Dad wants to leave house between two children. One wants to buy but can't afford.

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Jollyman

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So one parent left in house (Value circa €300k), two offspring living in their own houses in the locality. (Second parent recently past, and other parent likes to be organised so is wanting to prep the will now; has informed both children of the intention)

Intent of house owner is to will the house equally between the two kids and for it to be sold within 1 year of passing.

One of the two mid 40's married no kids lives in a remote village in a house valued circa €150k, the other lives close by the principal residence and has 4 kids in a house valued circa €800k.

The dilemma here the first sibling living remotely has expressed an interest in buying the property, but states they could not afford it, (and also stated they would not have the same money as the other sibling, when in fact they most likely have more disposable income) if it was to be sold on the market. (Note there own property will most likely be hard to sell or take a lot of time)

The other sibling has expressed that she would like her sibling to live closer as they move into there older years as her and her husband have no other family, and if needed could be looked after by her she is younger and will also have 4 kids in teenage years at that stage to help if needed and not to loose the family home by selling it.

What is the best option here? Is it just to sell the property and remove any of the emotional attachment or is there some arrangement that can be made where either sibling don't loose out on there fair share?
 
Let's look at the numbers.

House value €300k
Older sibling's share €150k
Older sibling needs €150k to buy the house.

Older sibling house value: €150k

So what am I missing?
 
Solution would be to word the will as follows

"I leave my house to my eldest child on condition that they pay 50% of the value of the house on the date of my death to my youngest child within 3 years of the date of my death"

Brendan
 
The offspring who lives remotely in house valure150k gives ownership of that house to other offspring and then takes ownership of family house value 300k. Problem solved.
 
I'd disagree with Brendan; leave the will as proposed, e.g. house to be sold.

If Off-spring1 wants to buy the house they can do so in the normal way.

Somehow people get the notion they have to buy the property at (say) 500k, when in fact they already are inheriting 250k (50%) & thus the cost of purchase is 250k.

Of course if Off-spring1 doesn't have or can't raise the 250k, then all bets are off.
 
Billo said:
The offspring who lives remotely in house valure150k gives ownership of that house to other offspring and then takes ownership of family house value 300k. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

I had thought of that. But it results in a few odd outcomes. The values of the two houses may move differently. The remote sibling might be less enthusiastic about maintaining it. There is an extra hit in stamp duty and double legal fees.

Simpler to appoint the younger child as the Executor and the can sell the dad's house if the older child does not come up with the money within 3 years. And as they seem to want to facilitate each other, they can take their time about enforcing it.

Brendan
 
Can’t the remote sibling use their share of the sale proceeds and the cash from selling their remote house to buy a more modest house in the area if the old family home is beyond them?
Assuming it is area they are seeking rather than the specific bricks and mortar.
 
Jollyman said:
What is the best option here? Is it just to sell the property and remove any of the emotional attachment or is there some arrangement that can be made where either sibling don't loose out on there fair share?
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This is way too complicated trying to sort out a future possibility based on unpredictable events.

- How is parent to fund older care
- Why does sibling want to move into family home
- How big is family home
- How big is current 150K home
- what happens if child predeceases parent

On the face of facts presented, and to avoid an absolute mess, parent wills his estate to his two children equally, and let those 2 children sort it out then. Bereaved parent does not need this grief now.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Let's look at the numbers.

House value €300k
Older sibling's share €150k
Older sibling needs €150k to buy the house.

Older sibling house value: €150k

So what am I missing?
Click to expand...
So what i have been told when i presented this same option was that, the older siblings house may not sell for quite a long period of time, and if the parents house goes on the market without being able to sell there own property they could not afford the home house.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Solution would be to word the will as follows

"I leave my house to my eldest child on condition that they pay 50% of the value of the house on the date of my death to my youngest child within 3 years of the date of my death"

Brendan
Click to expand...
This sounds like a logical option to me.
 
Billo said:
The offspring who lives remotely in house valure150k gives ownership of that house to other offspring and then takes ownership of family house value 300k. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
I know i certainly would not like to take on that house and my wife the younger sibling in this equation would be even less interested than me.
 
DannyBoyD said:
I'd disagree with Brendan; leave the will as proposed, e.g. house to be sold.

If Off-spring1 wants to buy the house they can do so in the normal way.

Somehow people get the notion they have to buy the property at (say) 500k, when in fact they already are inheriting 250k (50%) & thus the cost of purchase is 250k.

Of course if Off-spring1 doesn't have or can't raise the 250k, then all bets are off.
Click to expand...
So in the instance above, offspring 1 inheriting €150k share would need to finance the balance of the €150k either by selling existing house (which may take a while) or presumably a top up or a new mortgage? Her in mid 40's currently and her husband turning 50 all bearing in mind the father living in the house would deffinitley have 15-20 years left in him yet! Above couple could be 65 & 70 when this may happen!!
 
As has been said - you have no way of predicting the future.

Keep it simple - house to be sold. If either offspring wants to buy it, and has the money to do so, they can.
 
Jollyman said:
So in the instance above, offspring 1 inheriting €150k share would need to finance the balance of the €150k either by selling existing house (which may take a while) or presumably a top up or a new mortgage? Her in mid 40's currently and her husband turning 50 all bearing in mind the father living in the house would deffinitley have 15-20 years left in him yet! Above couple could be 65 & 70 when this may happen!!
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Honestly can't believe your family is giving your father grief over unpredictable future scenarios. Enjoy your time left with your surviving parent and be grateful he is still around.
 
Bronte said:
This is way too complicated trying to sort out a future possibility based on unpredictable events.

- How is parent to fund older care Im assuming fair deal Scheme
- Why does sibling want to move into family home Closer to local services GP Chemist Post Office local bus Links and remaining family
- How big is family home Standard 3 Bed Semi appox 1,000Sqft
- How big is current 150K home As above
- what happens if child predeceases parent Yes needs to be thought about also

On the face of facts presented, and to avoid an absolute mess, parent wills his estate to his two children equally, and let those 2 children sort it out then. Bereaved parent does not need this grief now. I would tend to agree!
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Answers in red above, thanks for your response.
 
Bronte said:
Honestly can't believe your family is giving your father grief over unpredictable future scenarios. Enjoy your time left with your surviving parent and be grateful he is still around.
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Sorry there not giving him any grief he is pushing them to answer that they are willing to accept the 50/50 scenario and sold within 1 year as he is ultra organized and not fully grieving yet; i would add in my opinion. He wants to ensure his will is in place to best suit both but there are over and back to each other on how to manage it or who does what....
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Solution would be to word the will as follows

"I leave my house to my eldest child on condition that they pay 50% of the value of the house on the date of my death to my youngest child within 3 years of the date of my death
Click to expand...
What happens if eldest child moves in and refuses to pay?
 
Jollyman said:
Sorry there not giving him any grief he is pushing them to answer that they are willing to accept the 50/50 scenario and sold within 1 year as he is ultra organized and not fully grieving yet; i would add in my opinion. He wants to ensure his will is in place to best suit both but there are over and back to each other on how to manage it or who does what....
Click to expand...
Time to stop this nonsense and both tell Dad leave the house to both and not to worry about a thing. Present a united front and both agree do sort it out when your father dies. End of discussion.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Solution would be to word the will as follows

"I leave my house to my eldest child on condition that they pay 50% of the value of the house on the date of my death to my youngest child within 3 years of the date of my death"

Brendan
Click to expand...
My father has left his will in a similar way to what @Brendan Burgess suggests here. Except he is leaving his house to me on the condition that I pay my sibling one third of it's value within three years of his death. My only query is, how is that 'value' determined? Is it simply a matter of getting one valuation from an auctioneer as soon as possible after he has passed away? Or can the valuation be calculated anytime within those three years? Or perhaps there needs to be a minimum number of valuations obtained from different auctioneers and then take the average?
 
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