Forcing a sale of a house.

Scattersand6

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

TadleyBaggie

I would say you have no way to make him sell. The will said he can remain in the property until he dies, that still stands. The fact that he moved someone else into the property is irrelevant. 

Emmia

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

To clarify: Beneficiaries cannot usually witness wills being signed. Doing so invalidates the gift to them in the will. So potentially your sister has cut herself out of the inheritance the moment she signed (it doesn't matter what the will says)

Did your sister actually sign as a witness?

nakie999

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

Yes, you can usually force a sale, but it is not automatic. If the house is jointly owned and one owner refuses to sell, you can apply to the court for an order for sale. The court looks at the will, each owner’s share, the purpose of the property, and whether anyone has a right to stay there. If the will does not give his new partner a legal right to occupy, her presence does not block a sale. You need a solicitor to start the process, and it can take months, sometimes longer, depending on disputes and evidence.

user1977

Emmia said:

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

To clarify: Beneficiaries cannot usually witness wills being signed. Doing so invalidates the gift to them in the will. So potentially your sister has cut herself out of the inheritance the moment she signed (it doesn't matter what the will says)

Did your sister actually sign as a witness?

Given the reference to two solicitors I presume those were the witnesses and the OP just means the sister also attended the signing.

Keep_pedalling

A will only requires 2 signatures are you sure your sister was also a witness? Who were the administrators of her will? Is this mysterious lender actually shown on the land registry 

Your 50% is now actually legally owned by an immediate post death interest trust, do you know who the trustees are? As your mother never included a clause about the trust ending if he remarried or co-habited you (or rather the trustees) can’t force a sale because of that relationship, but him failing to maintain the place could be a reason to end the trust if he fails to sort this out.

Emmia

user1977 said:

Emmia said:

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

To clarify: Beneficiaries cannot usually witness wills being signed. Doing so invalidates the gift to them in the will. So potentially your sister has cut herself out of the inheritance the moment she signed (it doesn't matter what the will says)

Did your sister actually sign as a witness?

Given the reference to two solicitors I presume those were the witnesses and the OP just means the sister also attended the signing.

It would be helpful if the OP clarified this point. I'm not sure why a beneficiary would attend a signing though.

user1977

Emmia said:

user1977 said:

Emmia said:

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

To clarify: Beneficiaries cannot usually witness wills being signed. Doing so invalidates the gift to them in the will. So potentially your sister has cut herself out of the inheritance the moment she signed (it doesn't matter what the will says)

Did your sister actually sign as a witness?

Given the reference to two solicitors I presume those were the witnesses and the OP just means the sister also attended the signing.

It would be helpful if the OP clarified this point. I'm not sure why a beneficiary would attend a signing though.

Hardly that uncommon for a testator to be accompanied by family to such appointments (though obviously the solicitors need to be wary about undue influence etc).

I hope that between the two solicitors they'd figure out that (a) they don't need three witnesses and (b) beneficiaries shouldn't be witnesses.

Flugelhorn

Just checking that the property was actually put into "tenants in common" - otherwise father (and his lender) own all of it 

Scattersand6

Emmia said:

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

To clarify: Beneficiaries cannot usually witness wills being signed. Doing so invalidates the gift to them in the will. So potentially your sister has cut herself out of the inheritance the moment she signed (it doesn't matter what the will says)

Did your sister actually sign as a witness?

No she did not sign the will she was only there to support our mother.

Emmia

Scattersand6 said:

Emmia said:

Scattersand6 said:

Hi All,
My step father got into a lot of debt at one point where it was either him and my mother losing their home or he borrowed money from an unknown(unknown to me and my sister) This all happened when my mother was alive. Because of this my mother wrote a will witnessed by my  sister and of course 2 solicitors. The will read that me and my sister owned 50% he would own 3% and the 47% belonged to this unknown borrower. In the will it read that he may remain in the property until he either dies or if he intends to move, if he was to move that would mean selling the house and our share would come to us then. My mother sadly died and within a few months another woman moved in. We do not want this woman to be in the home my mother made a home and clearly it is not well looked after because it's a mess and the building needs attention. It also stated in the will that he must look after the property and not let it get to disrepair but we have been there recently and there is water coming through causing a lot of damp. What is a shame is that my mother never thought he would find another woman therefore she clearly never mentioned this in the will. ADVICE PLEASE- can we force him to sell? If so, how easy is it? 

To clarify: Beneficiaries cannot usually witness wills being signed. Doing so invalidates the gift to them in the will. So potentially your sister has cut herself out of the inheritance the moment she signed (it doesn't matter what the will says)

Did your sister actually sign as a witness?

No she did not sign the will she was only there to support our mother.

Thank you for the clarification.