Relative moved in with my mother

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A relative and her partner and 2 children have moved in with my elderly mother. They pay rent but there is nothing in writing or any contracts.

Does anyone know if something happened to my mother, if we could have problems if relative decided to stay.

They've been there about a 18 months.

Paying rent might make them tenants, they could argue it's their home, they can probably prove they paid rent. Your mum should see a solicitor and draw up a proper agreement which they all sign, maybe something added like if something happens to her they can only stay there for a set time. She also needs to think about her Will and the house.

They won't be tenants if the owner is still living there. But the executors would still have to evict them if the house was to be sold.

Thank you for your replies.

I've decided to get some legal advice just to be on the safe side.

My worry would be if they were not paying rent and had no proper arrangement that they could challenge the will on the grounds your mother was “supporting “ them and therefore it’s unfair they don’t inherit anything.

If your mum is of sound mind and has agreed to do this I don’t think there’s an awful lot you can do!

They will probably claim they are supporting her. Does she own her home?

If they are paying less than market rent they may have a claim on her estate when she dies on the basis that they were being supported by her at the date of death.

I don't know how much they pay her in rent but I know it would be minimal.
Yes my mum owns the house and is of sound mind and perfectly healthy.
At the moment my mum's will is that the house is split 50/50 between me and my sister.
This relative is very lazy and does nothing to help my mum, which makes it worse if she should get to keep the house.
As I said before, I think I will get legal advice as it's now playing on my mind.
Thank you for all your replies.