Intolerable situation regarding family member in house I live in but my Son owns.

beautifulbella

Hi there, as the title suggests I am in what seems an impossible situation. Myself, my Husband and our youngest son , (70, 69 & 48) are all disabled. We moved to France in 2010 and were there 11 yrs. My Husband suffered a stroke in 2019 and I had heart surgery. in2017. . Due to Covid we had not seen our family for almost 2 yrs. We came over for our eldest Son's marriage last June He was very concerned about the state of our health and suggested that he help us get back here so we had support. He bought a property with a mortgage and had some adaptations done. We had a verbal agreement that we pay him the amount of the mortgage repayments until we sold our place in France and another property we had here. The relationship between me, my Husband and the remainder of our family has totally broken down. My Husband abuses me and my Son verbally, threatens violence and has used violence in the past. I have Mental Health, GP & Social Worker input. My Husband refuses to leave the house ( to some suitable accommodation, perhaps with a warden) where he will be safe. I do not have the capacity or energy to uproot myself, our disabled Son and our little dog. So, the mortgage is in our Son's name, we have paid the mortgage payments until present time and we are in a position to pay most of the mortgage back now, leaving a small amount and lower monthly payments. There was only a verbal agreement. My question is what rights, if any does my Son have to have him removed from the house for my safety and sanity? Any help whatsoever would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Keep_pedalling

Although there is no formal agreement the three of you are tenants in your son’s house and eviction is a long and painful process so I don’t think this is the way to go, you really need some advice from a solicitor as it sounds like you would need to get a restraining order to remove him from the property and to look at divorcing him.

msb1234

You need to contact the nearest Women’s Refuge for advice on dealing with your husband’s violence. The fact that your son owns the house you live in is, in part, irrelevant. You are tennants, and have all the rights tennants hold. 

JJWSJS8700

The other son owns this property legally if he is only on the mortgage, but you do have right as tenants as you can prove you have paid him rent (mortgage).

What would you like to do, can you buy a property yourself with the proceeds of your properties.

Have you spoken to the son/owner, what does he want.

Have you checked land registry to see who is on the deeds/was a Deed of Trust made at all?

Sicial services will help all of you as elderly and disabled.

Marcon

beautifulbella said:

Hi there, as the title suggests I am in what seems an impossible situation. Myself, my Husband and our youngest son , (70, 69 & 48) are all disabled. We moved to France in 2010 and were there 11 yrs. My Husband suffered a stroke in 2019 and I had heart surgery. in2017. . Due to Covid we had not seen our family for almost 2 yrs. We came over for our eldest Son's marriage last June He was very concerned about the state of our health and suggested that he help us get back here so we had support. He bought a property with a mortgage and had some adaptations done. We had a verbal agreement that we pay him the amount of the mortgage repayments until we sold our place in France and another property we had here. The relationship between me, my Husband and the remainder of our family has totally broken down. My Husband abuses me and my Son verbally, threatens violence and has used violence in the past. I have Mental Health, GP & Social Worker input. My Husband refuses to leave the house ( to some suitable accommodation, perhaps with a warden) where he will be safe. I do not have the capacity or energy to uproot myself, our disabled Son and our little dog. So, the mortgage is in our Son's name, we have paid the mortgage payments until present time and we are in a position to pay most of the mortgage back now, leaving a small amount and lower monthly payments. There was only a verbal agreement. My question is what rights, if any does my Son have to have him removed from the house for my safety and sanity? Any help whatsoever would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Is the son who owns the property the same son who is living with you? Have you asked your son(s) what they actually want to do? 

Once you've established that, talking to a solicitor is likely to be your next step. Nobody here can give any sensible advice when there are so few facts available, although I'm sure many will sympathise with your distress.

TBagpuss

You can apply for an injunction - thre are two elements -  non-molestation order and an occupation order. The non-mol forbids him to use or threaten violence, and can also have other propvisions such as preventing him from contacting yuou in specifc ways. 
The occupation order can require him to leave the property and forbid him to return.

These are orders made under the family law act. They don't change the legal rights to the property but they allow a court to make your husband leave (that's the occupation order). They would usually be made for aperiod of either6 or 12 months, and you can apply for them to be extended if necessary at the end of that time. 

You can also apply for a transfer of the tenancy from joint names into your sole name, which a court has the power to order - again, the applicatin is under tha Family LAw Act or could be made a part of a divorce settlment. 

If you apply for an injunction the  court has to conside the balance of harm - e.g. whether the harm you have suffered and will continue to suffer if the order is not made is greater than any harm your husband will suffer if it is not made. If you are able to show that he would have alternative accommodation available to him that that makes it more likely hat a curt would accept that making the order in your favour is reapsnable. 

Talk to a solicitor.

If the son who owns the house is able to do so, then his pffering to provide some money up front for a deposit / first months rent for your husband might make it easier to argue that he has other options. If the adptations are for you and your son then that makes your argument for staying stronger.

You mentuion that the plan was to sell the house in France and another property. Has that happen? Is there money available to buy a returirement flat or equivalent for your husband? 

If you had a normal tenancy then it might be possible for your son to evict you both then grant you a new tenancy in your sole name, however at the moment it seems likely that you have a tenancy but becuase there'snothng formal it would be difficult for him to evict your husband.

Obviously if you get an injunction then it may be in your husband's interests to agree to surrender his interest in the tenancy / the house you are in, to make it easier to get a new tenany elsewhre.

However, I think you, and the son who owns the house, both need to take your own separate legal advice s it's a complex situation, and getting san injucntion would keep you sfe but wouldn't necessarily change anything so far as the house / tenancy situation was concerned.