Property left partially in trust to me...very confused about how works

diego_94

I’d also just like to add this is exactly why your dad setup the trust for you, to protect your inheritance. If there was no trust, his widow would of re married and when they both passed away, the likelihood is that all assets would of gone to her children or the new husbands. 

Your dad was a wise man.

DerbyBorn7

I have noticed here...that my dad's house , appears on website as sold STC... and at this very time my step mum presents a situation saying she'll instruct a solicitor to create a new trust, with me on deeds....

Could it be her solicitor has spotted that due to existing trust terms etc.. the only way forward to be able to finalise sale is new trust to override existing....this is ringing more likely....
Otherwise this sale could go ahead without me.. which is fine by me asking as legit and my trust amount is same as set up now.

Sight of existing trust , before anything being signed , is the request.....very interested to see now what comes next !!!

RAS

Have you set up the property alert with the Land Registry?

Basically, the deeds will have a restriction based on them that means that SM cannot sell until the restriction is removed. She can only do this by either paying you "the 60%" or by getting your agreement to the sale. If the buyer needs a mortgage, then it's almost impossible for her to do otherwise. With a cash buyer, their lawyer would advise against, as they can't register the deeds until the restriction is removed.

Given the degree of transparency in the recent dealings, you might be wise to make that legal appointment urgently.

The fact that this has arisen so late in proceedings suggests that SM didn't fully understand the conditions of the will, and it's quite possible that her new partner is driving things? So even more need to be careful.

DerbyBorn7

Thank you - property alert is set up now.

interesting - so 'if' these existing trust deeds do prevent the sale, makes sense she's pushing to sign into a new one.

in the absence of that 'new' signing (agreement to terminate into something new), this sale would result in her taking her share but the trust ensures my share comes to me?

there is no mortage, so the home her and hew husband to be, in her mind, is cash as it's simply this home value plus the cash husband wants into the new home / onto the new deeds.

at this stage, i am calling bluff, ,not signing anything under I see what the existing trust actually is. So by me refusing to sign it'll be interesting to see if the sale and purchase does complete?! it it collapses, then something is up here.

she's not revealed here that current trust must be terminated and agreed into new one in order to be able to sell up / buy new one , in order for the trust money to be used by her to live in, and my instincts feel that could be the case here -

if it isn't the case, then she can sell and buy - which if legit, i'm fine with, as the trust will still protect my share

deannagone

diego_94 said:

I’d also just like to add this is exactly why your dad setup the trust for you, to protect your inheritance. If there was no trust, his widow would of re married and when they both passed away, the likelihood is that all assets would of gone to her children or the new husbands. 

Your dad was a wise man.

This is the situation I am in.  Father of my eldest son remarried after we split, promised our son a large inheritance (after inheriting from his family and selling their house) but no will.  He died last year, son gets nothing, his wife's family will eventually get the lot, and its a sizeable amount.  Nothing can be done about this.  So be grateful for the provisions your father made!

RAS

DerbyBorn7 said:

Thank you - property alert is set up now.

interesting - so 'if' these existing trust deeds do prevent the sale, makes sense she's pushing to sign into a new one.

........................

she's not revealed here that current trust must be terminated and agreed into new one in order to be able to sell up / buy new one , in order for the trust money to be used by her to live in, and my instincts feel that could be the case here -

if it isn't the case, then she can sell and buy - which if legit, I'm fine with, as the trust will still protect my share

She can sell the property and move into a new one under the terms of many trusts; this is designed to allow the survivor to move into more suitable accommodation or move near family, for example.

But she has get permission from the trustees AND secure your interest in the new property. So you need to understand the conditions of the trust set up by your father,

By adding her new beaux into equation she has muddied the waters considerably. Obviously the new husband will probably inherit her portion of the property, and I doubt she can put a restriction on your share that allows new hubbie to live there after her death; but extracting him might be very costly. And he may not want or be able to buy you out when that time came. 

Brie

I'm trying to figure out why the trust is important.  Well obviously it's important to the widow a means to keep her housed during her lifetime.

But isn't the fact that the OP is in fact the majority owner of the house what's causing problems with it being sold?  How can step mom sell something with the OP's consent?

So as I see it - dad dies and leaves OP 60% of house, widow gets 40%.

The trust is then an add on that says that dad's "preference" is that OP doesn't force a sale of the house during widow's lifetime but once widow dies OP get 60% and the 40% goes according to widow's wishes.  

If the widow gives the OP cash, that's immaterial.  If the widow buys new curtains, a kitchen or paints it purple, that's immaterial.

But the essential thing is to do nothing without having a solicitor's guidance.  And only after the solicitor has seen both the will and the trust to ensure things are acted on correctly.

DerbyBorn7

Here's a section from the will.

1. ANY money held by my Trustees under this clause may be invested in any way permitted by this my will or any codicil hereto and in particulat but without prejudice to the generality ofthe provisions othenvise in this will contained 

1. in the provision of a rresidence for the Benefîciary 

2. towards the provision of such a residenœ and my Trustees shall comply with any written and reasonable request made by the Beneficiary to exercise their powers to purchaœ a replaoement property and my Trustees shall have absolute discretion in deciding whether any property is suitable investment for the Trust and whàt terms (if any) to impose in relation to such property -   

2. WHEN the Trust Period ends or if the Beneficiary has predeceased me then my Trustees shall hold any property then the subject of this clause upon trust as an aocretion to the trust of my Residuary Estate declared in Clause 5

The part 'suitable investment for the Trust and whàt terms (if any) to impose in relation to such property - ' is what I am curious about...does that mean terms of the trust , that I can't see perhaps ? The trust deeds on the property were created several months after this will was created .

The Beneficiary of what the trust holds is my step mother .

Again,  thanks for the thoughts and observations. 

DerbyBorn7

My other question is,  as this went through probate,  the will and probate form was obtainable from the online source as public. However. The will is only 3 pages long and some page or pages are clearly missing as it cuts off suddenly, so no house shares are stated in this will at all....could this mean if there was a codicil, in addition/ added to this document , I don't have sight of that ?

If I am to instruct a solicitor to view the trust deeds (showing property shares etc) then I assume the solicitor needs the will also, so my aunt as executor would need to provide that to the solicitor if they ask for it ? I assume this should also be the full will with no missing pages (perhaps it was scanned wrong when initially submitted to the government and page(s) missed off ?

Slithery

Everything appears that it's all in your favour and that any changes need your consent.

But without seeing the complete actual wording of the will and the complete actual wording of the trust there could be other clauses that override these.

As has already been stated, you need a full copy of the will and a full copy of the trust otherwise we're all just guessing and this thread isn't going anywhere...