50% house left in trust by late father, the other half being left to our sister

[Paul2802]

Hi, my late father who was a tenant in common with my mother at the house they owned outright, left his 50% share of the house divided equally between myself, my brother and sister, and this was put into a trust created by my fathers Will.

Myself and my brother have families, are home owners, but neither of us are well off by any means!
My sister has had a rough life, is unable to work due to discrimination, was recently declared bankrupt. She was living at my sons house for about 4 years (rent free for 2 years, then my mother paid a low rent on her behalf to help with bills etc), but around the start of Covid she moved back in with our mum, which made a lot of sense. She does own a flat in London with an ex-partner, so is also a home owner, and a lodger lives there with her ex to help cover the mortgage/bills etc.... so she has a 50% interest in the flat but doesn't have to pay anything out in upkeep.

The issue now is our mother has decided to leave her 50% share of the house to our sister in her Will, and this was done entirely because she doesn't want to see my sister homeless after she dies.

Whilst I'd never see my sister homeless (hence she lived at my sons for years after a relationship breakdown), and would totally agree she should be given reasonable time to get her life sorted when our mother dies, my brother is of a completely different view. He wants her OUT of the house ASAP so that we can sell and take our share from our fathers half.

However, to be honest, I would think it completely unfair to expect my bother and I to wait until our sisters death before we are able to benefit from what was left to us by our father, particularly as our sister is the youngest and could easily live another 30+ years.

So the questions I have are;

1. Can our mother legally state in her Will that our sister can reside at the house for the remainder of her life, even though my mother's Will is only applicable to 50% of the house?
2. What chances would my brother and I have if we applied to the courts for an order to sell, bearing in mind that between us we would only own one third from my fathers side and our sister would own 4/6ths?
3. Let's say we all agreed for our sister to reside at the house, would my brother and I be able to charge our sister rent based on our shares in the property?

There are other complications, like who pays for the upkeep of the house, bills etc if my sister resides there, considering it's a good size 3-bed property and I doubt my sister could afford all that on benefits.

Many thanks in advance

[Sam101]

The Will would usually give a lifetime interest to your mother and before her death, the beneficiaries are unable to inherit. After all, your mother needs protection and it is only the fact that your mother's part of the house is being gifted elsewhere.

It is completely up to your mother to gift as she wishes and children should not be reliant upon their parents at any time. Your mother could allow your sister to live with her in the house and if she so wishes, can gift her part of the house to her on her death, or gift a lifetime interest, with the property eventually going to the other children. It's up to her.

You are wasting time even thinking to apply to the Court.

If your mother invited your sister to live in the house, the question of any rent could not apply until your mother dies. You and your brother own nothing at all at present. It is owned by the Trust and not the beneficiaries.

You and your brother are not obliged to help your parent financially in any way, but it would be in your own future interests to help maintain the property yourselves.

[Paul2802]

Many thanks Sam101, appreciate the comments.
Sorry if my original post lacked clarity, I'm only referring to events AFTER our mum passes, which hopefully won't be for a long time.

My father's Will has myself, my brother and mother as both executors and trustees of the Will trust. So after our mum passes, it will be down to my brother and I to close the trust, distribute his estate according to his Will, and in conjunction with distribution of my mums half of the house (following probate etc etc), we would apply to change the deeds with land registry accordingly. At that point, myself, brother and sister will all be tenants in common, of which my sister would be the majority shareholder.

"You are wasting time even thinking to apply to the Court" Are you saying that the courts would not allow my brother and I to take out our share because our mum has given a lifetime interest on 50% of the house to our sister?

"the question of any rent could not apply until your mother dies" So after our mum dies, the house has been distributed accordingly, deeds changed etc, in the event our sister remains at the house and we are unable to sell and take out our share, would my brother and I be able to request rent from our sister based on our share? So let's say the rentable value is £1200 monthly, and we collectively own 33%, we could request our sister pays £400 in total rent monthly?

[Paul2802]

PS... This post seems to be under 'Welcome Forum' but I don't know how to move to the correct section 'WILLS'. Does anyone know if this is possible?

[Paul2802]

POST MOVED to WILLS

[Sam101]

Unfortunately moved without the answers given. I have copied and pasted the additional entries to help, so suggest that you only deal with the other post from now.