to do the administration and see where we go from here. In theory, as they're supposed to follow the will and act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, they should be willing start the administration process (I think my brother is more likely to agree to the solicitor doing things than me doing them), but I fear they might just tell me my brother and I have to agree on what happens to the house.