Co-owned house - causing friction

I wonder what tax advice was taken at the time.

Life interest would have mitigated any potential CGT assessment as full PRR would apply for the life tenant.

It is reasonable that the OP and her sister would not want poor building work to devalue their asset.

However, this could be avoided, and would arguably also be fairer, if they took joint financial responsibility with their mother for larger works.

Leaving aside the family relationships and verbal agreements, the house is co owned, so responsibility for anything other than wear and tear (which should be covered by the resident) would be reasonable to share.

Just because the mother agreed to pay for everything, doesn't make it fair.

Putting things onto this footing would give the OP the right to input into who carried out the work. At the moment, as the mother is paying for it in its entirety, it's difficult to argue this point.

goochie wrote: »

I’m curious, how many people on here could afford to pay for their own home, and someone else’s (I also have a mortgage with my sister, taken out when she got divorced so that she and her kids had a roof over their heads, it’s all in these threads somewhere). Whether people consider our unique situation fair could be debated forever, it is the agreement we have. I can’t work any harder or support my family more than I do, support comes in many forms, I’ll update with my conversations with the builder tomorrow for those who are interested.

If you can't afford to pay and your mother has to take full responsibility you may have to accept her decisions.
Worst case scenario you inherit a poorly maintained house worth less than it might have been.
Given you've made no financial investment in the property, that's still a profit.

Detroit wrote: »

Putting things onto this footing would give the OP the right to input into who carried out the work. At the moment, as the mother is paying for it in its entirety, it's difficult to argue this point.

Detroit wrote: »

If you can't afford to pay and your mother has to take full responsibility you may have to accept her decisions.

Its not difficult to argue the point - its actually incredibly easy to argue. Who is paying for it has no bearing who needs to agree to it. OP, her sister & mum are all owners therefore they need to collectively agree regardless of how the work is being funded.

As I said, like it or lump it, the OP's mum is not the sole owner. If I were to loan my car to a friend on the understanding that they meet all costs, they can't decide to have alterations made to it or to sell it - because its still mine regardless of who's paying for repairs.