Sale of property within a right of occupation trust

beefster

Morning All. 
Not unexpected but my deceased mothers husband has decided to sell the property they shared and move on. He has put the property up for sale and he has advised it is sold STC.
My mothers will leaves her 50% ownership in trust with a "lifetime right of occupation" to her husband. None of the family / trustees / executors etc have any issue with the sale but there is some confusion relating to the costs of him moving and the impact it has on the Trust and its 50% ownership.

In short does the trust retain 50% of the full sale value ( Value X). 
or
50% minus costs of his move and new purchase (ie stamp duty etc) which is what he is saying! 

Secondly should he move in with his new partner and they share ownership of the property then the Trust retains part share to the value X in "their property"....  upon his death how do we realise that value for the beneficiaries if his new partner is in residence owning more than 50% of the value of the property?  (This could happen if he leaves his share to his new partner). Hope that query makes sense? 

Any help welcomed.

Many Thanks.
B

poseidon1

Looking at all your prior posts in this matter, the current situation you describe is the latest instalment of a IPDI trust for a 'blended' family, that badly went wrong  from the outset due to manipulation and complete lack of good faith of the life tenant concerned.

With a properly drafted IPDI trust, it would naturally be expected that all sale costs are absorbed by the property proceeds equally between the owners, with net post sale proceeds then available for reinvestment in the replacement property.  However as is often the case, the will trust maybe entirely silent on this point, presumably leaving 'commonsense' to prevail, which seems unlikely in this case.

Looking long term your concerns with regard to the trustees accessing the property value on the eventual death of life tenant are entirely valid since in the circumstances you outline unless the new partner cooperates with a future sale of property, or raises capital for a buyout of the 50% share, the trustee/beneficiaries would have to take expensive legal action to force a sale.

Have to confess this seems to have spiralled into becoming one of the most unpleasant blended family IPDI trusts we have seen on this forum.

beefster

It has indeed been a nightmare.... I dont trust my mothers husband (MMH) sadly due to previous happenings as he tries to continually manipulate things. The previous solicitors failings escalated things and it took official complaints to get a resolution and a compensation pay out (donated to charity) to concentrate their minds! This sale has brought us back to another worrying situation. Though i may be worrying unduly... I hope I am. 

IPDI trust.... not heard it called that tbh. Mum left her estate minus her share of the property to MMH. Half of the property is in trust with MMh having occupancy rights and income rights if rented until he passes.