Selling inherited house when sibling living in it

Sell it. Give her only her share. Not unreasonable, not at all.

As executor I wouldn’t offer any more than her share - stick to the will. I think you’ll need to use a solicitor due to her lack of engagement and that is money that will need to come out of the estate.
The house may not sell for years and costs may escalate, she may not be able to buy anywhere but could rent; that’s not your problem at this stage, don’t make it harder for yourself by trying to resolve her issues ahead of the sale.

That's what I meant

She's the executor, she has to follow the will. It's her legal duty

If the sister lived rent free for 10 years but the mother was in need of round the clock care for say 3 years then that's £1500 per month not per week

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

That's not what those forms were, you being "happy" is not a legal requirement.

A pp was right when they said the house would (most likely) need to be sold with vacant possession. Which was more likely what you were signing for.

Unlikely to have been £1,500 a week.

Only if the estate has been wound up and the house transferred I to their names. And why would the have done that without this being sorted out?

"Probate settled" is not the same as "estate wound up".

Good god, there's always one. Stupid post.

You mean proprietary estoppel? That only applies if she was promised she would get the house and relied upon it

OP is the executor and has a legal obligation to carry out the terms of the will. She must do so without delay. Get probate done and sell the house on the market

She may also be legally obliged to charge her sister market rate rent...

Either way, she needs some legal advice

Challenging the will isn't what is needed here. If the sister successfully challenges the will then that will mean that the mother essentially died intestate and she would still only get one third under the intestacy rules.

What you are likely thinking of is a claim under the Inheritance Act 1975 which allows a child (and other people) in England & Wales to make a claim if they haven't been left reasonable financial provision in a will.

That can be quite risky unless there is a very strong case.

Alternatively, the deceased mother may have said something like "Come and look after me and I will make sure that you are taken care off after I die and can live in the house as long as you want." but then failed to update her will to reflect that.

Now, if there is evidence that the mother said something like this and the sister then gave up her job to look after the mother for a long period of time then she may also have a claim anyway. This would simply be because the mother promised this and the sister then relied on that promise and gave up her job to look after the mother.

But, again, that can be a risk if there isn't strong evidence.

Your mum did the correct thing leaving it equally. She probably privately wanted your sister to pull her finger out and sort her life out.

If there was a way you could get a lawyer to simply take charge of all this for you that would be ideal, get the lawyer to put it onto the market and everything with your oversight if you stay as sole executor.

This way you get to let the lawyer be the bad guy not you, it’ll be much cheaper and fairer than giving away your share.

And how is the sister going to maintain it? She hasn't got any income. Will she then demand her siblings (who didn't get any inheritance) help fund repairs? Does she need a house the size of a family home?

I think that communication is the key.
Sit down over a cup of tea and thrash it out.
Listen, really listen to each other.
Try to maintain your family bonds, a sibling is the longest relationship you are ever likely to have.

Sister is being very unfair. It’s not your responsibility to provide for her. Give her a date and tell her to move on.

why?

In addition, this is the key point: DMs house is in a bad state of repair, none of us can afford to maintain it.

I can see why the OP and her other sister are panicking.

You definitely need legal advice and representation. This could get very very messy and toxic.

Probate is needed before any change of ownership or sale is permitted. Until that has been granted nothing can happen and the property remains in the OP's mother's estate.

just let her have the house , you don't need it

But she must have had the chance to move out when younger. She hasn't been a carer all her life. She made different life choices than her siblings, living rent free, not helping to maintain the house she lived in. Why should she benefit financially?

You need legal advice and I think you could force a sale. Whilst your sister lives there the house will continue to devalue as it falls into disrepair.

My bf's relatives are going to be in your position eventually. There's a relative in his 50s who has never left home, who's seen as a carer (but does no care), has only paid a pittance on rent for decades and doesn't get it that the house will be sold to be subdivided with his siblings and he'll have to move. We've had to step away because no one will listen and the relative hadn't even thought this might happen!

You can't do this without probate. The ownership is currently the mum's estate.

She made a will. She left her house as she wanted to