Family dispute: house in step-father's name

Fishmarket

My step-father suffers from dementia and legally may be considered to lack mental capacity. The house that he and my mother live in belongs to my step-father. His family are farmers who have tried to stop my mother or her children inheriting anything. If my step-father dies first the property goes to my mother. If my mother dies first the property remains in my step-father’s family. A settlement has been reached through solicitors but his family are stalling on acting. How can we overcome the delaying tactics?

[Deleted User]

If they don't want to sign, it seems a settlement hasn't yet been reached. Ask what they want.

Marcon

Fishmarket said:

My step-father suffers from dementia and legally may be considered to lack mental capacity. The house that he and my mother live in belongs to my step-father. His family are farmers who have tried to stop my mother or her children inheriting anything. If my step-father dies first the property goes to my mother. If my mother dies first the property remains in my step-father’s family. A settlement has been reached through solicitors but his family are stalling on acting. How can we overcome the delaying tactics?

Has anyone asked them why they are stalling? The answer may be yes, dozens of times - but just possible that nobody has thought of asking the obvious.

elsien

The presumption is that someone has capacity unless evidenced otherwise. A dementia diagnosis in itself does not mean lack of capacity.
Has his capacity around this specific decision actually been assessed? 

What sort of settlement are you talking about and does anyone have legal authority to act on his behalf? 

Fishmarket

Thanks for your interest and advice. This has been a long running issue. Agreements have been drawn up and signed by my mother on my step-fathers behalf. They have yet to be signed by my step-fathers nephew - the family representative. This is where the delay is. As it stands, it could drag on indefinitely unless there is some way to solve this. If anyone has any ideas on moving this forward it would be really good to hear them.

getmore4less

Do these other family members have POA.

If not then they probably can't do any deal.
If they have it may not be in the persons best interest.

If the house belongs to the step father how does your mum inherit(will or intestacy)?

TBagpuss

IF your step-father lacks capacity then his attorney or deputy has to act in his best interests -transferring an asset away from him is unlikely to be in his best interests so it may be too late.

If he dies first and you mum inherits then she is fine, and she can chose to make a will which enables her children to inherit.

If she dies first then there's no issue.

The children would only be entitled to anything if they were dependent or if they had made contributions, and in either case there are processes (Inheritance Act or ToLATA .

if the relationship has ended then mum can apply for divorce and seek a financial settlement, which would bind her husband anf his estate  

Linton

A "family representative" has no legal authority.  If the siituation is as clear as you suggest ie:
1) Step father legally owns the hooue.
2) The step father has made a valid witnessed will leaving the house to mother if he dies first.

What is there to argue about? There seems nothing to discuss: Mother gets the house if step father dies first.

If step father does not have capacity I do not believe anyone can change the will, even a PoA, except with the court's permission.

elsien

Also, you haven't said whether mother has LPA  and whether she has authority to sign anything on his behalf (taking into account best interests, as above.)

Fishmarket

Thanks so much for such really helpful comments. To answer some of the questions raised, my step-father owns the house and he has made a will leaving the property to my mother and she has POA for financial affairs. His family are now using more than one solicitor for different issues such as the financial settlement and easement, which makes it really difficult for my mother’s solicitor to manage the situation.  

I understand that mental capacity is judged discretely for different issues and that it may still apply in dementia cases. However, my step-father is very poorly these days.

My step-father’s wishes will be ignored by his family if my mother dies before him so her family will get nothing. The key issues are: can my mother alter the ownership of the property to a ‘joint ownership’ and is there any way of pressuring my stepfather’s family to sign the settlement papers?

getmore4less

Becoming joint tenant would most likely exceed the POA authority.
Sounds like its too late to get the will changed

Might be some mileage in getting matrimonial rights and establishing any beneficial interest that may have accrued.

Nothing you can do to force the family 

What might be considered fare will depend on the history,

What compromises does the Settlement make

Not clear how anything can be done to sign away the FIL beneficial interest while alive or after he passes as there is a will.

At best it looks like a promise to do a DOV  could work