Selling inherited house when sibling living in it

[Dutchhouse14]

Our DM passed away a few months ago and her will divides everything equally between me and my 2 siblings.
Im the sole executor.
Dsis ,mid 50s, has always lived at home, never moved out. Towards the end of mums life she became her carer.
She works limited hours although she has increased these with overtime since mum passed away but full time contracts are non existent in her sector.
Shes used to pay a small amount of housekeeping but this stopped when she was made redundant from full time work about 10 years ago.
DMs house is in a bad state of repair, none of us can afford to maintain it . Me and my other sibling want to sell.
But DSis is resisting ,not replying to texts, avoiding phones calls, went out when estates agents came round for valuations etc
She has limited income and savings but could get a small mortgage and with proceeds of sale she could get a 1 bed flat.
My other sibling agrees we need to sell but doesn't want to upset dsis and is generally very good at avoidance! They are happy to give Dsis a much bigger share ie 50% I would prefer 40% which i think is realistic for dsis to buy somewhere.
So ive become the wicked witch of the West in Dsis eyes and shes taking it all out on me, well basically stopped talking to me.
WIBU to put the house on the market?
Probate has been granted.
Anyone know what the legal situation is?
I dont want to fall out with Dsis, I love her, but she seems filled with resentment for me and frankly has said some very hurtful things.
Ive always been there for her but shes never ever reciprocated or supported me when ive needed it.
Although I live with DH and DC, the money would really help my future, my pension etc and I dont want to give my share to Dsis, which is what I think she really wants as shes used to being in charge of DMs money , always lived here so I think basically considers everything as hers.
Just dont know how to move things forward or if im being unreasonable selling the house and wanting my share

That’s neither here nor there, because it sounds like she didn’t really work much for the last 10 years. She paid ‘House keeping’ initially but not even that for the last few years so imagine the money she could have saved on the back of living it home rent free!? Caring for her mother in her last years is the least she could do considering how much help her mother has given her throughout her whole adult life.

It’s already been confirmed she could buy a house with the money so she’s got no right to ignore the requests of OP as that’s why her mother wanted.

You're not just 'not being unreasonable' to sell the property, it's your legal duty to carry out the deceased's wishes
You have no choice

But given the cost of rent/houses, how much did her mom save her by housing her and paying the bills all her life?

I think all the “heartless” comments are a bit over the top. The sis got years of (nearly) free accommodation for by the sounds of it years before she became a carer. And I think the mum gets to chose how the estate was split and did so.

Technically you are in the right, but I am more inclined to side with Dsis who suggests giving you a bigger share. It sounds like she lost quite a lot of income through being your DMs carer as well as her own independence, even if living together started out being mutually beneficial.

If I were in that situation, I would like to think I could hammer out an equitable solution, but as an only DC there is only me to pick up all the pieces of their aged lives and only me to inherit if there’s anything left after care home fees.

Shes grieving!
Gosh so many heartless folk on this post, shows how much money really is the route to all evil and ruins so many relationships.
I will be in this position at some point. I live with my parents as their carer and ive given up my life to help them whereas my DS moved away at a young age and has got on with her life. This post gives me food for thought for when the day comes and what I have to look forward to.
Surely siblings need to be there for each other and help each other rather than just looking at the £ signs. I hate how society is going now , money is taking over human compassion , I hope the OP enjoys spending her Mum's money with her own family whilst her Sister has no one else. She probably feels very lonely right now but as long as the money gets finalised that's all that matters isn't it !
Shocking.

On what grounds?

If your sister has never left home, this is going to be terribly difficult for her to navigate.

You and your other sister have benefited greatly by your sister being your mothers carer. Now it is your turn to gently help your sister understand why she needs to move into more housing more suitable for her long term and support her to do it.

That won't happen over the phone or texts. Can you visit for a couple of days with your other sister, have some time together and work out a plan, find out where your sister has concerns and how to support her? Make sure she knows you will be there for her every step of the process. Accept this may take many many months for her.

Not everyone needs to go in to a care home so that’s not necessarily true.

Your DSis may not want to sell the house, but letting your DSis go on living there isn't practical unless she can afford to pay for the repairs. My parents did next to nothing with the family home, it's mine now but I've paid out a small fortune getting it up to scratch.
There's no benefit to any of you if the house becomes a ruin

Point is, it's not about moral duties, legal duties. The OP as executor has to sort it out, presuming the three of them are the only beneficiaries of this asset, that doesn't have to mean a sale, simple re-registration of the property in their names would suffice.

But to the OPs original question the legal position is clear, assuming she has probate she can list the property.

The sale will fail without the sister in residence agreeing to vacant posession

An order for sale would need to be sought

A court would hear the arguments

Various outcomes would be possible, not all ending in the sale of the property depending on the validity of the resident sisters argument.

This happened to my 3 cousins and the one living in the house was able to get a mortgage to buy her two siblings out. They agreed to get three valuations of the property and they sold it to her at the lowest valuation.

Could your Dsis afford to get a mortgage to the value of 60% of your late mother’s property, or maybe slightly less as if you sell to her you will not incur any Estate Agency fees. If she not able to obtain the mortgage for the full amount it sounds like your other sister may be willing to donate some of her share to the purchase.
As the executor you need to follow the instructions of the will. I would start with a discussion with your sister about how much she is able to pay to remain in the property.
If this approach doesn’t work, it sounds like you will need to take legal advice on if (& how) you can evict your sister from the property before you sell as she may have legal rights to remain.

We know she gave care, we also know she lived there her whole life, she could make an estoppel claim on the basis that she was verbally assured by her mother she would be able to say (difficult to prove, mores to disprove) and that she acted to her detriment (very easy to prove) in providing free care.

This would't change the will, but could be ruled by a judge to delay the eventual splitting of the asset whilst the sister stays in residence.

My cousin launched such a challenge to his brother, he's still in the house 16 years later, they are both on the deeds, but it cannot be sold whilst the resident brother is in situ

Given that the average cost of care fees in a residential home is at least 5 grand a month, had your sister not been caring for your mum, there may not have been a house to sell

This.

This is exactly why, when I redo my will in the next few weeks or months I will be stipulating in it that not only do my assets pass in equal share to my three DDs, but that they MUST BE SOLD. There will be no further remaining permission for any of my children to live there.

I really don't get why people leave half finished wills without doing that. It does mean that one stubborn sibling could effectively disinherit the others for years to come if they won't/don't move out. I've seen cases where this happened and it took decades to resolve.

You do need legal advice here, and I suspect you will need a court order to get your sister to move out. Unfortunately, as I am sure you are aware, that could end any relationship with her going forward. That is the result though of an unfinished will like this.

Good luck.

It’s like squatters rights 🤣

Look yourself at what she could reasonably obtain with her 1/3 or more if you are feeling generous
She may come round that starting afresh is better than living in a wreck
I also imagine she hasn’t thought about maintenance costs which by the sound of it might be considerable

In effect, yes, that's what it is, point is it happens and can drag on for years, decades even!!

This. I suspect the DM thought she had ticked all the boxes but clearly there is some kind of clause that’s more like squatters rights. I bet if the mother knew she’d be annoyed

I appreciate she’s grieving.

But it sounds like she’s not even engaging with her siblings about it. She’s not sat them down and said “here’s how I think we should handle this. I’d like some time in the house to grieve, get a plan, get things sorted. But I appreciate you want access to your money as well, so could we agree a timescale for selling that works for all of us?” In my opinion, this would be totally reasonable of her.

They’re all grieving. It’s not carte blanche to refuse to engage with your siblings about the will. She’s basically refusing her siblings access to their inheritance.

I wish that people would not comment when they do not have a clue what the law is. I also wish that people would not take up the role of executor when they don't understand what it entails and how they can be held personally responsible, and liable, when they do not carry out this job properly.

@Dutchhouse14 If you are the sole executor then you have fiduciary duties, one of which is to act in the best interests of all of the beneficiaries. If you allow this situation to drag on indefinitely then action can be taken against you, by the beneficiaries of the estate. My very strong advice is for you to take independent legal advice as soon as possible. You should not be thinking as a daughter or as a sister, you should only be thinking about what your legal responsibilities are.

You do have the 'executor's year' but time can run down very quickly in case like this.

In addition you will struggle to obtain buildings insurance for a property with an occupier without a tenancy agreement. Any buildings insurance should be in the name of the executor. Do not give your sister a tenancy under any circumstances.

Your sister has no legal right to be in this property. She is a licensee. Yes, she benefits from one third of the house and the estate generally (I assume that the estate is divided into three shares?) but that does not give her any rights to occupy.

In theory she may have a 1975 Act claim against the estate but I would not recommend that you tell her about this. It is up to her to seek her own legal advice.

Just go and speak to a contentious probate solicitor ASAP.

Terrible. Clearly yeh mother wanted it split 3 ways.

https://wards.uk.com/news/probate-disputes-ongoing-occupation-of-a-deceased-persons-home-what-do-you-need-to-know/

Executor here but mum's house is empty.
We had to get:
Electricity/gas, in my name, paid by estate.
Insurance - luckily the same company is happy to carry on for six months with it empty, but then we need to find a new company. I bet they wouldn't be happy with a family member living there without a tenancy.
Council tax, relatively easy but again coming out of the estate.
Water, bills are on hold till the property is sold though they did have an option for someone living there.

What many people are not taking into account is that the sister was living there for years before OP mum became ill. For many years rent free. So the care she gave has to be balanced against that.

Your DS is a grown adult who took the easy route and stayed in her mothers home at little cost to herself.
What did she think would happen in her mothers inevitable passing, that she could just continue the easy life?
The more legal intervention needed means more costs and less of the inheritance. She needs to understand that