Selling inherited house when sibling living in it

Your mother could have chosen to leave the whole house to your sister, or could have split it equally but included a clause that your sister had the right to live there for x months or indefinitely or whatever. She chose not to. So your mother obviously expected that this would happen at some point.

Surely the sister living in the house knew that this day would come

How come none of this was discussed before your mum passed away? Was everyone just burying their heads in the sand hoping it would go away? I do agree with PPs who mention the care costs your sister has likely saved the family though. I would try to quantify that and give that cost to your sister from the estate.

I’m assuming there is a reason DM chose the OP to be executor and not one of the other siblings, also a bit shit to then leave her with this problem to sort.

Why should OP do this? One sibling has sponged off their parent their whole life and is now trying to bully their siblings into giving them the whole inheritance. You are saying they should now be rewarded by being given a house? In what world is that right or fair?

Whilst this may be true, it can also simultaneously be true that if she wasn’t living with DM, DM would have had to go into a home plus all the precursor of getting frailer and needing/expecting more care from adults with busy working lives.

OP was spared all that. Old people notoriously underestimate the amount of care they are getting from relatives and DM should perhaps have changed her will to reflect her DDs input. I have seen how fast care home fees drain away any savings. DPs costs £1900 per week each but priceless for getting my life back.

So sorry for the loss of your mum and that you and all of your siblings are in such a stressful situation. However, I doubt that your sister would be granted a first time buyer mortgage in her mid fifties with limited savings and precarious earnings even if she did provide a good deposit. Most social housing for the elderly accept people over 55, either Local authority, Anchor or Giinness, and it sounds like this would be the best idea for her, as she would not have to pay a large amount of rent or bills and there would be others like her she could make friends with. I am sure your sister feels slightly entitled as she has been your mothers main carer, but in reality she herself has benefitted from low cost accommodation for years. Legally, you may be treading on dangerous ground, I doubt your sister will be forced to sell, given the number of years she has lived there, plus caring for her mother, she may well have residency rights. I have some friends whose aunt left them shares in her property when she died alongside her two daughters, but the youngest daughter who has lived there all her life refuses to move and seems to have obtained the right to stay there.

Some of the replies on this are bloody awful. I'd never go to court to evict my own sister under these circumstances.

I’m not sure anyone can say for sure whether you are reasonable or not based on the information in the op

Factors include whether the sister has grounds to dispute the will based on lack of reasonable financial provisions.

Also if the by providing care has this saved the estate ££££££ over the years at the cost of the sister’s own dwindling income. Of course that would be balanced against the savings the sister has made in her own housing costs over the years.

The op also mentioned the other sister has suggested giving the sister 50 percent. This would reduce ops share from 33 to 25 percent. Only Op will know how much this is likely to equate to in monetary terms, and whether an argument over that sum is worth a permanent family bust up.

This - unless of course your mum was able to live independently.

If your sister could get a small mortgage for 1/3 of the sale price, could your sister buy you out?

So what happens if the house needs a new roof, or a new boiler? Are the OP and her non resident sister expected to pay for it? The resident sister has a very limited income and the house is already in disrepair. Are they expected to pay for bills and other ongoing costs? There is a real risk it could end up costing the OP money. If the resident sister was on top of the maintenance and could afford the council tax, gas, electricity, etc. on her own then fair enough, she could possibly let her stay for a year or two, but the sister clearly can’t cope with the house and can’t afford it on her own, and it’s not in her best interest to let her remain there.

yes I am

complete conjecture on your part. as I said one option is to come up with a sensible plan for the way forward.

slagging off your grieving sister with randoms on the internet probably not gonna help

Because except in the case of proper, existing trenancies, homes have to be sold with vacant possession and this one is anything but vacant

Until she's out of there any solicitor would advise prospective purchasers to run a mile, and that's if she's not already frightened them off with "Oooo didn't they tell you about the dry rot?" and the like

Edited to add that some have mentioned there wouldn't have been a house to sell had the sister not been her mum's carer, and often that would be true.
However OP said she died only "a few months ago" and that the sister became a carer "at the end of her life" so not sure it applies here

Are you the sister?

How do you foresee them owning between the 3 of them? Who pays the general bills? Who sorts out the repairs? The house sitting sister has little income? Do you expect the 2 siblings who lose out on the inheritance to foot the bills as well? They have probably scrimped and saved to be in the position of having their own homes, whilst sister has been living pretty much rent free for her whole life

The maintenance matters because the council can force people to bring properties up to a certain standard if they fall into certain states of disrepair. As the legal owner, the OP will be on the hook for this. Would you potentially want a bill of thousands hanging over your head?

The sister sounds to have had an easy ride over the years, paying very little and nothing now, she could have claimed that caring for their mother was her 'rent' but now she has no such claim to a free house. Legal advice and action is needed if she's blocking the sale, maybe explain to her that her share would be reduced if solicitors are involved.

Over 20 years of cheap rent, 10 years of no rent and no other contribution. Room in a shared place here with share of bills is easily £600 a month. Thats 72k for the 10 years plus maybe another 96k for the 20 years before that assuming contribution of c£200. Not adjusted for inflation but also doesnt allow from how much the sister could have made with interest etc or saving on moving costs. Gives a high-level indication of how much the sister could have saved.

perhaps perhaps perhaps

perhaps interest rates hold steady, mortgage rates drop and house prices rise.

op wasnt so worried about maintenance before she saw the pound signs!

absolutely not. she does have options. she and the other sister want to sell, but there is no evidence she has too. she wants the money.

they can own the house between the 3 of them

she could step down from being executor

she could work up a plan to help her childless, partnerless sister adjust to her new life. Strewth the funeral might only have been a few weeks ago.

but no, get on Mumsnet and get the reddies in. horrible.

mum died a few months ago, and already trying to evict the sister and cash in, and posting on Mumsnet to get some encouragement along the way. Grim

House is in a poor state of repair. The longer a sale is delayed, the more it's likely to deteriorate, especially with winter coming on, and its value will be reduced. So everyone, including sister, will end up with less. Who benefits from that?

The sister has no means to pay for repairs etc on the property. Goodness knows if she can afford the council tax and other running costs if it's a massive gaff. These costs shouldn't fall on the other two - I suspect the mother knew this and it is why the sister wasn't given a life interest in the property.

It's really obvious it's not a straightforward kindness not to tackle this head on - everyone has to face reality here.

somekindof · Today 12:08
You could also go to mediation or family therapy/relationship counselling. All three of you. Having a place to all be heard and understand each others perspectives would help as you navigate the next steps. Direct to legal forcing her out of the house could permanently damage the relationship.
Obviously she will have to leave the house, but this is a huge emotional upheaval for her. It’s not about the money.
I feel for you being in
THIS!