Can you contest a life time gift?

[autismsucks]

DH's parents recently gifted their house to dh's brother's wife excluding DH and his sisters. The house was transferred in DH's brother's wife name and we were not informed. We have been told that one of his sisters wanted her share, but was refused. One sister did not want anything and the other sister was not told like us. There has been a long history of disputes between us and DH's parents. Basically I never got along with them as I refused to become a slave for them (cook, clean and look after them). They are very traditional Asian family, didn't like me working or like DH and I moving away or buying our own home. But DH's brother's wife did exactly what they wanted her to do and lived in a house next to them. To be honest, DH's job involves us moving around a lot and we could not have lived with them even if we wanted.

To cut the long story short, one of DH's sister is getting divorced, lost her job and is depressed. We have been financially helping her including paying for her treatment. We also have a disabled child, so we can not continue to help her indefinitely. Is there anyway we can contest the transfer of the house to DH's brother's wife name so that we can make sure DH's sister gets some money?

Also, DH's brother has helped the parents financially.

If they own the house and have chosen to give it to someone else I don't see how you can contest anything, it's theirs to do what they like with.

Thank you leafv. I was wondering if the Inheritance Act 1975 applies to a lifetime gift which ask you to provide reasonable provisions for a dependent.

Why not approach the brother?

What country?

The brother is not willing to listen. He says his parents have given it to him willingly, so he doesn't care about the sisters. They live here in the UK. DH's parents live in the dark age, they don't think daughters are entitled to anything from parents. DH always supported his sisters because he knew his parents did not treat them equally, but DH's brother feels the same way as the parents.

Just leave them to it.

Assuming they are of sound mind, it is their absolute right to dispose of their assets as they see fit.

They are of sound mind, just evil. So the Inheritance Act 1975 doesn't apply to lifetime gift?

Adult children aren't usually dependents.

Who is the dependant?

You wouldn't get any money anyway for years and years.

Could you approach your brother and ask him to support your sister?

The sister who has nothing, the other two are ok. The Inheritance Act 1975 talks about making reasonable provisions for children even if they are estranged. I was wondering if it applies to lifetime gifts.

She isnt a dependant. She is an adult.

The fact that she became sick does not automatically mean she became the parents dependant again.

Why would she classify as a dependant?

Stupid question - but wouldn't inheritance act only apply once parents are dead?

But the inheritance act won't yet apply as they have just gifted it and are alive and kicking surely? You would have to see in the future what the wording of the will was and whether provision had been made for the sister. A token amount may be left and it would depend on how long had passed since gifting and them dying or whether you could make an argument that they were deliberately disposing of assets to avoid inheritance tax (if I am recalling correctly - I am not a lawyer!)

Rhubarbtar19, the brother doesn't feel any responsibility towards the sisters. He is very well off, but obviously greedy enough to not feel anything about taking everyone's share.

I guess we will just have to continue helping his sister as long as we can. She lives in one of the European countries where there is no social support from the State. She cannot move back to the UK because she won't get to see her kids. She is unable to get a job currently due to her mental health (on heavy medication and suicide watch).

They sound pretty toxic but on the other hand the deal is very straightforward - live near us and skivvy for us for years and you'll inherit all our stuff. You and the sisters understandably weren't prepared to make that deal, DSIL was - I'm sure they've made her work hard for her money.

Moreisnnogedag, yes they are alive and kicking. The gift was made about couple of months ago, we just found out.

WinfredAtwellotherspiano, from day one I told DH, I didn't want anything from them and in return, I didn't want to do their bidding. So I am ok with it, to be honest, I could not have digested anything given to us given our history. But the two sisters were married off (arranged marriage) by the parents, so it's not their fault they live away. Only the sister in question married someone she liked. And the DSIL did work hard for her money, so they deserve more. But not everything, because DH has also helped them financially, paid for repair work in the house. Only I didn't do anything.

That sounds like a very sad situation. I hope your ill SIL improves.

I really would wash my hands of them. You won't achieve anything but more grief and upset by trying to get part of the house, no matter how well intentioned your motives.

Draw a line under it. Let the brother be the selfish greedy man that he is, and move on with your life.

Regardless of who is in your parents will, there would be no money forthcoming. The house is theirs. They could live another 20 years. So I'm confused as to what your sister being unwell has to do with their decision. It only changes the distant future, not the near future.

In general an adult of sound mind can make whatever gifts they want during their lifetime. The Inheritance Act cannot be used to challenge the gift whilst the giver is still alive.

When the giver dies it is sometimes possible to challenge a lifetime gift if the giver lacked mental capacity, there was undue influence by the recipient or the gift was made for the purpose of preventing an Inheritance Act claim. However, if the person wishing to challenge the gift is not a beneficiary of the giver's will a challenge is only likely to succeed if they were financially dependent on the giver at the time of death or they are in extremely difficult financial circumstances.

It is the parents' choice.

Adult children have no entitlement to a "share"!

Even if it had been left to SIL under a Will the 'children' are all adults and therefore not dependents unless the parents had been financially maintaining the adult child before their death.

Unless you believe the parents are legally incapable of making decisions then the gift is valid.

If your DH is financially supporting his sisters then they may in fact have a valid claim against his estate if anything were to happen to him. I hope he (and you) realise this.

001, that is exactly what I said to DH, but understandably, he is very upset. I know I am being selfish, but I really don't want to see them ever again (if I had my way, I probably would have cut off all the relationships a long time ago). I want DH to help his sister as long as we can, but we have used up all our savings to send the sister to rehab. And as selfish as it sounds, I need to think about my children and try to save up for my child with disability. And I am not talking about little money here, we kept the sister in rehab for a month to stop her killing herself and have been giving her money for a long time now and the sad thing is the parents know everything that their daughter is going through.