Update to AIBU to refuse Aunt's fwb claim on her estate.

[Sleepneededprettyplease]

Posting here because it is where I put the first thread.

A brief summery is that my Aunt died and her FWB is trying to say that he is entitled to part of her estate because she had asked me to allow him to stay in a house she had invested in for me. Anyway if you want the full story feel free to read what I put on the first thread.

Anyway the main thing is that he is now sueing in the courts. I need a bit of a hand hold please. My lawyers have suggested getting a barristers opinion so I am just waiting for that. I wouldn't even mind if it was possible to just go to mediation but he wants the house for the rest of his life and won't consider anything else.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5505433-aibu-to-refuse-aunts-fwb-claim-on-her-estate?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

It seems cheeky fuckery has no age limit op.

I hope you get the bloody scoundrel out soon. .

Well this really. It hurts that my Aunt was so taken in and that he is disrespecting her memory like this.

Hi @Sleepneededprettyplease I've lurked on your thread as you've updated it but thought I'd just pass on the experience of a friend if it's helpful.

Essentially her father died and left his house to her and her brother. His thoroughly unpleasant gf who had lived in his house at the end of his life refused to leave and claimed that she had a right to inherit it. She hadn't made any contributions to the mortgage in the time she'd lived there, hadn't put any money into the maintenance of the property, didn't pay any rent to my friend and her brother once their father died, nor give any contribution to any bills. She was a nurse with a decent salary, no children of her own - she just kept 100% of her income and expected a free house. My friend and her brother basically kept the house going for two years whilst she fought them in court. She lost, and had to pay their £56k legal bill.

It was horrendously stressful, especially as they'd lost their mother only a few months before their father. But my friend said she didn't care if she was left with £0 by the end, she wasn't having the entitled gf walk away with all her father had ever worked for and that he'd specifically left to her and her brother.

All the very best - I really hope you get the right result.

Thank you. That gives me hope but I really don't want this going 2 years.

At least yours is more straightforward, in that he was (is!) living in your house and wasn’t living with your Aunt in hers. Fingers crossed it gets resolved quickly and definitively very soon.

Wow! Did she pay the £56k?

@Sleepneededprettypleasehey OP, how did the court case go. Have been thinking of you!

I have been meaning to come back and update but have been a bit dazed. Unfortunately things didn't go as hoped.

It seemed so one sided. The boyfriends solicitor changed arguments only a couple of days before the hearing and we weren't allowed to put in more evidence. So they argued that my aunt had been cohabiting. She spent time there sure but probably a quarter to a third of her time.

Anyway the early dismissal I was going for didn't work and he has got a costs payment. I am not allowed to kick him out either.

I cannot afford this to go to a full court hearing so I will have to settle terms with him. It sticks in the craw but I don't have much choice.

Oh wow, this seems so very wrong.
I'm so sorry you are going through this OP x

The whole hearing seemed very wrong. Not at all what the lawyers had spoken about. The judge barely let my barrister speak and kept asking the boyfriends barrister to clarify things.

Infuriating. What did your barrister say afterwards?

Am I right in thinking -
he’s not related to your aunt
he hasn’t paid any rent
the house is in your name
The court previously said he had to leave?

Im sorry to hear tbat. What does your barrister say about it?

Yes to all the above.

I technically could make him leave but I (the estate) would have to pay for somewhere for him to live.

My barrister said that it was very unusual and that they lack of consideration given to the case law was strange. They think that a different judge at a full hearing would take a very different tack. However that would probably cost more than the house. So I can't afford to do that.

Oh that's sickening op, after all this time. I'm outraged for you.

im so sorry. It seems so wrong.

can you start charging him full market rent (which he can’t afford so would have to leave)?

I was wondering that - this judge seemed very odd? Can judges go against the law?

Why would you need to house him?! He’s nothing to do with you. Can you appeal this? Like how can a court say you can kick him out legally but now this judge is saying his new home would need paying for. This is madness.

This is all very sad & very strange.

So it's as if it isn't your house?

Appealing it would be taking it to a full court hearing. It would cost too much. I could end up loosing all of my Aunt's money on lawyers.

The thing is there are opposing cases too. The judge did say that there were weaknesses in his case and we could have made our case stronger with more evidence. However they surprised us changing arguments.

The judge basically wants us to come to an agreement. Unfortunately he has made it harder. The boyfriend is getting too much of what he wants right now.

No they can't make us let him live there. They can say that he might have a claim on my Aunt's estate and the estate has to pay his costs until it is settled.

The outcome is the same though.

It's baffling to me that any adult would have a claim on someone's estate if they weren't married & there is no will.

It's awful that what he said your Aunt said is in any way listened to imo.

If I force him out the estate has to pay for him until this is all settled.

There is a will. It doesn't leave him anything.

Unfortunately is seems that the law can ignore that.

So what happens if you said ok you can live there but rent is will need to be paid?

How old is he?

or… you make him move out. He finds a rental. If he ‘might’ have a claim
then presumably he also may not? So he may not be able to get any money. And you wouldn’t be able to pay him until the house is sold? So confusing. I don’t know how this is allowed to happen. He’s a squatter!

What evidence did he have?!

I'm assuming your barrister leaned on Stack v Dowden and Jones v Kernott. I think it's the latter that the judge said there needs to be evidence of a 'common intention'. i.e. even when both sides say differently, the 'overlap' between each parties actions help establish or even infer what the common intention was, which decides the outcomes. As a last resort, judges can even impute what they think the parties' intentions should have been in the interests of fairness.

I know you've resigned yourself to settling, but before you do, for your own sanity I would go through the available evidence to see how much of a common intention between your aunt and DickFace could really be found or interpreted that way. At the very least, it will help you settle from a stronger position. I get the feeling that DickFace will be difficult and greedy and unrealistic in his demands, which ultimately means no matter how much the judge may be trying to steer this towards 'sort this out between you', some cases just can't.

I have nothing to suggest just to say it all seems desperately unfair and I am so sorry