Family Wills

[travelinterest]

AIBU to ask for some legal advice here? My mother, father and brother bought a property about 30 years ago equally. Now my parents have both deceased, but they never legally signed their share to my brother. Does he have full right to it or would I be reasonable to take him to court for my share of parents 2/3rds. Does this legally pass over to him?

Were the three of them joint tenants or tenants in common? It makes a difference.

Did your parents actually have wills and if so, what did they say about the house?

Sorry, what is the difference.

Yes they both had wills but this specific property was not mentioned.

You'd have to find out, as PP has said, how the property was held.

It's a bit like a beach ball and a pizza......

if they held it as joint tenants then that's the beachball. You can't divide it up into slices so when one owner dies, the other two own all of it. A will isn't relevant.

If they held it as tenants in common then that's the pizza. They each own a slice (and can decide whether they own equal or inequal slices). Each person can leave their slice under a will/the intestacy rules.

I love the pizza/beachball explanation!

Can you ask your brother about it?

Ask to see the wills as it will state who the beneficiaries are to their estate. Then find out if the house was bought as joint owners or tenants in common. If it's joint owners then you don't have a claim but if it's tenants in common then you do.

We haven't been on speaking terms since parents died for these reasons and various other will disagreements.

You can apply to the land registry for a copy of the deeds which should show how the property was held. You can also apply to the probate office for a copy of the will. If the will didn’t explicitly state what happens to her he house then it would just be treated as part of the residual estate, so if the will said everything was 50/50 (and house was held as tensnts in common) then yes you have a claim.

Do you need the money? Was it bought equally 30 years ago? There isn't enough information here but I can't see myself taking a sibling to court for some of their own property that I had never contributed to, sounds very grabby to me, will or no will

I think if I was in a disagreement with my brother then I’d do all this through a solicitor.
If he has been living there and they owned two thirds but he had continually put his own money into the maintenance etc, I’d feel very uncomfortable about forcing a sale (if he is a tennant in common) unless I really needed the money.

He has had nearly everything else but had no contact with parents latterly, never treated them well, while I saw them every day, took them to appointments etc. Think it's fair to get my share.

There is no such thing as getting your fair share because you saw them everyday. You can only get what is legally yours. As others have mentioned you need to find out how the property was held then depending on that what was said in the will.

Totally stealing the beachball/pizza analogy!

And yes, this is key. Look at the land register office copy (which will cost you £3) to see how the property is owned.

If it was held as a beach ball and passes to your brother in theory you can make a '1975 Act' claim for provision from your parents' estates and ask the court to treat the property as a pizza. However, if I was your solicitor I would 99.99% advise you against doing this unless there are compelling circumstances.

If held as a pizza, your parents' slices pass under there will as someone mentioned above.

Straight to a solicitor - that's what they are there for. Keeps you slightly more distanced from family rifts and they can do all the searches etc. Worth the cost, although clearly you have to be aware you may get absolutely nothing (which I'm sure you're aware of).

Sadly, not all Wills are 'fair', in the non-recipient's view.