Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Legal matters

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

Original poster

Inheritance nightmare - charge against the house

152 replies

DoneOver · 19/06/2020 16:05

My step dad has died. His will leaves me and my siblings my mum's house. (She died first, house nothing to do with him.) However we have now found out that a while back he put a charge against it which gives most of the house value to his own daughter. (not my mums child.) Clearly mum stuffed up by dying before she wrote her will. But its very unfair, is there any legal redress at all?

OP posts:
crabbyoldbat · 23/06/2020 09:30

Just to point out that, as you and your siblings now own the house, any rent belongs to you, though you should also be paying any landlord-related fees, insurance and maintenance costs. Once the estate is through probate, the executor (new wife?) should balance this up with you. At the moment, she should be collecting it on your behalf, then you take it over. Don't forget to mention this to your solicitor, too

Original poster
DoneOver · 24/06/2020 18:08

@crabbyoldbat No, the house is currently in trust such that step dads widow (he re-married after mum) has the rental income until her death. Then it's ours, but thats when the charge is triggered.

Anyway, update is that solicitor I approached says that using a charge as a way of passing on an inheritance is not unusual and so there is no angle on which to challenge it. Ho hum.

OP posts:
Tisahardlife · 27/06/2020 18:48

Oh that's gutting OP, I can't imagined this was what your mum had wanted Sad

ChicCroissant · 27/06/2020 19:25

Wow! Sorry to hear that, OP.

Is there no way that the charge can be repaid from the rest of the estate first and then removed from the house? It sounds very complicated.

mummmy2017 · 27/06/2020 20:18

To put a charge on , would the other party have to be owed money?
I'd speak to the tax office about fraudulent records.

mummmy2017 · 27/06/2020 20:24

Please check. A charging order can only be placed for 12 years, needs a court order and a proven debt.

WhatTheWay · 28/06/2020 08:51

Have you tried contacting the StepFather wife? Is she hostile towards you. If I were her if I understood the situation I would
Voluntarily hand over the rent to you ? Anyone with a crumb of decency would if they could.

It's a really awful situation.

Viviennemary · 28/06/2020 09:04

I don't agree she should pay rent.. The person who is at fault here is the OP's mother for not ensuring the house was left to her children. So the SF could not have put a charge on it or allow anyone else to stay in it.

prh47bridge · 28/06/2020 09:58

A charging order can only be placed for 12 years

The 12 years limitation starts from the date an order for sale is obtained, not from the date of the order - see the Court of Appeal decision in Doodes v Gootham. Whilst there have been no cases on the point, it is reasonable to assume that, in the case of a voluntary sale, the 12 years starts from the date of the sale.

needs a court order and a proven debt

That would be true if we were talking about a charging order (which is a court order). However, the OP simply talks about a charge. No court order is needed for that.

Jeremyironsnothing · 28/06/2020 10:28

So you had to wait until your step father died, now you'd have to wait until his new wife died. Even without the charge, you'd be waiting forever to benefit.

janetsgarden · 28/06/2020 10:30

Solicitor and court now. You have a good case I think.

burnoutbabe · 28/06/2020 10:57

You really need a solicitor here who can check each will and see what happened.
If mums will left the house on trust for husband and then on his death to 3 kids, it can't have had a charge on it legally without permission of the 3 owners/trustees.
And step father can't leave it to his wife as it is not his. The rent belongs to the 3 kids.
So this needs checking now to see what mums will said and am whether that was dealt with correctly.

prh47bridge · 28/06/2020 11:08

Solicitor and court now. You have a good case I think

We don't know if she has a good case. It is impossible to say from this thread. If the OP's mother left the OP's stepfather a life interest (which appears to have been her intention) she does have a case. However, if she left the house to him outright she doesn't have a case.

@DoneOver - it isn't clear from your latest post whether the solicitor you consulted looked at your mother's will or simply advised on the charge. If they didn't look at your mother's will you really need to get legal advice on that to make sure your mother's estate has been administered correctly.

Original poster
DoneOver · 28/06/2020 11:14

@burnoutbabe we have now checked with a solicitor, as someone above said the fault lies with mum who left the house to SF on the promise (!) that he leave it to us. Before she died they both spoke about a trust but we now know one was never set up, at least not one that would see anything come to us. He chose to put his daughter above his moral obligation. It wasnt a legal obligation. His new wife has made it perfectly clear that she won't be passing anything on, we have no relationship with her so why would she? Again, she has no legal duty to do so. Same with the daughter.

OP posts:
Original poster
DoneOver · 28/06/2020 11:16

@prh47bridge to clarify, we have checked mums will too, it did leave him the house. Verbal promises don't quite do the job, do they!

OP posts:
UltimateWednesday · 28/06/2020 11:21

So the only trust involved is the one SF's wife now benefits from? Your mother did in fact leave the house directly to SF? So, actually, by naming you in his will at all, he's done more than he needed to.

It must be a terrible blow if you'd always understood it would be yours though. It would seem he learned from your Mother's mistake and took steps to protect his own child too!

Chocolatedeficitdisorder · 28/06/2020 11:25

Why not keep the house and rent it out? If you own it you will get the rent and the charge won't be satisfied unless you sell it.

Maybe you can take some value out of it that way?

Viviennemary · 28/06/2020 11:50

I didn't mean to sound unsympathetic but wills need to be watertight. No use relying on folk to do the right thing. Under the circumstances your SF played a mean trick. Especially now the person he has remarried is now living in the house. I still think you need legal advice as to who is responsible for repairs and so on. And if the house becomes empty who is responsible for Council Tax.

prh47bridge · 28/06/2020 12:32

Verbal promises don't quite do the job, do they!

No they don't. I'm afraid that means your stepfather could do whatever he wanted with the house. His widow can't change what happens to the house when she dies as it is now in trust. But it looks like you and your siblings won't get as much as your mother intended. Sorry.

Original poster
DoneOver · 28/06/2020 13:39

@ chocolatedeficitdisorder SF made his arrangements water tight. Once the new wife dies, daughter can insist house be sold when suits her.

@viviennemary No, the new wife has never seen the house let alone
lived in it. It was my family home and is in the city I live in, not where SF was, mum moved south to be with him. Her/our house has been rented out for the last 10 years. SF had his own house, where new wife lives. That house is in trust to SF's daughter!!

OP posts:
prh47bridge · 28/06/2020 14:21

I still think you need legal advice as to who is responsible for repairs and so on. And if the house becomes empty who is responsible for Council Tax.

The OP and her siblings are definitely not responsible for these things. They don't own the house. It is in trust.

Viviennemary · 28/06/2020 16:31

I thought you said the new wife had moved into the house that has the charge on it. So complicated. Who is now getting rent on the house with the charge. Who is responsible for it. Somebody must be. What a headache.

prh47bridge · 28/06/2020 17:51

No, that isn't what the OP said. It isn't complicated at all.

The OP's stepfather's widow receives the rental income from the house. She doesn't live in it and, according to the OP's latest post, has never seen it.

The house is owned by the trust set up by the stepfather's will. The trust is ultimately responsible. However, it is likely that the OP's stepfather's widow is responsible for repairs, council tax, etc. during her lifetime. That would be the normal setup.

It is not a headache for the OP and her siblings at all. They won't be getting what their mother wanted them to receive but they definitely have no responsibility for the house.

NeedToKnow101 · 28/06/2020 18:34

This is awful. Just shows how deeply important it is to put your children first when writing a will. I made mine inexpensively online with Farewill, as my wishes are straightforward and uncomplicated.

User8008135 · 28/06/2020 19:30

This is so sad, it's why people must make wills that they've written in consultation with someone in the know, be it a dedicated solicitor or independent advice. Always when they have property or assets.

The ex SF, his wife and daughter are all morally bankrupt.

This happened to my mum's friend. Her dad didn't write a will leaving it in trust despite emphatic wishes to pass it to his children (1 with new wife). He foolishly trusted his new wife, left it all to her and his dc were not left anything when she died. The half sibling doesn't care and refuses to split the considerable monies, and wonders why she's lost family and friends who are disgusted with her mum and her.