Need reassurance on property sale "claim"

Peterpan18

I have seen a letter saying my wife sold her property to her children for £100 each in 2002. (worth over £300,000 at the time) It was supposedly signed by all her children and witnessed. All but one of the children did not recall this document and did not recognise the witness signatures (no printed names). The one child who has this letter wants me out of the house, none of the remaining children do after the death of their mother. There are official written, signed & witnessed agreements in place between all parties, including this one child, that I remain in the house for life with my % holding.

Land registry documents prove my wife was the sole name on the land register until we married in 2015 when we, through a solicitor, became tenants in common and the current land registry documents confirm only our names on it still.

At the date of the letter the property was also mortgaged.

I don't see this letter having any legal standing at all, but am I right to be worried?

Woodstok2000

Sorry for your loss, this sounds like a tough situation. I think this is unlikely to be legally sound, but you are right to be concerned.

Did your wife have a will? When was it made and What did it say?

lincroft1710

If your wife sold the property in 2002, then you could not have become tenants in common in 2015. Would suggest you consult a solicitor. How old were her children in 2002?

Slinky

Do the other children recognise 'their' signatures?

Peterpan18

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82157570#Comment_82157570

Thank you Woodstok2000, we made our wills shortly after getting married and becoming TIC's in late 2015.We had been together for over 15 years in then and until recently all of got on fine then mum passes and this happens!

Both our wills use the phrase "any property I own" so that, I assume, would cover our individual % of property ownership as per the Land Registry. How can you "will" a property to people you apparently sold it too in 2002??? It all seems very odd to me.

@Slinky they do seem correct but the copy we have is very poor, we are checking to see if one of the children, who was married & living abroad at the time, was in the UK at any time in 2002.

@lincroft1710 My thoughts exactly but wanted some confirmation that I was correct and hadn't missed anything. Ages 37, 35 & 28, as I said the 2 older ones do not remember signing or paying and the younger one wasn't working. This, and the fact my wife passed almost 2 months ago and the document has just suddenly appeared, creates suspicion in all our minds and makes me think she is up to no good.

NedS

@Peterpan18 wrote:

Both our wills use the phrase "any property I own" so that, I assume, would cover our individual % of property ownership as per the Land Registry. How can you "will" a property to people you apparently sold it too in 2002??? It all seems very odd to me.

The term "any property I own" is likely deliberately vague as to include any property you may own at the time of your death. If they were to list the specific property you own now, but you do not own it when you die, the clause would fail. Likewise, if you own no property at the time of death, the clause fails. They could have used a phrase specifying a given property or any other property, but just specifying "any property I own" covers all bases.

So IMHO the wording is largely irrelevant to the current situation.

sheramber

Is your wife’s signature on the letter?

Keep_pedalling

I dobt this document has any legal standing and it is unlikely it was was drawn up by a solicitor otherwise I would have expected the land registry would have been altered.

Did your wife’s will give you the right to remain as long as you wished?

Peterpan18

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82157736#Comment_82157736

The document is handwritten on a bit of A4, and there seems to be a signature similar to my wife's at the bottom

My wife's wish was that I could remain until I pass or go into permanent care. When we did the TIC, just after we were married, all concerned children each signed, and had witnessed, a document each, to that effect.

They have been lodged with my will.

Ms_Chocaholic

Does it say who the document was drawn up by, a solicitor's office perhaps?

Keep_pedalling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82157766#Comment_82157766

Was that wish documented in her will?