AIBU - inheritance sad story

His 2nd wife should get life interest to the house or until she establishes a new relationship.

my concern, based on family experience, would be what sort of pressure is he experiencing from her at this stage? Surely she knew the ownership of the house when she moved in?

I can understand the original intent of wanting to ensure his kids inherit the property.

But the grandfather doesn't own the house, so why would being married to him give her a life interest in the house?

There is no case law to the effect that being married to someone gives you a life interest in property they don't own.

Because they aren't prepared to pay a large tax bill in order to correct their father's error and in doing so disinherit themselves and their children?

Wow your mum and uncle aunt are vile !

If they are married she will have a life interest in the property won't she? So they can't sell untill she passes. Check with a solicitor but I'm sure there's case law to this effect.

You sound lovely, OP. Inheritance threads are usually by people complaining they haven't received as much as they hoped for. Well done for taking your step-grandmother's side -- your grandfather sounds like a negligent parent but it wasn't her fault, she wasn't an OW.
Sorry I haven't any useful advice to give.

I would stay out of it if I was you. Your mum obviously has her reasons for feeling as she does and as other posters have said she may even have financial reasons for not returning the house, such as taxes and maybe her current assets are leveraged against the ownership of this house.

Could have been to protect his assets from a second marriage but now he's changed focus with the passage of time.

Stay well out of this OP, you have no idea what has gone on in the past.

If your GF were a decent man he would have made provision for his second wife over the many intervening years, but somehow I have a strong suspicion he won't have. I only hope she knows what the position is.

Sorry but it seems your Grandfather is reaping the rewards of investing in his new family at the cost of his other children. Inside your Mum may be a very sad little girl whose father left her. Perhaps you should think about whether she is still hurting?

Exactly!!!!

Yep. Agree with all but according to many PPs it would be nice/the Right Thing To Do for the OP's mother to either fork out a fuck ton of cash now in GCT or later in IHT to effectively disinherit herself! The mind boggles.

New wife must be at most of similar age to the older 4 kids and could be significantly younger. So there's a very realistic chance she dies after all of them. I'm not sure everyone who's suggesting this has fully understood the dates here. It's a lot to expect someone to risk potentially never realising an asset they might have planned their finances around.

There’s nothing sad about this story. Your grandad foolishly signed over a huge asset and his roof over his head to other people and now he has to live with the consequences.

I think OP you’re being disingenuous about the ‘reasons’ he did it - unless there’s coercion, we all know that nobody of sound mind signs over a house unless there’s something big in it for them. Take a step back now and focus on your own life.

His poor decision making is extraordinary tbh. The law on this was clear when signed his house over, so he gave up his house to avoid IHT that will be owed anyway if he hasn’t legally been renting it from his daughters.

Now he’s decided he wants it back, which even if the daughters were inclined to acquiesce would end up costing them thousands in CGT.

According to OP he has looked into attempting to get it back legally, but what was his argument here? “I’ve realized, in trying to dodge the HMRC in one of the dumbest ways possible, that I’ve actually managed to fuck myself, my second wife, and our daughter. Now I want to make my kids give me my house back”? 🥴

I wonder what prompted this now. I also wonder if the wife actually knows about any of this, and he’s now panicking because she’s asked questions.

OP you're really only listening to one side here and you don't know the full details.

I would want to know what provision he made for his DC after he left their mother. It almost feels like he gifted the house out of guilt. He has since then had 25 years to consider his current wife and child and how to make provision for them. Has he been paying market rent? If not then what has he been doing with his money?

I think he has just realised that his actions will now mean that his current wife is going to be in a bad financial position. But that is not solely due to gifting the house. It also relates to the past 25 years. That's on him. He may be sad but he also needs to be realistic. I wonder how much his current wife knows about her position. If she is not aware that he does not own the house then she is the one I feel sorry for.

How do you know what she deserves? She could be an awful person.

And if they get handed a huge IHT bill on his death? They should pay up thousands for the second wife to stay in the property they are responsible for and may never see a penny from in their lifetime?

He doesn’t have a house to leave to who he wants.

I honestly can't believe posters saying he should be given the house back.

The adult children given the house years ago have had all of the responsibilities and obligations of ownership with zero benefit. They may well have paid higher stamp duty on their own homes because of this arrangement. You now think they should hand their inheritance (and their own children's in turn) back to their father and pay potentially tens of thousands or more in CGT for the privilege? To be nice? FFS.

I understand what you are saying but does that really matter in this situation? He left the mother ex wife high and dry (or maybe not) and by extension the children but I think he deserves to leave his house to who he wants. Could they let the 2nd wife stay there until she passes? They would still end up with the house, just not as soon?

Circumstances changed when his ex became a single mother to five kids, and when he chose to remarry and have another kid.

He signed the house over, his ex has had it for 25 years and can reasonably have included it in her financial planning. Neither he nor his wife has any right to the return, or any demands, of the house she has owned for longer than they've been married. Security for his second family is his responsibility, not his ex's.

This is exactly the reason people should not gift away assets they still want to control. It stopped being his house the moment he signed it over to his children. He has continued to live in the house due to the good graces of his kids. He has no right to live in it, demand to get it back or insist that the house or the sale proceeds thereof is passed to his wife. This is not unfair and he would have been advised of this point before transferring ownership. It's not unfair of your mum as it will cost her to transfer the house back both in terms of legals and tax. Why should she incur that cost for an asset that she will never see the benefit off?

Why does she? She married a man who didn’t own a home and she obviously did nothing to ensure she has any security of her own making throughout her entire life, and for decades she has neither had to pay rent or a mortgage. Just existing doesn’t entitle her to other people’s house.