First time Help Needed/ Bit Of A Mess

TP77

The occupant (married partner) to pay all rates, taxes and othergoings and has to maintain the property

Keep_pedalling said:

TP77 said:

Apologies, partner was probably the wrong worried to use. Parent and partner are married.

The will states that the house cant be sold until either the partner/step parent decides to move out or dies

That makes a big difference as spousal exemption applies so no IHT liability and her NRB can be transferred to his estate.

Did the will say anything about who was to pay to maintain the house or what happens if he marries or cohabits?

This bit has me worried. It only mentions that the occupant can live there. What happens if they met someone down the line or wants to move family in? 

Part of the will says:

'I give the Property to the Property trustees to hold upon the folling trusts.

The Property Trustess shall permit the Occupant to live in the the Property for the Period of Occupation without payment of rent subject to the Occupant'

Would ths part mean only the Occupant could live there?


On a seperate note, what does this part mean?

'The Property Trustees shall comply with any resonable request made by the Occupant to exercise ther powers in or towards the provision of another residence for the Occupant and in deciding what terms (if any) to impose in doing so shall have regard to the terms imposed within this clause'

Keep_pedalling

TP77 said:

The occupant (married partner) to pay all rates, taxes and othergoings and has to maintain the property

Keep_pedalling said:

TP77 said:

Apologies, partner was probably the wrong worried to use. Parent and partner are married.

The will states that the house cant be sold until either the partner/step parent decides to move out or dies

That makes a big difference as spousal exemption applies so no IHT liability and her NRB can be transferred to his estate.

Did the will say anything about who was to pay to maintain the house or what happens if he marries or cohabits?

This bit has me worried. It only mentions that the occupant can live there. What happens if they met someone down the line or wants to move family in? 

Part of the will says:

'I give the Property to the Property trustees to hold upon the folling trusts.

The Property Trustess shall permit the Occupant to live in the the Property for the Period of Occupation without payment of rent subject to the Occupant'

That sentence is not complete does anything follow ‘subject to occupant’ ?

Would ths part mean only the Occupant could live there?

No I would expect there to be a clause stating that the trust ends if the surviving spouse remarries or cohabits to prevent them moving someone else in if that was what the testator wanted.  

On a seperate note, what does this part mean?

'The Property Trustees shall comply with any resonable request made by the Occupant to exercise ther powers in or towards the provision of another residence for the Occupant and in deciding what terms (if any) to impose in doing so shall have regard to the terms imposed within this clause'

That would allow the house to be sold and to purchase another home for them. Quite common as the surviving spouse may want to downsize as they get older. 

TP77

Thank you, but just to confirm - myself and sibling would need to contribute towards them doing that on top of the 1/3 they would get from the sale of the house?

relaxtwotribes

The partner does not get 1/3 of any sale proceeds.  The Property Trust gets 100% and the Property Trustees are under no obligation to provide funds for the purchase of a more expensive property (see your sentence “The Property Trustees shall comply….”).

TP77

The partner is one of the Property trusters as well as executor

Keep_pedalling

Does her spouse have children of their own?

TP77

Partner has no children of their own

Savvy_Sue

Do you and sibling live anywhere near each other?

If you do, I'd be minded to jointly find a solicitor to go through the will with you explain what it means - basically it sounds as if for now, you get nothing.

Or approach the solicitors who drafted the will to do so. You may be able to do this online if you don't live close.

The ideal would be for partner also to be involved.

Unless you've done anything which counts as intermeddling, you could (both) renounce as executor. As I understand it, partner would then be responsible for registering the trust which the will creates, which isn't difficult. I don't know what changes would need to be made at the Land Registry to ensure your eventual inheritance is protected. But they exist, even if you are not acting as executor.

Trying to be fair, partner has also been bereaved, and may be struggling to come to terms with what needs to happen. 

Land_Registry

Savvy_Sue said:

Do you and sibling live anywhere near each other?

If you do, I'd be minded to jointly find a solicitor to go through the will with you explain what it means - basically it sounds as if for now, you get nothing.

Or approach the solicitors who drafted the will to do so. You may be able to do this online if you don't live close.

The ideal would be for partner also to be involved.

Unless you've done anything which counts as intermeddling, you could (both) renounce as executor. As I understand it, partner would then be responsible for registering the trust which the will creates, which isn't difficult. I don't know what changes would need to be made at the Land Registry to ensure your eventual inheritance is protected. But they exist, even if you are not acting as executor.

Trying to be fair, partner has also been bereaved, and may be struggling to come to terms with what needs to happen. 

An interesting thread that doesn't directly involve HM Land Registry/the land register as such. Why is that?
Well Savvy_Sue alludes to that re the emboldened part of her post as we register the legal ownership rather than the specific beneficial interests of any beneficiaries, trustees or indeed the role of executors 
When a 'trust' is set up, and there are many ways of doing that, those details don't make their way on to the land register. Some interests can be protected on the register (Practice guide 24: private trusts of land - GOV.UK) but whether they are or not they still 'exist' as posted - that's why the register is not definitive re such matters, even the tenants in common/joint tenants aspect often referred to in similar cases/threads.
The land register deals with the legal ownership and that's always dealt with as a whole - it can't be split and shared out like the beneficial ownership. And as such the beneficial ownership is often only ever realised when the property (legal ownership) is turned into £s and pence, which can be split/shared out of course
So, what changes would be needed at HM Land Registry? None until such time as the legal ownership changes or, if there are any restriction(s) on the register and they are no longer needed, then they are cancelled. 
The key issue here appears to be the wills/trust created and what happens next in a given set of circumstances - such matters are private to those directly involved and very much things to seek appropriate legal advice on to ensure everyone fully understand the current position and what happens next depending on the options presented and decisions then made. From a registration perspective alone that may mean doing nothing

Keep_pedalling

TP77 said:

Partner has no children of their own

So why on Earth did she leave him a 1/3rd of the house as well as a life interest in the house? This could cause issues on his death unless his will leaves that third to his step children.