Trust - Question on options with dementia
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nxdmsandkaskdjaqd
Posts: 782 Forumite
I appreciate that I need to obtain legal advice from a solicitor, but I wanted to ask some advise first to be prepared at the meeting. Below is a paragraph from my Mum’s will, she passed away in 2013 and left my stepfather as a Life tenant in the bungalow that firstly belonged to my Dad before he passed away and left it to my Mum , who re-married, when she passed away she left me 50% of the bungalow in a life interest trust.
The terms of the will are:
“The Trust period” shall mean the period between my death and the death of the Life Tenant or until the future marriage or civil partnership of the Lift Tenant or earlier if he starts living together with someone without either being legally married to them or being their civil partner or if the Life Tenant shall vacate the property for a period of Six (6) months in any Twelve (12) month period as a result of mental incapacity”.
My question is, My stepfather was diagnosed with onset dementia just over a year ago, his condition has slowly got worse, to the extent that at present he is living with his own daughter, this has been going on for a week after a water leak at the property meant he had to move out, her thoughts are now that he is now unable to live by himself. She wants to either sell the bungalow or rent it out. Under the terms of the will, if my stepfather is not of sound mind and no power of attorney was put in place, what are our options reference selling the bungalow or renting it out?
Many thanks for your thoughts.
The terms of the will are:
“The Trust period” shall mean the period between my death and the death of the Life Tenant or until the future marriage or civil partnership of the Lift Tenant or earlier if he starts living together with someone without either being legally married to them or being their civil partner or if the Life Tenant shall vacate the property for a period of Six (6) months in any Twelve (12) month period as a result of mental incapacity”.
My question is, My stepfather was diagnosed with onset dementia just over a year ago, his condition has slowly got worse, to the extent that at present he is living with his own daughter, this has been going on for a week after a water leak at the property meant he had to move out, her thoughts are now that he is now unable to live by himself. She wants to either sell the bungalow or rent it out. Under the terms of the will, if my stepfather is not of sound mind and no power of attorney was put in place, what are our options reference selling the bungalow or renting it out?
Many thanks for your thoughts.
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Comments
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Professional advice from a trust specialist who is a STEP member is required. Anyhthing else will be pure speculation hence I make no further comment.nxdmsandkaskdjaqd wrote: »I appreciate that I need to obtain legal advice from a solicitor, but I wanted to ask some advise first to be prepared at the meeting. Below is a paragraph from my Mum’s will, she passed away in 2013 and left my stepfather as a Life tenant in the bungalow that firstly belonged to my Dad before he passed away and left it to my Mum , who re-married, when she passed away she left me 50% of the bungalow in a life interest trust.
The terms of the will are:
“The Trust period” shall mean the period between my death and the death of the Life Tenant or until the future marriage or civil partnership of the Lift Tenant or earlier if he starts living together with someone without either being legally married to them or being their civil partner or if the Life Tenant shall vacate the property for a period of Six (6) months in any Twelve (12) month period as a result of mental incapacity”.
My question is, My stepfather was diagnosed with onset dementia just over a year ago, his condition has slowly got worse, to the extent that at present he is living with his own daughter, this has been going on for a week after a water leak at the property meant he had to move out, her thoughts are now that he is now unable to live by himself. She wants to either sell the bungalow or rent it out. Under the terms of the will, if my stepfather is not of sound mind and no power of attorney was put in place, what are our options reference selling the bungalow or renting it out?
Many thanks for your thoughts.0 -
A STEP solicitor would be able to confirm for you, but your stepfather, as life tenant remains the interim beneficiary until his death. The property value remains his and if sold, then those assets need to be looked after by the Trustees of your Mother's estate. However, with the additional clause of not maintaining residence for a certain period, it looks like after six months, the Trustees will be able to dispose of the property and wind up the Trust by passing on the assets to the beneficiaries .
SamI'm a retired IFA who specialised for many years in Inheritance Tax, Wills and Trusts. I cannot offer advice now, but my comments here and on Legal Beagles as Sam101 are just meant to be helpful. Do ask questions from the Members who are here to help.0 -
Apart from needing advice as pointed out above, if your step father owns the other 50% then his daughter is going to need to apply to the courts to obtain deputyship to manage his fination affairs. Certainly the house cannot be sold why he is alive without this happening and I doubt it can be rented out either without a joint owners permission, which cannot be obtained if he has lost mental capacity to do so.0
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