House sale, 3 adult children, 1 with nowhere to go

[MakeMineALarge1]

So MIL passed away, she had 3 children ( all children 50 yrs +), I am married to one of them
Adult 1 - I am married to, both him and me in good jobs, 1 dependant child
Adult 2 - Single, decent job, mortgage free
Adult 3 - Single - never had a real job, works hard but plays hard and has never settled down, spend half the year skiing and then comes back lives with mum and goes back again in the winter

MIL passed away, house being kept on as if sold, child 3 will effectively be homeless ( they do have 2 children who both have homes and lots of friends, so wouldn't be on the street ) but he cannot buy the other 2 out and cannot afford to keep the house on his self - the house isn't worth a great deal, say £180,000 ball park figure, so if sold and split equally only £60,000 each, which wouldn't be enough to buy him a place, but would cover rent for a good while until i presume benefits kick in?

Adult 1 and 3 are not pushing for the sale and they will not see number 3 homeless, but this can't go on forever ( its all very recent) I am not getting involved, but would be interested in knowing what others think.

Also this situation very much mirrors my own family with my sibling being very much like adult 3 and I may be facing this conundrum in the future.

MIL had some money in her bank account, this money is being used to pay the bills at the moment

Why are most people saying on here that the Adult #3 is a sponger. There is absolutely no evidence of that from the OP's posts.

He spends 6 months of the year both 'playing' and working abroad and then staying with his Mum back in this country - an arrangement which by all accounts suited them both. Not an unusual scenario to be honest.

@MakeMineALarge1 - Is he refusing to have it sold, or are you jumping the gun and 'assuming' that he can't afford to buy the other 2 siblings out and that he will then be 'homeless'.

If it hasn't yet been discussed in detail, I would suggest that would be the best starting place?

No she wouldn't, and we don't intend to throw him out, discussions weren't had ( I had tried to broach the subject but no one wanted to listen )

That is also your DH...and so your DC...inheritance that you are loosing

@Silvers11 it has all happened recently and he had to go back as he had work commitments
I am just broaching ideas with other people as I feel I am too close to be making decisions
But yes you're right no formal discussions have been had - I am just looking at different scenarios

Definitely sell the house. It’s not fair not to, and allowing Adult 3 to live there could cause problems in future.

If the house is only worth £180k then it must be in a cheap area, so couldn’t he buy a flat for his £60k share of the sale? Even if he can’t, he could rent for years with that amount.

It's five years rent at 1000pcm, or 10 years if he spends 6m out the country. Or his own kids could help.sell the house.

Yes I am fully aware of that, but until he gets back from working away we can't really do anything.
We can't sell it from under him. He will have to have plans in place for if its a quick sale.

He sounded like the type!

Then I don't think you can really expect either of his children to house him or help him financially. I wouldn't do this for a father who had been minimally involved in my upbringing, especially if I had my own family and mortgage to worry about!

That said, he'll have £60k which will give him some options.

I think you’re being a bit unfair to adult 3 as you made out like he goes on a jolly for 6 months of the year, when in fact he works away and just happens to go skiing too.
I have lots of friends in the military who work away for long periods and then return home.
Many people work away for their jobs.

However, the house needs to be sold and split equally if he can’t afford to buy the other 2 out.
It’s the only fair thing to do.

He would then have to decide whether to stop working abroad or go there permanently.
A single adult working FT and having £60k deposit would absolutely be able to buy somewhere to live.

Renting is a solution - but not a permanent one.

I think 1 + 2 need to talk and then all 3 talk together.

Selling may be tricky if the paperwork isn’t sorted as 3 does live there albeit only some of the time.

I agree that it's time for Adult (???) 3 to enter the real world, just as the rest of us had to do at some stage.

who is going to pay the CT, the insurance, the heating bill, and maintain the property?

I would also wait a good 6 months for him to be able to find somewhere else to live.
Especially if the bills aren’t coming out of the other siblings pockets.

@toocold54 I have never said that he doesn't work, he works bloody hard and is never without a job - he is however 55 - he just never thought this day would come , but seeing MIL was in her 80's it was only a matter of time

Bills are being paid out of a joint account MIL left some money in her acct - this is being used to pay bills
No upkeep being done at present

You will council tax to pay after 6 months plus insurance gas electric water
so you could easily be paying 200 a month to run an empty house

I think they should all agree to sell the house, especially if it needs work doing, it'll just be a millstone round every ones' neck.

It sounds like Adult 3 has the gift of the gab and a knack for finding work, I'm sure they'll be fine and land on their feet.

If I was him and I had 60k I’d probably buy a really nice camper van. It sounds like he has that sort of alternative lifestyle anyway so it wouldn’t be a huge deal.

Assuming he skis in Europe he could use the van to live in and he’d have enough from his odd jobs to live on. Not a permanent solution I guess but he’s going to be so depressed going from the life he has now to a conventional life and renting is also not a permanent solution because he wouldn’t be entitled to benefits. Benefits aren’t enough for a single person to live on anyway.

There’s also the investment property idea but he’d have great trouble getting a decent btl mortgage deal with no proper job and with the interest rates increasing and property prices starting to drop its a gamble.

Yes I know, and no doubt when this becomes apparent it might make them think about how long the situation continues
I am also acutely aware of the fact that an empty house is a sitting duck for break ins etc

There is a ski season in the southern hemisphere so he could work most of the year as a ski instructor if he could be bothered.
Of course it needs to be sold and split 3 ways - it belongs to 2 other people and by continuing to live there without paying market rent he'd be depriving them of their property. If he was less of a CF he could live there whilst it's being marketed and sold but not if he's likely to deliberately mess up viewings in order to prevent the sale.

All those saying 60k is a good deposit, it doesn't sound like A3 can afford to pay a mortgage.

I think the two siblings with their own homes need to think about how much they are prepared to subsidise DB3 both in terms on regular income and in terms of invested wealth.

If I were one of them I would not be prepared to subsidize with income at all, but would probably be prepared to have my wealth (the 3rd value of the house) sit in the property for now. I wouldn’t agree to helping pay to pay insurance or heating etc. to keep the house empty over the winter months so DB3 can live elsewhere and have somewhere to come back to. But I’d probably be okay with not realising the equity in the property right now if DB3 were prepared to pay all bills and upkeep (and not let the property deteriorate any further than it currently has).

But if their mum has just passed I think these sorts of discussions can be left at least until the spring when DB3 comes back. All the brothers probably need a little time to come to terms with their loss. DB3 has both the loss of his mom, his summertime companion and the change to his lifestyle to come to terms with. It’s not surprising if he hasn’t immediately worked out how to cope with that. His time back at the winter “home” may help him work out what he wants going forward.

Sell and split the money 60k is enough to put down on a little flat and then he can get a job to cover the remaining mortgage- like every other person in the universe has to do…

@YourWinter I'd find it hard not to resent the sibling in this situation. If they outlive you you'll never see your inheritance, yet your sibling gets to benefit from it for the rest of their life.