Siblings want house promised to another sibling

[blade81]

I am raising this on behalf of my cousin. My Aunt his mother died in 2008. My Uncle his father had died many years before.

My aunt didn’t leave a will. My cousin (refer to as cousin a) lived with my aunt since 1992 with his wife who was looking after his mother as a carer and when she died continued to live in the home up to the present time. 25 years in total living in that house.

My cousin has two siblings both with their own homes. Two other siblings have passed away.

Cousin A tried to sort out probate in 2008/2009 but the other two siblings at the time didn’t want to sort it out.

Out of the blue Sibling B has sent a letter via a solicitor asking that cousin A and his wife vacate the property or eviction proceedings will commence, they plan to sell the property and split the money, the letter also advised that as Cousin A has paid no rent since 2008 this would be deducted from the money due to him.

Cousin A has spent a significant amount maintaining the property paid all house insurance, council tax etc since he moved in and since his mother passed.

Cousin B also advised that the house proceeds will be split between the 3 living siblings plus children of the 2 deceased siblings.

Cousin A is concerned that he will lose his home. The house is worth approx. £140K. His mother had made it known that Cousin A would keep the house given that he and his wife had looked after her all those years without any care from the other siblings and they are already financially sorted with their own homes/comfortable lifes. Cousin A has sought legal advice but doesn’t have much savings to continue and therefore I was wanting some advice on how to proceed.

Cousin B has also threatened to enter the property and gain possession.

By the way I am on speaking terms with all three siblings equally. However I have sided with Cousin A as it was well known within the family he would receive the house. He is happy to give them some money by remortgaging or taking our a loan but he feel given the agreement with his mother he is entitled to the vast majority of the house.

The solicitor he has spoke to is writing a letter his brothers solicitor bit didn't advise on next process to force someone to make a decision about the asset as he feels if thsi ends up in court it the courts will side with him. He also wants advised of any way to make the house his in the short term so his sibling cant enter if he is away from the house for example.

Any help will be appreciated.

[wales01man]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

Who is the owner of the house the deceased or the cousins?

[des8]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

"Cousin A tried to sort out probate in 2008/2009"

Did they go as far as obtaining a grant of probate?

I would guess that the current resident in the property, although only entitked to inherit one fifth of the property (if I understand the position properly) now has a beneficial interest in it.

Are all the other beneficiaries looking for their legacies, or is it just the one?

tagging [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION]

[blade81]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

Hi, Thanks for the replies. I don't think a grant of probate was granted to any of them even now.

in terms of the house i believe it is my Aunt name not the siblings.

There are 3 living siblings and two the have passed whose children are allegedly wanting their share of the house so yes split five ways.

[des8]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

Well your cousin A who is residing in the house should find out if anyone has obtained a grant of representation (https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate)
Without it no one can sell the house.
I would suggest that if it has not yet been granted they start the process

[blade81]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

Well your cousin A who is residing in the house should find out if anyone has obtained a grant of representation (https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate)
Without it no one can sell the house.
I would suggest that if it has not yet been granted they start the process

Thanks Des8 I have double checked and apparently when they sent the letter from Solicitors at the back it had photocopy of a letter of representation from District probat Regsistry Leeds but it wasnt stamped with the seal. I have checked the link you kindly supplied and it says that you can stop a grant of representation by submitted a caveat for sixth months ago. I dont know whether i should suggest this to give him time to take it all in. At this point i dont think the siblings are going to mediate. How would this be resolved i.e. how to avoid racking up solicitors and get a court to decide for example.

You help is very much appreciated

[des8]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

So someone already has "letters of Administration", presumably the cousin agitating for a sale of the property.

If letters have already been granted, a caveat is too late.
It may be possible for cousin A to be appointed joint administrator if application is made to the court.
I'm tagging [MENTION=85500]Peridot[/MENTION] for you, as she is far more knowledgeable on these matters.

As there was no will, the estate has to be settled according to the strict rules of intestacy.
The main point in dispute will, IMO, be the possiblity of the current resident's beneficial or equitable rights being outweighed by the benefit of rent free accommodation against the cost of keeping the property in a good state of repair/insured etc

[Peridot]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

Hi Blade81,
Apologies for the delay, I have not been around the forum for a few days.
A really tough situation. The previous comments are correct, the rules of intestacy are generally very strict. In order to be successful in making a claim for more than the 1/5 that your cousin A is technically entitled to, he would have to make a claim against the estate and prove that a constructive trust was created over the property or that this is an estoppel situation. This can be very difficult to prove, (s)he would be trying to show that (s)he had acquired a beneficial interest over the property through for example, paying all bills, paying the mortgage, getting significant work done on the property, etc unfortunately general maintenance is unlikely to be sufficient; or that (s)he has acted to his detriment on the basis (s)he believed the property was coming to her/him. Again proving either of these can be incredibly difficult and I would not suggest that it is something (s)he can do without proper legal advice.

I am assuming that there are insufficient assets in the estate that an agreement could be reached that cousin A lets the other 4/5 be taken from the other assets? From the sounds of it the property is the main asset here?

I appreciate the cost of getting legal advice in this area will be significant, but in this situation there are a lot of technical issues, time limits to comply with and evidence that would be required to bring a successful claim against the estate. Any solicitor is going to recommend mediation and negotiation to try and reach a settlement between all of the cousins (and deceased cousins children). This is also what the Court's expect parties to try before going to them.

Could cousin A raise the money by way of mortgage or find out how much he could raise as a starting point for any negotiations? He will also need to gather together any details (s)he has on the works that they carried out at the property and proof of payment. Also confirmation of conversations and dates, together with any paperwork supporting cousin A's assertion that the property was always meant to come to her/him.

There are solicitors that will consider taking on this sort of contested probate claim under a no win no fee type agreement, which may be worth looking into? Obviously they would only agree to do this if the prospects of the claim succeeding are over 50%. This doesn't mean Cousin A would have to go to court necessarily, (although (s)he would have to be prepared to, if the solicitor advised it), just that the likely decision of the court if it went all the way would be in their favour.

It would also be worth checking if they have any insurance policy that may allow them to take the matter further.
Probably not what you wanted to hear but as it appears that a Grant of Letters of Administration has already been granted they really need to decide whether to proceed down the legal route, with the associated costs or look to other options, such as raising the funds to pay the other beneficiaries their share and maybe negotiating a slight reduction if they would agree. There are also very strict timescales for bringing claims so obtaining the correct legal advice face to face is a priority.

A horrible situation all round and such a worry for your cousin. Please make sure you all have current wills, once you're able to deal with it. This sort of heartache can so easily be avoided where there is a correctly drafted Will in place, even if the beneficiaries aren't always happy with the content.

[blade81]

Re: Siblings want house promised to another sibling

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it. It is a horrible situation as none of those know want to back down. I am neutral but I have to say that everyone was under the understanding that Cousin ! would keep the house it looks like it is pettiness. He has lived in the house since his mother died in 2008 and none of the siblings wanted a share of the house until now. Cousin A even tried at the beginning to sort things out but they declined the offers.

Is there anyway he can temporarily gain possession Cousin A and Wife were meant to be going on holiday and are worried that cousin b will gain entry, which he keeps threatening on doing!