Mrs wood

[Mrs wood]

My partners step children have 25% inheritance share in his bungalow,as his ex wife is now deceaced he is wanting to sell and give them there inheritance. But the beneficiary is refusing to accept it, and there for he is unable to sell the property. As he is being told he has a restriction on selling it. Any advice on how we can go ahead and please.

[Amethyst]

Do you know why the beneficiary ( your partners step children? ) is refusing ?

Was he sole owner of the property or was it jointly owned with his ex-wife ?

Has he continued contributing to the mortgage/upkeep etc of the property - how long has he not lived there?

Is the 25% inheritance from his ex-wifes will ? ( 2 children? 50% is your partners and the 50% that was ex-wifes should pass to her children 50/50 (25% each?))

Who has told him there is a restriction ? Any info on Land Registry, a debt, or is a probate issue from the beneficiaries?

Peridot

[Mrs wood]

Thanks for your reply.

This property is solely owned by my partner which he is living in and he has been there for 16 months, the previous property was jointly owned with is wife.the property he lives in is brought so he has no mortgage and it is kept mmaculate.

the 25% inheritance was left in is late wife's will to be divided between her four children, and the over 25% is to be divided between my partners children .

So 50% was to be divided between all the children and stated as 25% in my partners and ex wife's will.

So as my partner is not yet decreased he is wanting to settle the 25% payment to his step children on the sale of the propery.they are refusing to except without reason.

He has not been officially told by any one that there is a restriction on selling the property, and after selling the previous property he did not think there would be a problem has he was giving them there 25% inheritance.

My partners health has deteriorated since he moved into the bungalow and he needs to be in a smaller property that he can maintain.

[Amethyst]

Did the children receive their inheritance from their mum's estate when she passed ?

Had they divorced before she passed away ? ( not sure if by saying ex-wife you mean they'd divorced, or she's just ex due to her death )

4 children overall - all children of ex-wife, but only 2 children of your partner ?

[Mrs wood]

No the children didn't receive there inheritance when is ex wife passed away, and he brought the bungalow he now lives which was the same value as there house he sold. I say ex wife has she died, and there are six children in total 4 step children of is wife who died and two biological children from is first marriage.

[Amethyst]

Okay, that makes more sense now
Do you know how the property was owned? Jointly or as tenants in common ?
Do you have the wording from her will ?


Currently it is the thinking that he sells the house, keeps 50% ( to buy his new downsized house etc), and splits the other 50% between the children - 25% shared between 4 step children ( so 6.25% each), and 25% between his 2 biological children (12.5% each) ?

Then when he passes he intends leaving his estate split in the same way ?

Sorry it's always difficult to work out what the facts are at the beginning.

It may well be the beneficiaries believe if they wait until your partner passes they would receive more and possibly concerned that if they accept now they might not be in his will ( his step children ) and so his estate would pass only to his biological children.

[jaguarsuk]

Have the children said why they won't accept?

It could be that they don't realise he's struggling in the house and needs to downsize, they might think he's just doing it to give them money they don't need at the expense of his comfort when actually the reverse is true.

[Mrs wood]

Thanks for the reply the propriety was jointly owned, and we do have the wording from her will. My partner has now changed his will ,and therefore his children's inheritance is paid on his death. Also his step children will only receive there 25% inheritance left by there late mother

[Mrs wood]

All the children are aware of is ill health as he has been in will for quite some time now his step children well the main beneficiary is purely out for financial gain. He also seems to think that he is entitled to half of the property, but that is not how it is stated in both of the wills.it does say in her will that beneficiary has unrestricted power to decide the turns and conditions in every respect upon which any person or persons may occupy or reside in any such property. My trustees may apply the whole or any part of the capital of the share of any beneficiary wether vested or contingent interest in capital for or towards the beneficiary advanced education or benifit. I direct that my trustees may exercise the power of appropriation conferred under section 41 of the administration of estates act 1925 without obtaining any of the consents required under that section.

[Mrs wood]

Also my partner has just excepted an offer on the the bungalow which is up for sale with an estate agent, they are a cash buyers and the solicitor dealing with the conveyancing has wrote numerous letters to the main beneficiary and as had no reply. The bungalow was sold on the 7th of March 2018 to a previous buyer, who pulled out because of the delay what can we do to stop this happening again?

[Peridot]

Hi Mrs Wood,
Generally it will be down to the wording of the Will when the beneficiary receives their legacy in this sort of situation. Who is the trustee? Is it the executor of the mother's will? In which case who was that? If the property is in your partner's sole name how have the interests of the children been protected on the deeds. Is there a restriction in place to ensure any conveyancer contacts the beneficiaries?
If it is possible to post a copy of the mother's Will, with the identifying names and addresses blocked out then it may be easier to see exactly what can and can't be done.
Generally, the Will would be drafted that if certain situations arise then the beneficiaries receive their legacy such as, if the survivor remarried. Usually it would allow for a house move without forcing the payments to be made. I assume the beneficiary who is refusing sees his inheritance increasing in the event the property is retained for as long as possible? Not that this is a reason to go against the Will if it allows the legacy to be paid before their step father passes away.
As I mention, either posting a redacted copy of the Will here or transcribing it would be helpful.

[Mrs wood]

Good morning I left three messages on Friday, not sure if they were sent as I did not get any reply not sure of the procedure on this site.

[Peridot]

Hi Again,
Yes I have seen your previous posts from 8th. I wasn't around this weekend so have only just had a chance to respond. I appreciate you appear to have put some of the wording from the Will on the post #9 but I'm afraid I still need more information. What your partner's will says is irrelevant at this stage. It is his wife's will wording that is important and who was appointed Executor and whether another person was appointed as trustee. A copy of the whole Will would be helpful to try and enable us to point your partner in the right direction.

[Mrs wood]

Thank you for reply my partners will reads as: I appoint my spouse PW and my son DJ and my step daughter CL to be the executors and trustees of this my will. I declare the expressions my trustees shall where the context so admits include the trustees and trustee hereof for the time being of the trust of this my will whether original or substituted. I give my beneficial interest n the house to my trustees on trust of sale on the following terms: my trustees shall permit my spouse PW to live in the house without payment to them so long as he wishes and so long as he keeps the house in repair insures it and pays all outgoings related to it. While the occupant is entitled to live in the house my trustees shall not sell it with out his consent. At the occupants request my trustees may sell the house and buy another to be held on trust for sale on the same terms as the house. Any surplus arising from the sale and purchase shall be invested to provide an income for my said spouse for his lifetime and then after his death shall be part of my residuary estate.

[Mrs wood]

I give all remaining real and personal estate property and effects whatsoever and where ever situated not otherwise hereinbefore dispose of to my trustees upon trust for sale with full power to postpone such sale without responsibility for any consequential loss and to hold the same and the net proceeds of sale and my ready money upon the the following trust