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

I mean it's not small but we aren't talking huge here. The will stipulates that my sister and I are main beneficiaries. There are other bequests but most goes to us. The main residence will allow each of us to clear our mortgages and a bit for savings. This should have given us a comfortable buffer each.

We are not talking massive estate whereby we can give up work.

I was hoping to cover IVF with my buffer.

I wonder if the deferred legal fees point is true. Who would’ve told OP that from a position that you’d trust? The lawyers have no reason to, and shouldn’t. I wouldn’t trust his word. Who else would know?

You have to pay lawyers and court costs up front so if he has no money he can’t take you to court?

He has finally disclosed financial information. He had to in order to file. It seems he has fritters away almost all of the money he had.

The online reviews of the lawyer he has aren't great and other lawyers who have spoken to chap didn't seem impressed but...

It is in the financial disclosure.

Was he paying any rent?

We were told that if the person living in a property does not pay more than £250 of rent (I'm not sure if that is per month or per year) then they are not a tenant and don't have any rights as a tenant.

I wouldn’t focus too much on his lawyer and their cost. I mean he doesn’t even need one to take you to court, so him not having the money for them doesn’t mean much.

also these Walter Mitty types always seem to get money from somewhere.

He was meant to but didn't.

It’s a stress you don’t need and costs you shouldn’t have to take on. Very annoying t an already emotional time. Sadly, I think you are going to have to compartmentalise and not let it eat you up. There’s a limit to how long he can string this out for. Let’s hope it’s not long.

As he signed to say he was a tenant and emailed you a form to sign as his landlord surely that will go against him especially as he hasn’t paid any rent?
How can a tenant who has not paid rent be entitled to a percentage of the house?

In your previous thread you said

He did try to claim he was her common law husband and that they lived together

there is no such thing as a "common law husband" - that term just doesn't exist in law. He's delusional.

Surely that makes him a squatter and the police would have been called to turf him out.

The police won’t do that, the homeowner has to get an order and enforce it.

that would be a separate case though, not connected to his claim

Well I know that but...

I just want to remember my aunt who was one of the kindest people you could ever hope to meet. She helped everyone. Now the thing that is her strength is causing me so much stress and tainting everything.

I don't know. I can't see it myself. I wish I had researched more but...

I have that order and can enforce in a few months. I think he won't go despite agreeing he would. I dread to think it but it will probably mean bailiffs. I am shaking just thinking of it.

It’s utterly awful. I feel so much for you, you must feel like you’re going to have a heart attack or something from the stress

I just know how much my aunt would hate this. She would be distraught to have this much stress caused.

It's always been the case that wills are notoriously difficult to contest. As you and your sister are the actual beneficiaries, and closely related to her - I'd say he hasn't got a chance of getting the house.
I think a Judge would see he's just a chancer - allowing someone to live in a house she paid for, and isn't even owned by her, surely doesn't legally make them a dependent?
It'll be an awful time for you, but you should hold your ground. Take confidence from the fact that he's got a not-very-good lawyer.

So hang on...he said he was a tenant when he filed and then asked you to fill in a form stating you are his landlord?

Not the sharpest is he?

What has a barrister got to with it at this stage?

He sent you a form to fill in saying he is a tenent and has rights - while he is suing you and you are trying to get him out. Not the brightest, is he?

Don’t sign as his landlord. He is a squatter.