Inherited Property

Mintyrose

Would anyone please be able to advise, general or legal please? 

My situation is : my parent has prepared his will, he is living everything 50/50 to my sibling and I, my sibling has lived with dad for nearly 18 years due to marriage breakdown, job losses, not looking for work as dad supplements him, he’s 60, I live in social housing, and am saving a deposit to eventually have a home of my own,,, dad has put a caveat in the will that brother has 2 years to decide what to do with the house? Ie,, buy me out or sell, he’s not the nicest person and is already (dad not even dead) threatening me with all sorts of legal action,, a worry obviously, on top of me already managing dads health due to worsening heart failure,, what can I do to protect myself? And could I also legally just move in as it’s half my house? It would cut my rent costs greatly and pay 1/2 the bills? Although it would be an extremely hostile environment? I could also see him moving his newly found Filipino adult children in? And to add more insecurity, dad and brother have same solicitor 🤷‍♀️🙄

Keep_pedalling

The honest answer is not a lot. The only person who can help is your father by making a will that specifies that the house has to be sold within 2 years. He should also be very careful who he appoints as executors, this is a case where a professional executor would probably be the best choice rather than his children.

Mintyrose

Keep_pedalling said:

The honest answer is not a lot. The only person who can help is your father by making a will that specifies that the house has to be sold within 2 years. He should also be very careful who he appoints as executors, this is a case where a professional executor would probably be the best choice rather than his children.

myself, brother and solicitor are the executors 🤷‍♀️ I can feel myself walking into a nightmare, while coping with grief, dad has said he has 2 years, then a decision has to be made,, he has no money, and the likelihood of trying to swindle me whatever way he can, 

Flugelhorn

Oh you really need the solicitor to have a word with Dad and say that the 2 year thing should come out and preferably just name you and solicitor as execs (wouldn't normally suggest a solicitor was exec but maybe in this case it would be a good idea?

yes you can move in

Keep_pedalling

Mintyrose said:

Keep_pedalling said:

The honest answer is not a lot. The only person who can help is your father by making a will that specifies that the house has to be sold within 2 years. He should also be very careful who he appoints as executors, this is a case where a professional executor would probably be the best choice rather than his children.

myself, brother and solicitor are the executors 🤷‍♀️ I can feel myself walking into a nightmare, while coping with grief, dad has said he has 2 years, then a decision has to be made,, he has no money, and the likelihood of trying to swindle me whatever way he can, 

To be honest it would be better to just appoint the solicitor, as an executor your sibling can create a lot more problems than if he is just a beneficiary. 

Mintyrose

Flugelhorn said:

Oh you really need the solicitor to have a word with Dad and say that the 2 year thing should come out and preferably just name you and solicitor as execs (wouldn't normally suggest a solicitor was exec but maybe in this case it would be a good idea?

yes you can move in

Dad absolutely won’t budge on the 2 years, wants brother to feel safe and carry on having a home 😬 won’t remove him as executor either, he wants everything clear, we both have LPA, both executors, and 50/50 split,, it’s very awkward, they live together, and brother can be a bully, and dad has to live with him and his moods, I can’t really even go to the house when my brother is home, I would use the threat of me and husband moving in as leverage, wouldn’t want to with how we are, he hates me. Always has, but dad talks to me and I understand him obviously wanting to look after his son, despite all his faults, it’s his son 🤷‍♀️ just makes things very awkward 

Mintyrose

Keep_pedalling said:

Mintyrose said:

Keep_pedalling said:

The honest answer is not a lot. The only person who can help is your father by making a will that specifies that the house has to be sold within 2 years. He should also be very careful who he appoints as executors, this is a case where a professional executor would probably be the best choice rather than his children.

myself, brother and solicitor are the executors 🤷‍♀️ I can feel myself walking into a nightmare, while coping with grief, dad has said he has 2 years, then a decision has to be made,, he has no money, and the likelihood of trying to swindle me whatever way he can, 

To be honest it would be better to just appoint the solicitor, as an executor your sibling can create a lot more problems than if he is just a beneficiary. 

Oh what a mess! 😬 I can’t really talk to dad about all this, as he thinks he’s done right by us and is being transparent, and we can’t potentially do anything without the other knowing, he’s not in the headspace to talk to at the moment, and I could only be accused of influencing him then, by my brother, it’s a very delicate situation

BikingBud

Mintyrose said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Mintyrose said:

Keep_pedalling said:

The honest answer is not a lot. The only person who can help is your father by making a will that specifies that the house has to be sold within 2 years. He should also be very careful who he appoints as executors, this is a case where a professional executor would probably be the best choice rather than his children.

myself, brother and solicitor are the executors 🤷‍♀️ I can feel myself walking into a nightmare, while coping with grief, dad has said he has 2 years, then a decision has to be made,, he has no money, and the likelihood of trying to swindle me whatever way he can, 

To be honest it would be better to just appoint the solicitor, as an executor your sibling can create a lot more problems than if he is just a beneficiary. 

Oh what a mess! 😬 I can’t really talk to dad about all this, as he thinks he’s done right by us and is being transparent, and we can’t potentially do anything without the other knowing, he’s not in the headspace to talk to at the moment, and I could only be accused of influencing him then, by my brother, it’s a very delicate situation

Why would you want to do something without the other knowing?

Being objective and straight with this, we don't know what actually may have occurred between you, your sibling and your father. The site tends to draw and show empathy for the posters, yet we seldom if ever see the other side of the discussion.

Whilst you might feel you are fighting your brother and the solicitor, the solicitor will be bound by professional obligation to carry out the wishes of the deceased. If you have seen the will why are you concerned that the solicitor will not enact those wishes?

Can your sibling afford to run the house?

What does the will say about bills, council tax and maintenance of the house? Does it provide funds for those?

Is rent payable over the 2 year period of your brother's occupation?

Perhaps your best discussion point is to consider those costs and how they might be funded, if from you late father's estate and you get no benefit you may wish to highlight how you feel you are being treated unfairly. If all costs fall to your brother then you should recognise that but perhaps reaffirm how the current will leaves you and your husband at the "mercy of landlords" for another 2 years. And that is extremely unfair.

Twixty3

It is indeed very messy. I am often shocked when I read on here how awful some family members can be when it comes to money and property.

It may be a good idea to have the ownership of the property with your brother as tenants in common rather than joint owners but you may have difficulty with this also. 

Mintyrose

BikingBud said:

Mintyrose said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Mintyrose said:

Keep_pedalling said:

The honest answer is not a lot. The only person who can help is your father by making a will that specifies that the house has to be sold within 2 years. He should also be very careful who he appoints as executors, this is a case where a professional executor would probably be the best choice rather than his children.

myself, brother and solicitor are the executors 🤷‍♀️ I can feel myself walking into a nightmare, while coping with grief, dad has said he has 2 years, then a decision has to be made,, he has no money, and the likelihood of trying to swindle me whatever way he can, 

To be honest it would be better to just appoint the solicitor, as an executor your sibling can create a lot more problems than if he is just a beneficiary. 

Oh what a mess! 😬 I can’t really talk to dad about all this, as he thinks he’s done right by us and is being transparent, and we can’t potentially do anything without the other knowing, he’s not in the headspace to talk to at the moment, and I could only be accused of influencing him then, by my brother, it’s a very delicate situation

Why would you want to do something without the other knowing?

Being objective and straight with this, we don't know what actually may have occurred between you, your sibling and your father. The site tends to draw and show empathy for the posters, yet we seldom if ever see the other side of the discussion.

Whilst you might feel you are fighting your brother and the solicitor, the solicitor will be bound by professional obligation to carry out the wishes of the deceased. If you have seen the will why are you concerned that the solicitor will not enact those wishes?

Can your sibling afford to run the house?

What does the will say about bills, council tax and maintenance of the house? Does it provide funds for those?

Is rent payable over the 2 year period of your brother's occupation?

Perhaps your best discussion point is to consider those costs and how they might be funded, if from you late father's estate and you get no benefit you may wish to highlight how you feel you are being treated unfairly. If all costs fall to your brother then you should recognise that but perhaps reaffirm how the current will leaves you and your husband at the "mercy of landlords" for another 2 years. And that is extremely unfair.

That’s the point, I wouldn’t do anything,my brother in the other hand, 🤷‍♀️ he’s been through divorces and child custody with another woman, and believe me, he tries to throw everything at them to save himself ,  I’m more than happy to carry out my dads wishes to the letter, he literally saved my life when I was born, and the least I can do is ease his time here and carry out his wishes, 
i  considering all the costs, I haven’t seen the will, just been told by dad, that’s how it is, I haven’t seen the no reason to not believe him, I don’t want to see my brother put out in the streets, but I also owe my family a home, he’s already changed his own will so his new found children inherit from him 🙄 I haven’t even got a will as I have nothing yet 🤷‍♀️

Mintyrose

Twixty3 said:

It is indeed very messy. I am often shocked when I read on here how awful some family members can be when it comes to money and property.

It may be a good idea to have the ownership of the property with your brother as tenants in common rather than joint owners but you may have difficulty with this also. 

Twixty3 said:

It is indeed very messy. I am often shocked when I read on here how awful some family members can be when it comes to money and property.

It may be a good idea to have the ownership of the property with your brother as tenants in common rather than joint owners but you may have difficulty with this also. 

Thanks! I’ll look into that, I don’t want to lose my first time buyer status, but I’m guessing ‘owning’ for 2 years does  away with that anyway? And also if/when we do sell, as he’s lived there, there will be no capital gains tax for him, but maybe for me? I know I’m looking so far ahead but I need to feel preferred, he’s already text me to say ‘our next interaction will be interesting and I should get prepping’