Question on life interest/trust and moving out of house and in with family - bill responsibility

mrwhippy99

My mothers partner died a couple of years ago and left in the will their half of the property to their siblings which is now in a "trust." My mother has a life interest in the property.
She currently lives in the property and thus pays all bills, council tax etc

If she was to move out of the property and moved in with myself and my wife, and my mothers house goes on sale...

As she has moved out the property which has gone on sale (as is now unoccupied)

- do the bills after that point still all have to be paid by my mother?

- or as she no longer lives there are they split 50/50 between my mother (as 50% owner) and the trust (as 50% owner?)

Malthusian

What does the Will say? It might not specifically cover this scenario, but does it specify who is responsible for maintaining the property?

I would be surprised if she wasn't still responsible for the bills. For as long as she hasn't rented the property out, she still has the right to move back in and enjoy the property at any time. The bills are presumably in her name and it is her the utilities and council will chase if she stops paying. If she went on holiday for a few weeks I imagine the trustees wouldn't have to stump up for some of the bills to cover the period she wasn't there.

GDB2222

For a sensible answer to this question, we would need to see the wording of the will - with names redacted.

mrwhippy99

thanks for feedback, looks like a careful reading of the will is in order....

GDB2222

mrwhippy99 said:

thanks for feedback, looks like a careful reading of the will is in order....

Indeed!                          

doodling

Hi,

Whilst I agree that the wording of the will is critical in giving a correct answer, it is normal that whilst the beneficiary of a life interest trust retains the right to live there then they would be fully liable for the costs of upkeep.

Once the trust is ended and the beneficiary no longer has 100% beneficial ownership then that expense should be split between the legal owners (I.e. the person who was the beneficiary and trustees, on behalf of the remaindermen of the trust).

Note that ending the trust might crystallise an inheritance tax liability depending on the value of the estate that created the trust so you may not necessarily want to rush to do that in advance of selling.

Of course, all the above is what may be legally appropriate, there is nothing that prevents someone paying someone else's bills if they want to.