Possible dispute over jointly inherited house

naedanger

My suggestion:

Tell the executor that you would be unhappy if he does not sell the house and were instead just to pass you a share of the house occupied by your brother. Explain that by doing that he would be favoring one beneficiary, i.e. your brother, at your expense since it is clearly more beneficial to have use of an asset than not have use of it. And it would cost you time and money to force a sale.

Of course you are likely to fall out with your brother but that is probably unavoidable unless you give him exactly what he wants.

At some point in the process, e.g after the sale, you could suggest gifting some money to your brother if you still wish to do so. However I would make the offer quite late in the process so he realises it is a gift, even if he isn't grateful.

I would not wish to be the executor. I expect he will consult a solicitor if he cannot get a compromise, and I expect the solicitor will recommend the house is sold. (But while I suspect that is what he will do, I am not certain he is obliged to do so.)

MovingForwards

You could set up a private mortgage for your half, so your brother owns all the property, but owes you 50% monetary value.

It works the same as a normal mortgage as it's secured on the property, but you are not the owner, nor responsible for it. You can do it so you get your money if the property is sold, or he goes into supported housing / care home.

Then the loan would be dealt with and passed to whoever you name in your will, should you die before your brother.

Another option is forcing a sale. Costs depend on how far you have to run through the process before your brother agrees, or not. If it goes all the way then you're looking at about £10k in solicitors / court costs. It will damage your relationship.

As others have said, you can take whatever is left money, car and asset wise and let your brother have the house.

Sea_Shell

DepositSaver said:

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.

This bit jumped out at me.     Does he need some of the cash to actually run and maintain the home on his own, if he's unemployed??     If you remained a part-owner, would he always be coming to you for money?

Would he still look to you to bail him out even if you didn't own part?

I wouldn't be surprised if the executor renounces either.    Too much hassle for no reward, or even thanks.    Or he passes it all to a solicitor, whose bill comes from the cash of the estate.

getmore4less

so the executor (not me or him)
missed that on first read......
What are the exact terms in the will?
if it is a (residual) clause that splits 50:50 without specifics for the house  there are  options.
if it is I leave my house 50:50 that becomes more of an issue as executor can just assent to you both.

Has the named executor done anything yet they may be too late to renounce.

Given the brother has no source of income your options are

only accept your share as cash which will require the sale.
Accept there will be delays and cost(or maintenance issues) probably for the rest of your life or brother's.

If going down that route you may want to consider DOV to give life interest with maintenance clauses to avoid future CGT issues.

DepositSaver

naedanger said:

My suggestion:

Tell the executor that you would be unhappy if he does not sell the house and were instead just to pass you a share of the house occupied by your brother. Explain that by doing that he would be favoring one beneficiary, i.e. your brother, at your expense since it is clearly more beneficial to have use of an asset than not have use of it. And it would cost you time and money to force a sale.

Of course you are likely to fall out with your brother but that is probably unavoidable unless you give him exactly what he wants.

At some point in the process, e.g after the sale, you could suggest gifting some money to your brother if you still wish to do so. However I would make the offer quite late in the process so he realises it is a gift, even if he isn't grateful.

I would not wish to be the executor. I expect he will consult a solicitor if he cannot get a compromise, and I expect the solicitor will recommend the house is sold. (But while I suspect that is what he will do, I am not certain he is obliged to do so.)

Thank you. The executor is already aware that I would prefer to sell and understands that owning it 50 50 would be a lot less beneficial to me. He is already planning to have a solicitor do a lot of the work, precise because it seems my brother won't want to compromise. 

DepositSaver

MovingForwards said:

You could set up a private mortgage for your half, so your brother owns all the property, but owes you 50% monetary value.

It works the same as a normal mortgage as it's secured on the property, but you are not the owner, nor responsible for it. You can do it so you get your money if the property is sold, or he goes into supported housing / care home.

Then the loan would be dealt with and passed to whoever you name in your will, should you die before your brother.

Another option is forcing a sale. Costs depend on how far you have to run through the process before your brother agrees, or not. If it goes all the way then you're looking at about £10k in solicitors / court costs. It will damage your relationship.

As others have said, you can take whatever is left money, car and asset wise and let your brother have the house.

Would a private mortgage mean him paying me back gradually? Or just that I get my money if he ever decides to sell, or goes into a care home? I doubt he would be able to pay me much monthly if it were like a traditional mortgage. 

I've looked into forcing a sale once we own it, and definitely wouldn't want the cost of that, but if I have understood the will correctly the executor can sell and pass the proceeds to us, without ownership ever passing to us.

DepositSaver

This bit jumped out at me.     Does he need some of the cash to actually run and maintain the home on his own, if he's unemployed??     If you remained a part-owner, would he always be coming to you for money?
Would he still look to you to bail him out even if you didn't own part?
Yes I suspect he does need some of the cash to rum the house alone, and I think that if I was part owner he would be wanting money from me for any upkeep and repairs. Possibly not all the time, but I don't  really want to be responsible for any upkeep as I have my own home to run and mortgage to pay. 
I don't think he'd want me to bail him out if I didn't own part, but have obviously not been in that situation with him before. He has never lived in his own home and in the past when he has had money issues he has just reduced how much board he paid to my dad. 

DepositSaver

getmore4less said:

so the executor (not me or him)
missed that on first read......
What are the exact terms in the will?
if it is a (residual) clause that splits 50:50 without specifics for the house  there are  options.
if it is I leave my house 50:50 that becomes more of an issue as executor can just assent to you both.

Has the named executor done anything yet they may be too late to renounce.

Given the brother has no source of income your options are

only accept your share as cash which will require the sale.
Accept there will be delays and cost(or maintenance issues) probably for the rest of your life or brother's.

If going down that route you may want to consider DOV to give life interest with maintenance clauses to avoid future CGT issues.

It's a residual clause and the house isn't mentioned at all. The executor has gathered some information from us about what assets and debts we think my dad had (just via a typed email list) , and has dropped the death certificate (obtained by my brother) at the solicitor but has done nothing else. 
What does life interest with maintenance clause mean please? I'm aware that as it would be a second home for me I could be liable for CGT if the house is sold in future and I make a profit. 

getmore4less

You need to check but I don't think you can force someone to take legal ownership of property they don't want.
The executors effectively become the legal owners while it is in administration there is a default trust and they are the the trustees.


The problem is selling from under him while in occupation
as he lived there and was effectively depended on that accommodation and indirectly funded by you dad he could try a claim.

If in the end you back down and let him live there, a life interest trust has the effect of making him the beneficial owner for the period of the trust(eg till he sells or dies)  and not you so there is no CGT liability on you or your estate.
you can also have all the maintenance put on him and a requirement to maintain but that is just another problem when it comes to enforcement and forfeiting the occupation. 

If your dad wanted him to live there  he could have put it in the will.

Getting a solicitor involved won't be cheap but does introduce an impartial party.

Keep_pedalling

It sounds like your brother does not have the necessary income to maintain the house so it would be madness for him to take it on. Older family homes can be a big money pit, and I have seen in my own street how derelict they can become with someone living there and spending nothing on maintenance.