Probate/will question

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firsttimeted

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If somebody bequeaths "I give devise and bequeath my dwellinghouse together with the household furniture and effects therein to x for his own use and benefit absolutely and all the rest residue and remainder of my property of every nature to y".


Does that mean that the garden of he house is not bequesthed to x? i.e. is it literally just the house?
 
Based on this logic, should the walkway from the public footpath to the front door be excluded from the definition of "dwellinghouse"? Should the foul-water and rain-water feeds to the main drain / septic tank be excluded as these run underground through the garden(s)? Should the mains water, gas, electricity and phone lines be excluded as these run through or over the garden? Should the oil storage tank and supply pipes be excluded because they sit in the garden? Should a garage or garden shed be excluded because these are outside the walls of the "dwellinghouse"?

The deeds for a property will give the site dimensions and boundaries, including the gardens, if any. The dwellinghouse and site are an indivisible unit until such time as someone decides to split them into separate units.
 
firsttimeted said:
If somebody bequeaths "I give devise and bequeath my dwellinghouse together with the household furniture and effects therein to x for his own use and benefit absolutely and all the rest residue and remainder of my property of every nature to y".


Does that mean that the garden of he house is not bequesthed to x? i.e. is it literally just the house?
Click to expand...

This screams to me that there is potential for a dispute!

If this a 3 bed semi in an estate, the obvious meaning of dwelling house is the house and garden i.e. the house and what is known as "curtilage". I can think of no reason why the testator/trix intended anything different.

Now, if this is a house with a lot of land, then there is more to it. So I think OP might have to give a wee bit more information to clarify what the issue actually is.

And, as usual, if there is trickery afoot, or bad feeling, lord alone knows what is going on.

mf
 
House usually means house and curtilage used for the benefit of the house such as the garden, driveway, sheds, or a kitchen garden that was used by the occupants of the house.

It wouldn't include a business premises or a farm.
 
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