To think you can’t put conditions on inheritance

[HairHereThere]

4 siblings all due at some point to get an equal share of dm house .....

But now dm is trying to Say there are conditions on them receiving it. That it has to spent how she thinks it should be and unless that’s agreed to they won’t get it ?

cptartapp that is what my OH was saying to me about my DC. He suggested that none of the DC would get any inheritance if they smoked....the joke is he smokes like a chimney and I told him to bog off with such ridiculous suggestions. Its all about control and him trying to dictate,, either leave the money or don't and if he dies before me I would ensure there is no stupidity attached.

Isnt she right though. If you buy the house it will be at a below market price. You can sell it / release equity when older for a pension and in the meantime save on rent

In Ireland you can’t specify weird conditions like this for inheritance. You can leave people money but you can’t dictate what they do with it unless it’s in trust for a child or something like that. My mil wanted to do all sorts of mad things and the solicitor told her to get a grip. As someone else already posted you can’t rule from the grave!!!

Just say something vague like "It would be nice to be a home owner". It's not a promise to do anything, but it sounds like agreement.

She's right.

Owning a house is far better than relying upon there being a welfare state for the next 60 years.

Sounds like her idea of putting in conditions is to protect some of her children from their own stupidity in thinking that they are securely housed for the rest of their lives.

Oh hang on she wants you to buy the council house you live in? Ignore me, I thought she meant another house.

I don’t want to as we are better off staying council tenants and potentially using the money (if there is any) as savings/pension/for anything the dc need etc

I think you’re being extremely silly here. Buying a council house makes you money immediately because they are sold under market value. Plus house prices usually go up a lot so your house is making you money just sitting there and even more so if you make improvements. Property is a much, much better investment than savings or a pension at the moment.

You won’t have anything to pass on to your children if you just spend it. It’s often impossible to get on the housing ladder without an inheritance these days and council housing is in such short supply you can’t assume they’ll get it.

You’d probably be best off buying the council house outright and using the money you save each month on rent to put away as savings or spend on your kids.

The most efficient way of saving for retirement in your position would be to buy the council house now and when you’re ready to retire, downsize and move into somewhere smaller and free up the cash that way. Unless something changes very dramatically that’ll be the most profitable way to do it from your point of view.

I don’t think the Will itself can actually say under such conditions, can it? It will just be up to whoever gets whatever money to do what they like with it. Just nod and agree - it sounds harsh but she’ll never know either way!

It happens.

But this wasn’t from the will maker.

It was from his spouse.

DC1 - had to spend the money on a car - they didn’t need a car. Told the remaining parent to GTF

DC2 - had to spend the money on a kitchen, house was a building site, child imminent and more other things needed first - also told the parent to GTF

DC3 - given no such restraints, didn’t tell parent to GTF so got all three ‘shares’

DC1 and DC2 quite close. DC3 only gets in touch when they’ve run out of money.

It’s not straightforward and I do worry as to what could happen if the council decide to demolish and rebuild they are doing a lot in our area and then LA homes are under HA instead
It’s quite complicated and I just feel having a life tenancy that it’s better

Yeah, I think even if she wrote that in a will, it's likely to be unenforceable and/or easy to contest. If you really want to determine what someone spends an inheritance on, you have to set up a trust. But in this situation that would be ridiculous.

What she can do, which you might suggest to her, is to write a letter of intent to go with the will. It doesn't have the same status as the will, but it is a way for her to indicate her preferences and wishes.

Not legally enforceable I suspect but I have no issue with a person making this kind of request. My grandfather died when I was a toddler, I have one cousin on that side who is about a year older. Granddad left us about £1k each, specifying to Nana that he wanted us to have it when we were getting married or turned 25, whichever was first. By the time we were in our 20s people living by themselves or with a partner before / instead of marriage was far more normal than in the 80s so Nana changed this to 25 or buying our first home, I was 24 and buying a house by myself when she gave me the money and it was much appreciated. I like the idea that even though we were babies when he died, Granddad wanted to help set us up in life.

What is the likely amount you’d be set to inherit? Wouldn’t that have a bearing? Is there a limit you can have in savings/investments before it’s taken into account for social housing? I’m sure I’ve seen posts along those lines on here before.

... or is that housing benefit? Sorry if I’ve got it wrong! 😳