What kind of a Will does this family need?

Casper7

Mojisola said:

Casper7 said:

Mojisola said:

That suggests the property is owned as 'joint tenants' - both of them own all the house so that when one dies, the other continues to own all the house. 

Mother and second brother would have no claim on the house and it can't be left to anyone in a will.

The family plan is if the Dad dies, Son1 - who will eventually owns the house and capable to keep monthly mortgage payment - will keep living in the house with his mother. if he was to get married and moved out, the mother would stay in the house.
If the house is big for the mother, they would sell it, and get her a place to live it.
In summary: it is the Dad & Mom house as long as they are alive. after they die the house goes to both sons to benefit from it. whether by renting it, or buying the other party share, or sell it and every son gets %50 of the money. That is the wish of both parents and the sons said they will honour this wish.

That may be the plan but the type of ownership father and brother have means that the house will be wholly owned by the survivor.
I hope your parents are seeing a good solicitor to make their wills who will be able to advise on what needs to be done to achieve their wishes.

This is a close family to me, not mine. From my experience of dealing with them I would say the sons will honour the wish of their parents, but who knows what happens tomorrow?!
As you said, it seems better to get a will ready just in case. I guess writing a will will make it easier for the sons or the benefitary to claim the monies in the bank vs when no will is written.

Keep_pedalling

Casper7 said:

Mojisola said:

Casper7 said:

Mojisola said:

That suggests the property is owned as 'joint tenants' - both of them own all the house so that when one dies, the other continues to own all the house. 

Mother and second brother would have no claim on the house and it can't be left to anyone in a will.

The family plan is if the Dad dies, Son1 - who will eventually owns the house and capable to keep monthly mortgage payment - will keep living in the house with his mother. if he was to get married and moved out, the mother would stay in the house.
If the house is big for the mother, they would sell it, and get her a place to live it.
In summary: it is the Dad & Mom house as long as they are alive. after they die the house goes to both sons to benefit from it. whether by renting it, or buying the other party share, or sell it and every son gets %50 of the money. That is the wish of both parents and the sons said they will honour this wish.

That may be the plan but the type of ownership father and brother have means that the house will be wholly owned by the survivor.
I hope your parents are seeing a good solicitor to make their wills who will be able to advise on what needs to be done to achieve their wishes.

This is a close family to me, not mine. From my experience of dealing with them I would say the sons will honour the wish of their parents, but who knows what happens tomorrow?!
As you said, it seems better to get a will ready just in case. I guess writing a will will make it easier for the sons or the benefitary to claim the monies in the bank vs when no will is written.

We see quite a lot of threads where siblings clash about an inherited property where they cannot agree on what should happen to it. Frankly no one knows what the situation of any beneficiary will be many years from now and drawing up wills to try and control what will happen to a particular property from beyond the grave is just plain silly. 

The 3 of them need to consult with a solicitor about drawing up wills ASAP. As it stands it looks like one son would own all of the equity in the house outright should father drop dead tomorrow, which is not a good place  for the mother to be in. 

xylophone

It appears that father and son own the property as joint tenants.

If so, then on the death of one of them the survivor becomes the sole beneficial owner.

Incidentally, are both lives insured such that should one die while the mortgage loan is still extant, there will be cash to pay off the mortgage?

It would be as well for father, mother and son 1 to consult a solicitor concerning the best way to proceed.

RAS

Scenario

Son 1 gets married and wife moves in with him and parents.
Five years and two children later son 1 and wife split up. Father has died and son 1 is now sole owner of the property.
His ex-wife goes to court for 70% of the value of the house.

Where is mother going to live?

TBagpuss

They need to talk to a solicitor and sort things out.

At the moment, it sounds as though dad and son own the house as Joint tenants, in which case, if Dad dies, son will own the house and neither mum nor son2 will be entitled to any interest in in.  Son and Dad need to discuss what % interest they each have in the house -for instance, is Son paying all or half of the monthly mortgage payments? How was the deposit funded?  If Dad provided all the funding and Son just allowed his name to go on as Dad wasn't assessed as being able to afford it, then they could have a deed saying they own 1% to son, 99% to dad, and that Dad agrees to indemnify Son in relation to all mortgage costs, for instance, but thy should each take separate advice

It would probably be sensible for them to sever the joint tenancy and own as tenants in common. Dad can then leave his share of the house to mum. He should be considering what he would do if Son wants to release his money from the house either now, when both parents are alive, or in the future, when Mum or dad dies.  Life insurance to provide mum with some additional funds might be one option.

If the plan is that mum is to be able to live in the house if dad dies first then Dad can provide for that in his will, but it would still be subject to Son being willing and able to keep the house going and to allow his share to be used in this way .