Will question/INHERTITANCE could I sell? where does deceased siblings share go

[DavidbowieMime]

A will may stipulate that a property should be kept for a number of years before sale to illustrate you get a better return on a property worth about 100K than having that money sat in the bank.

Two things - is the will wishes legally binding, could the beneficiary do what they want with the property ie sell it - or would they need to go to court or solicitor? On such small estate would probate be needed?

The property is in two parts and quite run down, the top half needs expensive extensive work, its a flat and not really livable due to tiny pretty defunct bathroom and totally rubbish small kitchen. The bottom part is a shop and could probably be rented. The property would fall into disrepair if not tackled soon.
The owner does not see it like this though confused and thinks its all fine and dandy.
I could not afford to renovate, its not in property strong spot I would want to sell and invest in my own house if anything.

Aside from going agaisnt wishes is there anything legally binding there. Also provision is there for a sibling who has sadly deceased what would happen to their share?

Would they know that their parent had died?

Is your parent suffering from dementia at all?

Does your parent accept they're at the end of their life?

Is there any way you could look for the Will while your parent is in hospital and if you find it, keep it safe (with a copy for yourself in case your siblings get hold of it first)?

ginger he wouldn't take kindly at all for me to send solicitor to hospital he is in total denial about his condition, he cant even leave house alone and yet is talking about his car and getting it back on the road.

Oh ok that becomes clearer.

So what would happen if you said, "Look, Dad, you know how siblings behaved when X died? Remember how they broke into the house and took everything? We don't want that happening, do we? Why don't you let me keep a hold of your Will so that they can't rip it up? And let's have a look through it to make sure everything will be ok if anything happened to you."?

1. I would rather not tell them, I am also estranged from them and would want to if we can afford too bury him in dignity with no nastiness from siblings for my DC sake.

2. no not at all

3. no.

4. he lives hundreds of miles away. I can only go on glimmers I have been told.

a) property left to me - with condition ( not sure if legal or wishes) that I hold onto it and rent it out for 5 years

b) half estranged sibling is involved somehow but lives abroad

c) dead sibling has provision made

d) estranged siblings may have small behest to stop them from contesting will

I'm sorry, but it sounds like he does not have capacity.

imperial I mentioned this the last time I saw him, he doesnt seem comfortable talking about it however I said " I need to say this because its likely bill and ted will do same to you as they did to sue and I need to know your aware of this because there wont be much I can do to stop them"

He got worked up about them - talked about what they did in the past, talked about going to tell policeman about them - I said " what if a different copper is on duty, do you think they will do hand over about something that may or may not happen years down the line"....

I strongly hinted a proper will with me knowing where it is - is the best way to protect everything but then cleaning up his room I saw an envelope entitled last will and he said " oh that was from appointment I had with solicitor but had to cancel it"....that was 6 months ago.

if he doesnt have it now then he never had it Ginger - he has always made life hard and difficult like this.

OP, what about suggesting to the will writer that as you live at a distance, you're arranging a visit from a professional to chat through their care needs, finance planning etc. Then get someone from Age UK (or similar) to visit to go over support needs, accessing benefits etc and see if they will be trusted by will writer to help access a solicitor to
get things in an order that satisfies will writer's preferences regarding £ and property.
You could say (with all reasonableness) that your only concern is will writers welfare and peace of mind.

Get the existing will to a solicitor.

If it is valid, ask if the conditions in the will are legally binding.

If not, you're safe.

If it is not valid, then no will exists and then it doesn't matter what your dad wants.

No will, then all inherit equally.

www.ageuk.org.uk/money-matters/legal-issues/

They have one of those cunty pop ups for a survey but no way of clicking on it except to say, yes I'll take your poxy survey.

So just to get this straight, OP, the will says something like this:

'My sons Andy, Billy and Charlie each get £100.

I leave the residue of my estate to be divided equally between my two daughters Donna and Edie, with the condition that my tumbledown shop premises must not be sold for at least five years.'

Andy has now died and left no heirs so his legacy just lapses, i.e. goes back into the estate.

Testator's estate comprises a small amount of cash and the tumbledown shop, worth £100k in theory but not readily saleable without a lot of work.

So if testator dies in the near future, Billy and Charlie get £100 each. The rest of the cash goes on the funeral but may not cover all of that. There will be nothing left to help with refurbishing the tumbledown shop. Donna and Edie are stuck with a shop they don't want and no money to pay to do it up.

Is that right?

I'm not a solicitor but if the above is correct I don't think Billy and Charlie have any claim to a bigger legacy - if the testator wasn't maintaining them in any way that is the end of that. A solicitor could confirm that.

Varying the terms of a will - this government webpage gives some basic info. It says any beneficiary left worse off by the changes has to agree. It's a complex form and I can't claim to understand it, but again, a solicitor should be able to confirm if it covers your circumstances. I know it's what you have to do if you wanted to split the estate four ways instead of two (say) but I don't know if it allows you to take out a condition the testator put on a legacy.

Sorry, that was a cross post and I see there is more info now. What a sad state of affairs for you to have to deal with.

One thing to consider - if there is no valid will the estate will have to be wound up and distributed according to the law on intestacy and that would mean split into four equal shares, one for each child. There would be an administrator doing the work (equivalent to the executor appointed in a will). There is nothing in law that I know of that says you have to take that role on (as the only child left on speaking terms with your father). You might prefer to walk away from the whole mess and let somebody else sort it out. It would then be their responsibility to pay for the funeral out of the proceeds of selling the shop.

ginger thats impossible as I dont know where it is.

I think my best hope at this time is to offer to pay for a solicitor to visit him. And try and persuade him to do a new will but how I say this will be tricky.

I have emailed some in his area, to see about costs I am a sahm and dh on tiny wage! I don't know how I can verbally broach this though.

Your about right Gasp however it wont be money he has left estranged sibs probably something inflammatory like a rock from his collection

I am sure the old will that mentions deceased sibling is valid - it just mentions deceased sibling....

its just if estranged sibling got there first and found will they would - rip it up and who would know.

I dont know who would have to sort it out....

yes Gasp - his whole life has been one long mess to be honest - looking back, dragging us all down with him and now this will be the last BIG MESS he leaves on this earth for his children to deal with .

If I didnt have dc - etc it wouldn't worry me so much, but I am tied with very trying demanding toddler - very little money at all - and hundreds of miles away. If we all got on again the burden would be eased but the frustration that his own actions seem to be leaving him wide open to the very situation he doesnt want is wildy frustrating.

You might prefer to walk away from the whole mess and let somebody else sort it out.

Any chance of this? Sounds like you have enough on your plate as it is with young dc and limited funds.

Do you know how much the rundown property would sell at auction of which you probably get a 50% share under the current will which may be no one can find? If it cannot be found after death then I would imagine all 4 siblings will instead claim a quarter each or whatever intestacy law says.

He may not be of sound mind to make a new will now either and the new will might leave everything to the 4 siblings so by getting him to make a new will you do risk reducing your share so may not be worth the risk.

It does seems a case when if you do nothing it might be easiest for you unless loads of money is at stake.
By the way if someone does not leave much to a dependent in a will that person can make a claim under separate legislation after death - usually not adults but sometimes. One lady on benefits succeeded in a claim like this a year or two ago. Her mother had chosen to leave her out of the will but she was in such need - in social housing - the judge over rode the wishes of her dead mother!

Am I right in thinking that you know the contents (roughly) of old will but do not know where it is? The original will must be filed as part of probate or everything will be shared equally regardless so you do need to find out where it is.

If funeral costs etc cannot be paid then I suspect the sale of the property will be forced. When DH and I drew up our wills, we were told that these stipulations are very hard to adhere to and need to be worded carefully and correctly by a solicitor. (It's not the same but DH wanted to put in there that I had to scatter his ashes over Niagra Falls . He was told that would be very expensive to try and force. I suspect if you want to sell the property then you will be able to even though it will be a shame that you won't be able to get top dollar for it.

The harsh truth is the estate does not sound big enough to be worth going to law over. The case EnormousTiger mentions made headlines, IIRC, because the mother left a large estate to the RSPCA or similar rather than her daughter for really very silly reasons. The charities concerned have deep pockets when it comes to litigation and pushed it all the way to try to hang on to the money, but they lost. Goodness only knows how much of the estate is left now after settling all the lawyers' bills. A rundown shop worth less than £100k is just not big enough to justify that kind of case.

Gasp, I still don't agree wiht that case. The 1975 Act is there to help those left out of a will who are being kept or depend on the person who dies who then cuts them out. If you choose to cut out an adult child who you were not supporting and don't want to leav them anything I think that shoudl be your right. I realise the cases may occasionally say different. The lady in that case was on state benefits so it was not as if she was sleeping on the street begging. She was housed and warm and had food.