I'm an executor and a beneficiary, can I change my mind after agreeing to distribution of estate?

Exodi

RonsDaughter said:

Hi again, hope you don't mind me asking, but roughly what % of a house can be used for business before a change of use would be even considered? 
....

Unfortunate... it seems the OP has been completely consumed by trying to get back at her brother.

We can expect this debacle to carry on for the forseeable future, but it's good the solicitors are very keen to help you look into the insurance, tv license and council tax issues you are raising - strange that.

RonsDaughter

Exodi said:

RonsDaughter said:

Hi again, hope you don't mind me asking, but roughly what % of a house can be used for business before a change of use would be even considered? 
....

Unfortunate... it seems the OP has been completely consumed by trying to get back at her brother.

We can expect this debacle to carry on for the forseeable future, but it's good the solicitors are very keen to help you look into the insurance, tv license and council tax issues you are raising - strange that.

It won't carry on into the forseeable future because:

1. I am trying to ascertain my position before being so stupid as to fork out even more cash if it is unwise to do so.
2. I am not trying to get back at my brother but neither am I a doormat.
3. He is so afraid of spending money and losing control that we only have to threaten him with removal as executor (done this twice already) and he will do as he is asked. But yes, I am prepared to carry out the threat. We have more than enough evidence of negligence, abuse and his attempts to line his pockets without adding in fraud.
4. The solicitor is keen to get this sorted asap. They have only raised the Council Tax issue as it may well amount to fraud and will have a comeback on their executor.  And I think that is quite understandable that they should do this. I accepted the councils decision to refund him and did not raise it again. Also, the solicitors are not looking into tv license or insurance. This was my illustration of what he is like. If you read my comments properly you would understand that. 

So Exodi, if you are not going to post constructive comments why bother to post at all? In what way is your comment supposed to help the situation? You can see I am not happy. Why make it worse? You have no idea of the extent of my brother's criminal activity. 

Oh, and by the way, I've already had 2 death threats from him, credible enough for me to be advised not to be unchaperoned anywhere I could likely meet him.

lincroft1710

RonsDaughter said:

CIS said:

RonsDaughter said:

CIS said:

RonsDaughter said:

Hi, any advice please, this is complicated...

I have told the solicitor about the business use and she is checking if storing his goods amounts to fraudulent activity due to a particular council tax issue.

I'd be curious as to what the council tax issue is ?  Is it regarding the storage of business items in the property ? (council tax is my specific area of law work).

He stayed as "carer" and used her house to store his market stall/car boot goods when she was alive. I asked him to move back to his own home and remove his items when she died due to compromising contents insurance.

He refused to admit he was living there (he owns his own home and said he couldn't live in 2 houses) but stayed for at least 3 months so I reported him to the council who then charged him council tax after checking for themselves.
He contested this and somehow managed to lie his way out, so he got a council tax refund and the estate was billed since probate (January 2021)

He told me he had moved his stuff, however, when I visited last week, I could see about 20% of the house contents are his market items, and at least the same amount is stored in the garden. He is clearly using the property for storage.

It also appears that that he is spending leisure time there as the tv was left on standby. Mother's tv license expired last year, I don't think he has one himself. 

Council Tax legislation is far more in-depth than a lot of people (including solicitors) realise as it is a specific area of law that few work with.

For council tax purposes he can only have one sole or main residence, but he can occupy more than one home.

If he was living in the property temporarily but then returned to his the home he owns there's a very good likelihood that his residence did not change for council tax purposes and that council were wrong with their first decision and right with their later u-turn.

There are potentially issues in respect of the Class F exemption but that would need a deeper dive in to the situation and the legislation.

Using a residential property for storage, where it is still predominately residential and likely to be used as such in future, is unlikely to lead to the valuation office agency changing it to non-domestic use.

Hi again, hope you don't mind me asking, but roughly what % of a house can be used for business before a change of use would be even considered? He has used it as storage for 4 years (including 2 before mother died) and his goods easily take up 30% of the rooms. 
I expect that he will live there once he owns it, but he will have to move the contents of his own house, which are 90% market stall tat. ( He is best described as a hoarder. )
Also, I should say that I was having a WhatsApp video call with the solicitor and it was the solicitor that noted the amount of his things in the house. I gave her a guided video tour and she asked me for photos so she could check a legal point. I'm assuming it was business use?

For Council Tax purposes it is a very grey area, especially as they are his own goods he is storing. If the rooms in which he stores the goods for his business also contain household furniture, then it is extremely doubtful the VOA would consider raising a non domestic rating assessment on those rooms. It is not worth pursuing.

turnitround

Did your mother mind him storing things in the house when she was alive? If he has been acting as her carer while you were 200 miles away then are you really being fair. 
All this about the tv being on and him having items stored is not worth worrying about in the great scheme of things. Is it really worth all the stress you are putting yourself under?
Why are you so hellbent on getting the council tax changed etc, take your share and move on or it may well cost you a lot more in the long run.

RonsDaughter

turnitround said:

Did your mother mind him storing things in the house when she was alive? If he has been acting as her carer while you were 200 miles away then are you really being fair. 
All this about the tv being on and him having items stored is not worth worrying about in the great scheme of things. Is it really worth all the stress you are putting yourself under?
Why are you so hellbent on getting the council tax changed etc, take your share and move on or it may well cost you a lot more in the long run.

My mother was fuming when she found out what he was up to. She spent a year in a nursing home and he refused to move out and started piling his things up in her home. When she came out her social worker took charge and made him clear some of it, but it soon piled up again. Mother refused to go back t the home and lay in bed all day surrounded by his tat. He tried to stop me seeing her, but I went anyway, she died a week later.

re the C tax, its the solicitor who is looking at that, not me, but I am extremely irritated by the whole situation. I've suffered years of abuse at his hands, he threatened my uncle when my dad died, Mother accused him of punching her and I just found out he exposed himself to my son. 

I fully get what you're saying but my bro truly is scum. 

RonsDaughter

lincroft1710 said:

RonsDaughter said:

CIS said:

RonsDaughter said:

CIS said:

RonsDaughter said:

Hi, any advice please, this is complicated...

I have told the solicitor about the business use and she is checking if storing his goods amounts to fraudulent activity due to a particular council tax issue.

I'd be curious as to what the council tax issue is ?  Is it regarding the storage of business items in the property ? (council tax is my specific area of law work).

He stayed as "carer" and used her house to store his market stall/car boot goods when she was alive. I asked him to move back to his own home and remove his items when she died due to compromising contents insurance.

He refused to admit he was living there (he owns his own home and said he couldn't live in 2 houses) but stayed for at least 3 months so I reported him to the council who then charged him council tax after checking for themselves.
He contested this and somehow managed to lie his way out, so he got a council tax refund and the estate was billed since probate (January 2021)

He told me he had moved his stuff, however, when I visited last week, I could see about 20% of the house contents are his market items, and at least the same amount is stored in the garden. He is clearly using the property for storage.

It also appears that that he is spending leisure time there as the tv was left on standby. Mother's tv license expired last year, I don't think he has one himself. 

Council Tax legislation is far more in-depth than a lot of people (including solicitors) realise as it is a specific area of law that few work with.

For council tax purposes he can only have one sole or main residence, but he can occupy more than one home.

If he was living in the property temporarily but then returned to his the home he owns there's a very good likelihood that his residence did not change for council tax purposes and that council were wrong with their first decision and right with their later u-turn.

There are potentially issues in respect of the Class F exemption but that would need a deeper dive in to the situation and the legislation.

Using a residential property for storage, where it is still predominately residential and likely to be used as such in future, is unlikely to lead to the valuation office agency changing it to non-domestic use.

Hi again, hope you don't mind me asking, but roughly what % of a house can be used for business before a change of use would be even considered? He has used it as storage for 4 years (including 2 before mother died) and his goods easily take up 30% of the rooms. 
I expect that he will live there once he owns it, but he will have to move the contents of his own house, which are 90% market stall tat. ( He is best described as a hoarder. )
Also, I should say that I was having a WhatsApp video call with the solicitor and it was the solicitor that noted the amount of his things in the house. I gave her a guided video tour and she asked me for photos so she could check a legal point. I'm assuming it was business use?

For Council Tax purposes it is a very grey area, especially as they are his own goods he is storing. If the rooms in which he stores the goods for his business also contain household furniture, then it is extremely doubtful the VOA would consider raising a non domestic rating assessment on those rooms. It is not worth pursuing.

Thanks for explaining. And yes, it's not worth pursuing. Thank you.  

getmore4less

He contested this and somehow managed to lie his way out, so he got a council tax refund and the estate was billed since probate (January 2021)

ON what basis did the council start charging from date of grant and not before?

Class F would apply for 6 months longer so if it was not eligible at date of grant what exemption was used from date of death to date of grant?

RonsDaughter

getmore4less said:

He contested this and somehow managed to lie his way out, so he got a council tax refund and the estate was billed since probate (January 2021)

ON what basis did the council start charging from date of grant and not before?

Class F would apply for 6 months longer so if it was not eligible at date of grant what exemption was used from date of death to date of grant?

His activity was watched and he was initially charged in 2020, I assume as resident but he argued he was already paying tax on his own house and they overturned decision. 
Probate was granted in January 2021 and C Tax charged June/July to the estate.
Bro continued to use the property for business storage. From the utility bills and activity in the kitchen, it is clear he was spending a lot of time there though not staying overnight (no usable bed).