Death of a tenant in common

YoungBlueEyes

If MiL is of sound mind, could she not just make a new will that better reflects her wishes...? That'll override the current one.

EssexHebridean

YoungBlueEyes said:

If MiL is of sound mind, could she not just make a new will that better reflects her wishes...? That'll override the current one.

But she no longer owns the house, so that won’t be included in any will she might make. 

If the 2 surviving children want to contest this, they’re going to need legal advice to unravel the issue around how the property was registered over how they actually *wanted* it to be registered. A starting point might be getting a copy of the TR1 for the transfer from MIL to them to see what was actually said - it could be as simple as a missed tick box followed by a missed contact from the LR meaning that the property ended up registered as TIC’s rather than JT’s. 

YoungBlueEyes

Having reread the first line of the OP I see my mistake Thanks EH.

propertyrental

EssexHebridean said:

.......

So - it’s the siblings who the house was transferred to who would have made the selection re Joint tenants/tenants in common. 

Loubel:  If MiL gifted the property to her children, then she had no say in how they owned it. It would be usual for siblings to own as tenants in common though

Indeed. It is the buyer / recipient / transferee of the property who registers it, and hence they decide whether to own as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common.

MIL could certainly express her wishes, but could not dictate how future ownership is held, nor who would later inherit. Indeed, one or more of the sibling owners could sell/gift their share later to whomever they chose - the other two siblings, their children, or indeed to me!

unforeseen

When my MiL arranged the transfer, she stipulated to her solicitors that the transfer was to be for the benefit of her children - 

To me that reads that it NEEDED to be tenants in common otherwise it would only benefit the last remaining sibling

Bookworm105

greco_2 said:

Slinky said:

Good lord, your nephews/neices have lost their father and their grandmother wants them to lose out on what would have most likely been their inheritance at some point anyway. Words fail me.

Words fail me too. It would have helped if you had read and understood the post before responding. FWIW, my MiL has lost her oldest child, my wife and BiL have lost a brother, my SiL has lost her partner in tragic circumstances. The nephews will receive a massive inheritance with or without their share of their grandmother's property. It is not about that at all. I should report you.

but it is all about that, your post is about the fact some are upset at the unexpected direction of the passage of money.

Does MIL and her children not understand that JT means it is impossible to leave "your share" of the property in a will since, by definition, no one owns a defined share in JT.
As such it would appear the preference is to disinherit 2 of her 3 children by ensuring that the house passes to the last survivor, for that is what happens with JT. Your wife, being the only female, being the most likely survivor?

However, as has been pointed out, the choice to own as TiC was made by her children not by her, and in the circumstances was the only logical choice to ensure MIL's wealth passes down the family line in a fair manner.

nicmyles

I would point to the comment above that says the natural conclusion of this process as originally envisaged would be that the total value of the house remains with the last surviving sibling, who would then presumably pass it down to their children, giving no share to the other branches of the family. Which is usually not what grandparents want to happen.

What is the actual concern here? That the surviving children will receive less than expected if the house is sold? They will presumably also receive more than expected from any other parts of the MiL's estate when she dies due to their sibling pre-deceasing her. I presume there is further estate as otherwise she wouldn't have given a house away?