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Hi,
Father in law told my husband that the house he was developing was in the will for him and that he could move in whenever we came back to the Northern Ireland (we were living in London at the time). Five years later we approached in laws asking if we could move in even though the house was still unfinished. We were told yes and we finished off the house by fitting bathrooms, kitchen, carpets, decorating and so forth, spending in the region of 20000. Problems arose during this process as father in law didn't approve of us using workmen who were not 'locals'. I was pregnant at the time and needed the house to be habitable as soon as possible. During an argument over fixing the driveway area he told us that the house 'was not yours and no one ever said it was'. After this incident other members of the family clarified that he said that out of anger and that the house was in the will and was our home. Nonetheless, the relationship broke down after that incident and after we decided to tidy up the garden area 3 years later, sister in law sent us a letter saying that her father had done to a solicitor and advised that the only solution is for us to sign a rental agreement. This lead to further arguments with my husband calling his father a bully. Nearly two months later we then received a letter from his solicitor stating that his client had never said anything about house being in the will, a whole paragraph on how offended he was at being called a bully and offering either meaningful mediation or for us to provide a proposal if we wished to stay in the property. We engaged a solicitor and accepted mediation as well as setting out our case on we came to be in the property and so forth. We waited 3 months and got no reply, our solicitor then sent another letter and was told by his solicitor that he has not been given any further instruction from him. It has now been 8 months since we sent our response and there has been no communication from either him, his solicitor or any family member. I do actually want the matter resolved as it is causing us a lot of stress and uncertainty especially since we have a young child but, at the same time I recognise that I can't force him to reply. What would be the best way forward? Do I just wait? He did say before our solicitor response that the house was only for 'family' and that 'no rent no mediation'.
Father in law told my husband that the house he was developing was in the will for him and that he could move in whenever we came back to the Northern Ireland (we were living in London at the time). Five years later we approached in laws asking if we could move in even though the house was still unfinished. We were told yes and we finished off the house by fitting bathrooms, kitchen, carpets, decorating and so forth, spending in the region of 20000. Problems arose during this process as father in law didn't approve of us using workmen who were not 'locals'. I was pregnant at the time and needed the house to be habitable as soon as possible. During an argument over fixing the driveway area he told us that the house 'was not yours and no one ever said it was'. After this incident other members of the family clarified that he said that out of anger and that the house was in the will and was our home. Nonetheless, the relationship broke down after that incident and after we decided to tidy up the garden area 3 years later, sister in law sent us a letter saying that her father had done to a solicitor and advised that the only solution is for us to sign a rental agreement. This lead to further arguments with my husband calling his father a bully. Nearly two months later we then received a letter from his solicitor stating that his client had never said anything about house being in the will, a whole paragraph on how offended he was at being called a bully and offering either meaningful mediation or for us to provide a proposal if we wished to stay in the property. We engaged a solicitor and accepted mediation as well as setting out our case on we came to be in the property and so forth. We waited 3 months and got no reply, our solicitor then sent another letter and was told by his solicitor that he has not been given any further instruction from him. It has now been 8 months since we sent our response and there has been no communication from either him, his solicitor or any family member. I do actually want the matter resolved as it is causing us a lot of stress and uncertainty especially since we have a young child but, at the same time I recognise that I can't force him to reply. What would be the best way forward? Do I just wait? He did say before our solicitor response that the house was only for 'family' and that 'no rent no mediation'.
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