AIBU to refuse aunt’s FWB claim on her estate?

[Sleepneededprettyplease]

I am wondering if I am actually being unreasonable here. I obviously don't think I am but this could end up in court and I am worried.

I am executor for my Aunt's estate. She had no children herself but lived close to me and my sister and always considered us as hers. We actually lived with her for some years. Anyway as she was getting older she decided to sell most of her investments and buy a house in my name as an alternative way of investing hoping to avoid inheritance tax. The intent was always that half the value was my sisters but for other reasons she couldn't be on the deeds.

In the last few years of her life she reconnected with an old uni flame and asked me if he could stay in the house for a bit. I never really considered it mine so felt that if that's what she wanted then of course it should happen. She would visit him some of the time sort of FWB. She went out of her way to tell me that the house was for me and my sister and this changed nothing. She also told me ge wasn't in her will as she wanted us to inherit.

Unfortunately after a fairly short illness (6 months) during which she lived with me she died.

The FWB chap is now claiming he is her dependant and has a right to her estate. My lawyers tell me that legally his case is very weak and if he does contest the will they think that they can get it thrown out without even going to a full hearing as he is refusing to disclose vital information.

Am I in the wrong though? My Aunt would be devastated at the trouble this is causing.

He won't. He's fucking at it.

You're not in the wrong. It would also be fine if you wanted to shove him a few quid to get him to fuck off quietly.

HNRTT and the following might not make sense but as you 'legally' own the property then presumably you continue to assert you allowed him to stay as a favour to your aunt, initially for a short period though this stretched out by her unfortunate illness?

It would be interesting to see him set out in a coherent claim how what appears to be solely your financial favour to him then leads to a dependant status that supports a claim on your aunt's other property and estate.

Has he any evidence that the property is a gift with reservation that should remain part of your aunt's estate and hence it was your aunt who allowed him to stay in what was in substance still her property hence your aunt was subsidising him with notional rent? If not then it might be helpful to avoid 'muddying' the waters - when you say 'she said he could stay for a few months', do you really mean 'she asked you her niece and you agreed to help her friend as a favour to her and let her tell hm rather than tell him yourself to spare his pride'? if that makes sense? Otherwise it might look like she was subsidising his life with notional rent and support his claim for reasonable financial provision due to apparent dependence?

FWIW, he may well be looking for a payoff. As an aside, have you seen any decent TV recently to take your mind off things? I saw a program presented by, I'm not sure, Nigel Havers?

I'm sorry for your loss and the annoyance.

Thats basically his argument that my Aunt's was providing housing for him. I have stated that it was something I did as a favour for her. We also have evidence that he knew it was me who was his "landlord" not my Aunt although he claimed otherwise.

Edited to add. Very little TV recently but I do like a guilty sort your life out now and then.

That appears helpful. Good luck.

Given the totality of your posts, do you think he knows you use MN? If it's a risk, might it be helpful to ask for the thread to be pulled as it feels mightily specific?

Did your Aunt own a home of her own as well as the house she placed into your name? If not, did she pay you rent to live in the house she bought in your name?

Yes she did

Op he’s a cheeky fucker where is his grief for her he probably only came back to her as she was getting on he might have planned to get her to marry him then he would have been entitled to everything. Just hold your nerve don’t give him anything your aunt was clear about that if she had wanted him to have anything she would have told you and your sister. He’s obviously a con artist trying his hand your solicitor will sort him out. Greedy bastard.

Such a pain for you.
Another angle: might your aunt have wanted him to have something? She must have been fond of him and cared for him a bit, to do what shr did. Suppose you offered him 10K in recognition of their relationship provided he leaves you alone?

Try not to die in the next few weeks OP otherwise your executor might find out you had a dependent for whom you need to have made reasonable provision.

They were not married, he's not mentioned in a will, surely he cannot claim anything of the estate? Fight him all the way, he sounds horrific.

@Sleepneededprettyplease I'm not a legal eagle but to me, he has no claim on the house and I would have thought he has shot himself in the foot here.

Am I right in my interpretation that there are two houses, the one your aunt lived in alone and the house she put in your name for the benefit of you and your sister? He has been living in the house that is legally yours and he is claiming he was a dependent of your Aunts?

Based on your explanation, he is not a dependant of your Aunts because it is legally your house and that is why he has legally been told he has to leave! Your Aunt cannot gift occupation rights in a property she does not own, she can ask you but she cannot legally grant permission herself. So the lodger was living there only because you allowed it, whether explicitly or tacitly so his argument against your house does not stand and he has no right to remain after her death unless you let him. Just out of interest, did he know the house was in your name prior to her death?

So lets then look at the house your late Aunt lived in and owned.

To be considered a dependent under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, he would need to show that the the aunt was maintaining him financially, on a regular, ongoing basis, and that he was unable to meet his own reasonable needs without her support. Simply living rent‑free in a house she didn’t even legally own does not meet that threshold. He wasn’t being supported by her assets — he was occupying a property technically owned by you. That is a big difference to his argument. I suppose technically, anyone can submit a claim. But the real question is: would it succeed? And I agree with your solicitor, the answer is no! Based on what you’ve described, the answer is no because I can't see that the court would let him win purely because he says "“I lived there for free so I should get to stay”. And lets not forget that her Will clearly states who her beneficiaries are.

Being realistic, technically he was never financially dependent on your Aunt as he was in YOUR house, and he can't claim against her home as he wasn’t living in her property, he wasn’t part of her household, he wasn’t her spouse, partner, or child, he wasn't maintained by her (unless of course she contributed financially but even then its a long shot) and he has no contractual or tenancy rights.

He is a chancer, he is putting in the claim as he wants the gravy train to continue and at the very least he hopes that purely for his nuisance value, you will give him something to get rid of him and avoid court costs - do not give into him. He has had the benefit of free accommodation and he should be very grateful for this and now leave the family to deal with their grief.

So in short he wasn’t living in the aunt’s property, he wasn’t financially dependent on her, and he wasn’t part of her household. The house he’s in belongs to you, not the aunt, so he has no right to stay and no realistic claim under the Inheritance Act. YOU ARE NOT BEING UNREASONABLE STAND YOUR GROUND AND GET HIM OUT. He can file a claim if he wants, but it won’t succeed

Just keep playing whack-a-mole.

Your Aunt had six months to sort out and vary her Will. She did not.
Fight with your lawyers to make sure he doesn't get any payment.

If, after the time to challenge the Will is over, you wish to allow the old friend to choose a personal item with which to remember your Aunt, then offer him that and a photo of her.

CF! Let him write letters and let your solicitor deal with them.

Tell him to get lost, the utter CF.

If there is no limit to some peoples cheek, this is a prime example!

The cheeky, cheeky sod! This gall takes my breath away, goodness knows what it does to you and your sister!

The absolute nerve, stand firm with this one!

That’s neither here nor there- he has no rights to your aunt’s estate because he’s not named in her will.

So how’s he going to afford legal action if he’s got no money?

Cheeky cunt. Stand firm OP

He's like a very ghoulish cocklodger isnt he.
I would ignore him.

It’s not a gift with reservation if she’s never owned it.

It looks like she gifted the money to OP who bought the house with it, technically.

It doesn’t even matter if she lived there, the house never belonged to her.

If she owned your house then he might be in with a chance, but he’s been dependent on you, not the aunt. As a pp said, don’t die soon.

You are not unreasonable, the house is yours and your sister's, your aunt made it clear, bless her.

In your place I'd give him time to find somewhere to live and ask him if there is anything in the house that he would like.

He probably somehow feels he has lost his anchor but the house is still yours.

He is ignoring all of our questions about what he has done with his money

Stop trying to engage with him, there's absolutely no need. Just go through the legal process to have him evicted from the house and ignore him.

If he wants to make a claim, that's up to him to sort out and he's not going to do that because 1) he hasn't got a leg to stand on and 2) he can't afford to waste money on legal advice telling him he hasn't got a leg to stand on.

She's dead. She doesn't care. Don't use that as an excuse not to fight what is rightfully yours.