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.

There is a lot less work in the summer. A huge proportion of the locals who have winter jobs like working the lifts and being instructors will be builders and tradesmen in the summer, so will handle all the proper maintenance and building work for chalets.
People working in the shops in the winter are usually there in the summer.

Jobs for seasonaires over summer are quite limited, especially if you haven’t been doing it for a long time

Depends on whether the 60k would make a big difference to the other 2 siblings or not. If not, I would be inclined to give him a life interest and the other two siblings/their offspring to inherit the full amount following his death upon sale of the house. But he can’t sell it during his life time. And has to maintain it/pay all bills. So legal title passes to the 2 siblings but he has a beneficial life interest.

Ok - in that case it seems to me that he might be more than happy to just sell the house and you won't know until all 3 siblings can get together to discuss.
It's the most obvious thing to do if they are all happy about that.

But I also think that really, it's up to the three of them to discuss and without input from you. I understand why you have thoughts about it and want to discuss them with your husband but, and I mean this kindly, it isn't your place to get involved - or at least not at this stage. You referred earlier not wanting to be seen as the greedy DIL just wanting to get your hands on the cash. So stand back and leave them to make decisions between the three of them? Otherwise you could be seen to be exactly that if there ends up being disagreements between the three of them

Could the other sibling use the £60k to buy a park home ? Would work well as not allowed to live on (most) of them 12 months a year - could go to ski when the park is closed annually.

Not RTFT but have your replies

60k is plenty to get Adult 3 somewhere sorted. it's not your DHs siblings responsibly to keep him housed. He's an adult.

If I were your DH I'd push for a sale.

He can get a job in a ski chalet or some other kind of live in job. Or do shared ownership somewhere where housing is very cheap.

Sorry not RTFT but surely £60k could get him a deposit on a flat? or at least enough to launch him into the real world in some way (rental etc), which is where he should be anyway!!

Has probate (or letters of administration if there was no will) been obtained yet? I believe it's taking nearly a year in some places.
Also what did you mean by paying a "supplement" for the house to remain empty for 6 months?

Be really careful when you're coming to any kind of agreement to take into account the potentially major amounts of money that may be required to maintain the place. In my family we had a similar situation: three children, one of whom had lived with and looked after an elderly parent in their final years and then wanted the right to remain in the house for the rest of their life as recompense. The other two agreed at first, and agreed to share maintenance costs. Changed their minds swiftly when it became clear the place needed reroofing and rewiring and they were expected to find upward of £15k each to put towards a project that might offer them no benefit in their lifetimes. They ended up forcing a sale.

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

How do you work hard without every having had a real job?

I'd be happy to let sibling 3 keep the house as he's most in need, and it sounds like his mum would have wanted him to keep a roof over his head.

However, he needs to change his lifestyle now he's the only one living there. The house cannot be left unoccupied for six months at a time!

My generosity as a sibling giving up a £60k share would be sorely tested if he didn't look after the house he'd been kindly given. I'm not suggesting he's kicked out on his ear (even though legally it would be possible), but I do think his ski season days are over. He needs to live there properly and get a local job.

If that's not something he's prepared to do, I'd go back to the original plan of selling up.

I was going to say the same, except it would be a proper market rent, not a nominal amount. Obviously he would only pay 2/3 of it, 1/3 to each sibling, as he owns 1/3 of the house himself.

All 3 siblings equally responsible for maintenance, he is responsible for council tax and utilities.

He could have a lodger to help cover costs while he’s off abroad.

You say he works hard but plays hard…. what does he do for money?

Presumably £60k would be a good chunk in a shared ownership property?

That could be a workable solution.

Sure, and he could even this place in Rotherham for £5000 and - er - fix it up a bit:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130520843#/?channel=RES_BUY

I would be going ahead with the sale. Doesn’t sound like this guy is working all the hours God sends and still unable to afford his own home etc. He’s choosing to work overseas for part of year doing a hobby he enjoys then not working fully when back. Why should his siblings sacrifice their inheritance so he gets the house? Bet he would sell it and spend it ski-ing etc if that happened!

Who is the executor? Don't they have a legal duty to deal with the estate by a certain date?

OP says in one of her posts that the property has not been maintained, so depending on the area probably it isn't worth the full market rent.

If he would be abroad for six months of the year, he couldn't really have a lodger. Any person he rented a room to would have a strong case that they were actually a tenant. And he could find they change the locks and don't let him back in when he returns....

I’m wondering about this too, but I’m not knowledgeable in this area.

Would his bothers effectively become his landlords and have to abide by those rules, e.g., provide a tenancy agreement, gas safety certificate, etc.? Perhaps not as he’s a part-owner of the property, but it should be looked into. It could be a nightmare in practice.

Hi.
I'm going out now, so will update tomorrow and answer more questions

Unless I've missed it, I can't see anywhere in the OPs posts that the third brother has opposed or is likely to oppose a sale.
He's gone back to work. I think you're getting ahead of yourself.
He must have thought about what he'd do when his mother died. Has anyone even asked him?

I think the house should be sold and proceeds split between the 3 siblings.

The sibling still living there is welcome to the real world.

OP has confirmed that it hasn't even been discussed with the 3rd Sibling! He's gone back to ski/work abroad. So she doesn't know what his reaction will be 🙄

I am currently dealing with, almost, this exact situation. My mums house is left to the 4 of us equally, my brother has always lived with her and has been her main carer for the last few years. I am the eldest and she has always said, “you will make sure brother is alright”

Apologies if overstepping, and you have already done this, but this is from the beginning, you/the siblings need to discuss and clarify a few facts.

You don’t mention any will so assume there is none.
Did the mother express any wishes regarding the sharing of the estate?
What is the value of the estate, including any money you appear to be already using. Get a proper valuation for the house.

You will need to apply for probate/ letters of administration to administer the estate, no distribution of assets should be happening before this is dealt with.
Go to .gov.uk search probate. Lots of info on there regarding who can apply, the rules, etc.

What does sibling 3 actually want or need. (He is not entitled to stay in the house and you shouldn’t say he can without it all being addressed legally.)
He may even want to take his share an run, if that’s the case you don’t have to look for any other solution.

My brother needs somewhere to live so we are in the process of buying a flat for him. With a loan (family) and savings (his) we can buy the flat, with the loan to be repaid from his share once the house is sold. This gets him settled and leaves an empty house to clear and get ready to sell later, once probate has gone through ( they are quoting 16 weeks for this to happen)
Bear in mind that if your sibling needs to borrow any additional money, he will struggle to get a mortgage beyond his state pension age, so if age 55+ the sooner this is sorted the better as assuming pension age of 67 only 12 years.

Hope this helps

Nana4 ..that sounds a great solution. You are honouring your mother's wishes and taking care of your brother while also ensuring the fair sharing of the property which your mother also wished for. Really shows what can be done with some thought when the whole family are considerate. 💐

Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say. We have done a lot of thinking and talking ( and juggling with finances) to get here. The main thing I think is to talk everything through honestly, and not assume there is only one solution.