Should I be worried? Sibling getting overly comfortable in family house....

The_Walker

Hey all, I have an unusual situation maybe, or I don't know maybe it's common...

My elderly parents live away from their family house now, both requiring care. My sibling always lived in that family house with them, whereas I moved out many moons ago and did what most people do i.e. made an independent life with my own home. It's been a few years now that my parents vacated the family house, leaving my sibling alone to continue living there. And some comments made by my sibling have concerned me a bit, such as stating plans to renovate the property and sell at a profit when our parents have died. My input wasn't required apparently, and that's odd because my parents wills state as their other child I am to be given half of everything when they are gone. A straight 50/50 split.

So it seems after so many years living in this house, my sibling has developed a sense of ownership over it. And is acting more strangely as time goes on i.e. being very territorial over it, discouraging access to my things (some of which are stored there), constantly moving my things around, and not consulting me over major repair issues to the house despite our parents asking for this to happen.

As per title, should I be worried? Sadly, our parents won't be around much longer most probably. And then I am left with the task of obtaining my half of the house. Will my sibling (now in mid-50's) have some kind of legal claim to the property after living there for so long? Could our parents wishes be overridden?? The fact she's living in it could make a difference?


Thanks for any wisdom or previous experience you can share

Flugelhorn

Presuming your parents have not changed their wills then it doesn't matter how long the sibling has been there it will still form part of the estate when they die with your sibling having the same rights as you - UNLESS they have amended the will to give the sibling a life interest in the property - ie left to you both but they can stay there.

Honestly no easy way of finding out about this without causing problems - one thing I would do is check the title of the property at the land registry to be sure that it hasn't been handed over to him.. (unlikely) and put an alert on it - just in case he does try to change things (tricky for him to do this really) 

sourpuss2021

Flugelhorn said:

Presuming your parents have not changed their wills then it doesn't matter how long the sibling has been there it will still form part of the estate when they die with your sibling having the same rights as you - UNLESS they have amended the will to give the sibling a life interest in the property - ie left to you both but they can stay there.

Honestly no easy way of finding out about this without causing problems - one thing I would do is check the title of the property at the land registry to be sure that it hasn't been handed over to him.. (unlikely) and put an alert on it - just in case he does try to change things (tricky for him to do this really) 

SHE not he!

mi-key

If the estate and house is being left to you both equally, they can't do any major renovations on it when your parents pass as it will be in probate. Perhaps they are hoping to buy you out of your share when the time comes ?

I have a friend in a similar position, parents have both passed, he has lived there for the last 15 years ( was caring for his parents ). his sister lives a few miles away in her own house. The will stated they get an equal split of everything. He doesn't have any more rights than she does to the house, and when probate is settled they will own 50% of it each

The_Walker

Interesting points so far, thanks. No change in the will has been made, the house hasn't been put in my her name. 

So probate protects the property until it's allocated equally. But I wonder what would happen then if she refused to vacate? She doesn't have the finances to buy out my share of the house, so that's not the plan. Squatters for example can be very hard to evict yes? (edit note - I'm not suggesting she is a squatter!)

When she stated her plans to renovate and sell, it rang alarm bells immediately. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard tbh.

The_Walker

I should have added I am against modernisation before sale because neither of us have any experience in the area, or the funds to get it done. I know costs can spiral and easily get out of control if you don't have trustworthy contacts, which we don't.

JReacher1

Its your parents house and your sibling lives there.  As long as your parents are alive then I don't think the situation is anything to do with you.  You only really have any involvement in this if you are left 50% of the property in your parents will.  Until then I wouldn't get involved.

The_Walker

JReacher1 said:

Its your parents house and your sibling lives there.  As long as your parents are alive then I don't think the situation is anything to do with you.  You only really have any involvement in this if you are left 50% of the property in your parents will.  Until then I wouldn't get involved.

Oh I agree totally. Until the time comes, it's obviously not an issue for me. As posted, it's *after* that worries me, not before.

edit- I'm just trying to get educated in advance to know what I might be dealing with in future

Flugelhorn

The_Walker said:

Interesting points so far, thanks. No change in the will has been made, the house hasn't been put in my her name. 

So probate protects the property until it's allocated equally. But I wonder what would happen then if she refused to vacate? She doesn't have the finances to buy out my share of the house, so that's not the plan. Squatters for example can be very hard to evict yes? 

When she stated her plans to renovate and sell, it rang alarm bells immediately. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard tbh.

who is the executor ? Yes can be very hard and emotionally difficult - she may be reluctant to support the sale "its my home, where do I go, its what our parents would have wanted etc etc" 

when the time comes you need to choose your moment and discuss a timescale for the sale etc 

Brie

It can take a long time to sort things out and it can lead to a breakdown in a family relationship.  In the same way that it can be difficult to get an ex-spouse to move out of the marital home these things sometimes take a lot of negotiation.  

Are you an executor for the will?  If it's your sister and not you then that might cause more difficulties as you may not know what is happening with the house after your parents' deaths.  If it's you and not your sister or even a third party excluding you both it may be a bit more straightforward.

But all of this is getting ahead of the situation.  It's possible the house may need to be sold to pay for your parents' care before they die and then your sister would have no choice but to move out and find a place of her own.  If they are in local authority funded care then potentially they could take possession of the house to sell making your sister homeless as she's under 60 (at least that's what the LA do in our area).  And if they didn't insist on an immediate sale then there'd be a lien put on the house so when your parents do die the sale of the house will be enforced with the council getting their cut before either of you.  

The_Walker

Flugelhorn said:

The_Walker said:

Interesting points so far, thanks. No change in the will has been made, the house hasn't been put in my her name. 

So probate protects the property until it's allocated equally. But I wonder what would happen then if she refused to vacate? She doesn't have the finances to buy out my share of the house, so that's not the plan. Squatters for example can be very hard to evict yes? 

When she stated her plans to renovate and sell, it rang alarm bells immediately. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard tbh.

who is the executor ? Yes can be very hard and emotionally difficult - she may be reluctant to support the sale "its my home, where do I go, its what our parents would have wanted etc etc" 

when the time comes you need to choose your moment and discuss a timescale for the sale etc 

My sibling and I are named as equal executors for the wills.