Inheriting a House- Mother & Family!

[Zepher]

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times here but this is new to me so any help would be useful.

My father died and left no will, leaving my mother and five children - all adults.

We went to the probate court and obtained a Letter of Adminstration to resolve my father's estate which consists of the family home and a sperate piece of land.

We wish now to chnage the name on the deeds of these two property. My questions are:

• How is the property divided on the deed. I have been told that 2/3 goes to my mother, and remaining third is split among us five siblings, therefore all ourt names appear on the deed with this breakdown of how the property is shared. Is this right?

• I suspect my sister may at some stage look for her share. Could she force my mother to sell the house to pay her off? Could she force us to sell up to pay her off? None of us are seeking our share as we would be prefer my mother to stay in the home she's lived most of her life in.

• Finally, do we need a solicitor to change the names on the deeds. We've been told conflicting stories. How does the Land Registry know how the property is divided in ownership terms? On our say so!!!?

Any advice would be gratefully accepted

 

[ramble]

You are right about the split of assets. You mention a separate piece of land, how do you intend dealing with this? Your mother is entitled to 2/3 of the value of the estate, she can appropriate the family home in satisfaction of her share if the other piece of land makes up 1/3 of the estate. This could be sold to pay out the 1/15 share due to each child. The children can also renounce their share in favour of the mother, the child who is not willing to renounce could be paid off from the extra piece of land.

As you see there are a lot of choices, you would do well to consult a solicitor for advice and to do the land transfers if necessary. Stamp duty may arise depending on how the assets are dealt with and their value, a solicitor will be able to help you minimise this liability. You've done the expensive job in getting the grant of administration, the land transfers should be reasonably inexpensive.

 

[Zepher]

The other piece of land is too complicated - its also owned by the two brothers of my father.

My big concen is if my mother could be forced by my sister to sell the family home so she can have her share now???

I would have hoped that my mother would have some right to remain in the home until the end of her life or she decided to sell - its crazy 'cause I know my Dad would never have wanted this to happen

 

[ramble]

The value of the share in the other piece of land still has to be taken into account in calculating the value of your mothers 2/3. As your mother can appropriate the house in satisfaction of her share you could give your sister her share out of the other land. Each of the siblings are only entitled to 1/15 each, could the value of the share in the other land cover 1/15 of the net value of the estate?

Strictly speaking if your sister is registered as part owner of the house she could apply to the high court for an order for partition but this is expensive and unless the property is very valuable I can't see her doing it. She is much more likely to wait with the rest of you. You should really get some advice on your particular situation. The other piece of land is not irrelevant and its value relative to that of the house is very important in deciding how to administer the estate. Other than the legal right share your mother has no specific legal right to stay in the house.

 

[woods]

As an aside.
Would putting all 5 names on the deeds effect your status as a first time buyer in the future.

 

[Healy1]

Zepher - can you (meaning the rest of your family collectively) not come to deal with your sister rather than leave this fester? Remove her rights from your mother's property once and for all. If you leave her to her own devices your liability to her will increase over time. I recemmended doing a deal with her now and get rid (if at all possible). You don't want the worry in the back of your mind until she decides to rock the boat in the future.