Joint Inheritance of a property

thegreenone

What does your father's Will actually say? 

Does it say that all his assets are to be liquidised and shared between you and your brother?  Or does it say that you inherit the house between you?  If it says the former, then the house must be sold and as above, your brother can use the money to carry on renting here or move to Latvia.  His decision/earning/spending is not your problem.

If the latter, a little more complicated but if you are the executor/s.  You must do exactly what the Will says.  I'm hoping it's the former but if it is the latter get advice.  Solicitor and Tax Accountant.

I hope you can resolve this amicably between you and your brother.  His wife has no say in this.

RAS

If you go to see a solicitor, they expect to do what you ask them,  and he's asking to indefinitely defer your inheritance. Unless you argue against that there and then, the solicitor will just make the necessary arrangements. And solicitors do not understand the tax issues.

The problem with any legal contract is that he'd very soon own over 50 percent of the value and extracting him would be very difficult. Do you have the cash to cover an expensive court case?

Go see a solicitor on your own when you can put to them the issues raised here and ask if they can think of any other. Not sure why sort of specialist you'd need but it's not plain probate.

Keep_pedalling

thegreenone said:

What does your father's Will actually say? 

Does it say that all his assets are to be liquidised and shared between you and your brother?  Or does it say that you inherit the house between you?  If it says the former, then the house must be sold and as above, your brother can use the money to carry on renting here or move to Latvia.  His decision/earning/spending is not your problem.

If the latter, a little more complicated but if you are the executor/s.  You must do exactly what the Will says.  I'm hoping it's the former but if it is the latter get advice.  Solicitor and Tax Accountant.

I hope you can resolve this amicably between you and your brother.  His wife has no say in this.

No one can be forced to own a portion of a property and a will cannot control assets beyond the grave. Any clause in a will that tries to do this is not enforceable. 

Sea_Shell

Bishop0709 said:

Thanks for the advice. 

He says that he and I would jointly own the house and that as and when he either passes away or moves out, the house would be sold and split either with me and him or his wife (minus anything he's already paid to me.
Trouble is, he's over 50 and has quit a low paid job, although his wife works and earns more. He's currently renting and struggling to pay the increasing rent. His wife is Latvian and he's said basically if I don't agree, they'll have to go and live in Latvia. I really don't know what to do! 

Don't give in to his emotional blackmail.      This has got red flags all over it!

This seems like it would be a very one sided arrangement, in his favour.     What would YOU get out of it.    The "promise" of some (taxable) rental income?     Coupled with the headaches of jointly owning a property with someone else, especially when they are of limited means, and could pass the buck to you, whenever stuff crops up.  

Why is it your problem if he decides to move to Latvia?      Surely half a house worth of £££ will give him various options to consider, especially if he is currently short on liquid cash.  


Why shouldn't you get the benefit of YOUR inheritance and have it improve YOUR life and finances!!?   I'm sure there are lots of things that you'd rather do with YOUR inheritance than own a house with them.


Think of it this way...would you have wanted to buy a house with him, for him to live it, if it wasn't already "in the family"?

If the answer is no...then you have your answer IMO.

Bishop0709

Our dad is still living. He is aware of the situation and although he says it's my decision and we can sit down and talk about it together, he doesn't want my brother to potentially homeless or to have to move to a cheaper country. If I don't agree to something vaguely similar to what my brother is asking my brother will probably have to cut his losses and emigrate before our dad passes away.
Don't think some of the issues raised have even been thought of. 

Who would be best placed to advise me who would know about all angles? 

I'm between a rock and a hard place! 

Emmia

Is your dad gifting you both this house? Where is he living at the moment?

He's not trying to avoid care fees/ IHT is he??

doodling

Hi,

Bishop0709 said:

Our dad is still living. He is aware of the situation and although he says it's my decision and we can sit down and talk about it together, he doesn't want my brother to potentially homeless or to have to move to a cheaper country. If I don't agree to something vaguely similar to what my brother is asking my brother will probably have to cut his losses and emigrate before our dad passes away.
Don't think some of the issues raised have even been thought of. 

Who would be best placed to advise me who would know about all angles? 

I'm between a rock and a hard place! 

Your question is not a legal one but a moral one and consequently neither a solicitor nor thus forum can give you an answer (morals being personal things at this level of detail).

The reality is that you are being asked to choose to forgo your potential inheritance so that your brother doesn't leave the country.  That is an unreasonable position to put you in and your father and brother should be ashamed of themselves.  I suspect your father wants to give your brother the house but is trying to ease his conscience by getting you to agree to it (or worse, getting you to do it for him).

You need to decide whether you feel it is right that your brother benefits from your father's estate more than you do.  Personally  I would want to be treated equally but there may be reasons why you might feel differently.  You also need to be clear that it is your father's money so it is entirely his choice if he wants to treat you differently.

Personally, if I thought that equal treatment was right then I would either:
1. Make that clear to your father - I.e. that your plan would be for the house to be sold and the money split equally (note that this could incentivise your father to actively treat you differently in the will).
OR
2. Say nothing and then have the house sold after your father's death.  Some people would be aghast at this approach but if your father wanted your brother to have the house then he should have made the hard decision when he was still alive and accepted to himself that he would rather give his assets to his son than you.

Sorry if the above is a little blunt.

Keep_pedalling

Bishop0709 said:

Our dad is still living. He is aware of the situation and although he says it's my decision and we can sit down and talk about it together, he doesn't want my brother to potentially homeless or to have to move to a cheaper country. If I don't agree to something vaguely similar to what my brother is asking my brother will probably have to cut his losses and emigrate before our dad passes away.
Don't think some of the issues raised have even been thought of. 

Who would be best placed to advise me who would know about all angles? 

I'm between a rock and a hard place! 

As your father is still alive I think you are all getting rather ahead of yourselves. It is actually possible your father may no longer own the house at the time of his death. 

Sea_Shell

Bishop0709 said:

Our dad is still living. He is aware of the situation and although he says it's my decision and we can sit down and talk about it together, he doesn't want my brother to potentially homeless or to have to move to a cheaper country. If I don't agree to something vaguely similar to what my brother is asking my brother will probably have to cut his losses and emigrate before our dad passes away.
Don't think some of the issues raised have even been thought of. 

Who would be best placed to advise me who would know about all angles? 

I'm between a rock and a hard place! 

So this is basically about what Dad puts in his will.   Does he currently have one?

Don't agree, potentially get written out anyway.

Agree, verbally, and you might inherit.

How old/sick is Dad?    This all might be moot if he survives for a good few years yet and needs care.

I'm not advocating this...but, you could agree, verbally, and then renage when the time comes 🙄.   Happens all the time.   

As said above, these are moral rather than legal issues, at this stage.

Linton

Bishop0709 said:

The whole situation is quite complicated!
I think I will suggest we go and see a solicitor /legal adviser together so that he can hear for himself all of the above mentioned problems/complications.
I would definitely want a legal contract drawn up anyway to protect myself. 

Thanks to all for your views, it has validated what I have been thinking. 

A legal contract is only worthwhile if you can enforce it at reasonable cost.