When can the benefactors of a will enter the house left to them in a will?

[Haggertyjane]

Relative is in the sad position of being given a minor percentage in their spouses will of the house they live in.

The main beneficiaries of the will (and left the major proportion of the property) are guests in the house and won't leave saying they now own the house. They intend to sell it. The will is going to be challenged.

They do not have Probate and a caveat will be lodged, but solicitor does not open until the 4 January (appointment booked) so that is not yet done.

Deeds are exclusively in the deceased spouses name. Married.

Can relative ask them to leave as it is still his house.

Are the visitors the relative or the deceased’s children?

What country are they in?

Ugh that's a difficult situation. So is it eg the remaining spouse has been given 10% and the children of the dead spouse have 90% and they want them out?

Was there anything in the will about the right to remain in the house for a while?

Your relative essentially can't go out, now. They are at risk of being locked out. Such a shame.

I could be wrong but I believe the legal owner(s) is/are the executor(s). They hold the deceased's assets on trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the will. Who's the executor, OP?

If you are in England then until probate has been granted no-one has the legal right to act on behalf of the deceased. The beneficiaries are being wholly inappropriate and should leave the property and the spouse is the only person who has a right to occupy the property.

Doesn't the relative have rights if they are married?

I am in Scotland, and I don’t think you are, because you use the word probate. So my thoughts might not be relevant - but I think you should be thinking at this stage not about who the beneficiaries are, but about who the executors are. It’s up to them to take control of the estate and work out how to distribute it.

@redastherose This is what I was hoping. The beneficiaries are also joint executors and were staying for Christmas. I believe they are now staying because they are going to get the estate valuation done and sell following probate.

@LouiseTrees Relative is the spouse. The visitors are the major beneficiaries and executors. They are acting as though they already own the house.

@HollowTalk About right. Nothing in the will to give the spouse residential rights, so they are pushing for a sale.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g No. It is my understanding that until probate is granted the executors cannot distribute the assets of the deceased. Probate (England) hasn't been granted, but there's nothing I can find that is definitive. I did read a beneficiary cannot take up residence until probate is cleared and the deeds changed but that's not quite the situation here.

@Haggertyjane the beneficiaries are not yet executors until the Will has been proved and probate has been granted. They have no legal standing to remain in the property until probate is granted. If the deceased was married was the Will made prior to the marriage? If so unless it was made specifying that it was being made with marriage in mind then the marriage voids the Will. Also, if sufficient provision hasn't been made for the spouse then may well be a spousal claim against the provisions of the Will. The spouse should take legal advice of his/her own and should not rely upon anything they are told a solicitor has said.

I thought the executors' role began at the moment of the testator's death. They have to do all the work to get to probate (or commision a solicitor to do it).

That's a very good point about when the will was made. I'm moderately sure that even if the will was made after marriage a spouse can attempt to claim a need for support. No idea how much it might cost to bring legal action, though. Worth starting by looking at mediation. I believe that's a lot cheaper, quicker and less unpleasant all round.

Executors do have a legal responsibility to secure assets, which they would probably argue they were trying to do. As executors they would often need to do things like get the house valued to even apply for probate, so would need entry to facilitate that. Whilst they can't distribute assets until later they could for example move all valuables like jewellery to their own house (again as part of securing the assets). Even if they weren't beneficiaries they could do this as executors. Executors would also be responsible for ensuring the estate was paying any bills etc on the property until sold. Pm me if you have questions - I know a lot about this area unfortunately.

i spent all my childhood at my grans ,i desided to go collage as got to the age my grandad died at war so never met him ,i only new my step grandad an he was the best , i was the number 1 in my grans life she would do anything for me,i move away from my home town for collage ,i as to study wa i wanted was over 80 miles away so moved there to study ,i finished my nvqs an moved back to my mothers 15 miles away from grans i found out that the aunt had said she was homless an moved in my grans an shortly after the aunts son moved in saying he couldnt affor hisrent on his flat ,i never ever met thease people as they never bothered with my gran intil the last 8 yrs of her life,i tought nothing of it for a few years intil my nan passed ,then then recently after the aunt passed an now the son lives there ,i looked on gov page just curious an found a will an probate that is sighned by my gran ,but looks like 1 witness is the aunt an the other is the licenced conveyor but the aunt has has changed her second name in the will pronounced different letters an is the exucater an her sons second name is the samean this is not the letters in there real sername i think this is fraud

@redastherose
Well they were asked to leave because they are in tier 4 and with 3 there (including my relative) that makes 3 households. The executor/beneficiary is one of them and has also been to see their partner on a daily basis. They refused.

Will was made 5 years into the marriage in secret and 3 years before death.

The will is going to be challenged on the grounds of beneficial interest in the house and insufficient financial provision for the widowed spouse. Solicitors office opens 4 jan.

relative will most certainly look at mediation as a step following firm legal advice when the office opens again. I am just looking for any information so that I can make a list of questions as relative is dyslexic and struggles with information overload (don't we all!)

@Dinosauraddict Thank you, I'll do that 😊

@pez123 I would definitely look into that!

@Haggertyjane if it is causing the spouse upset having them there she/he could report the beneficiaries to the police as breaking the rules. The Executors do have a duty to obtain valuations for property and take control of possessions if they feel they are likely to be sold or go missing but there are ways of doing this without being so difficult and it doesn't give them the right to just take over your relatives home or move in.

If they had been married for 8 years then obviously the Will needs to be challenged if proper provision hasn't been made for the spouse.

@redrose I will say this tomorrow. I’ll ask relative to give this person the jewellery, it’s a minor issue. They have also taken documents relating only to the relative and not the deceased. They have taken money and refuse to return it. My relative will not refuse entry to value the estate, but they just want this person to leave as they are causing a lot of disruption and distress. Sadly he is grieving and at his lowest ebb and we cannot travel to him.

Relative has paid tens of thousands into the house on the promise of being put on the deeds. He wasn’t. He is also coming up to retirement. He is definitely challenging the will, but aims to keep the beneficiaries share of the house (only significant asset) in trust to be released on his death. So they will not lose out.

One has been there 3 weeks and one has been there a week. They only cook for themselves while he cooks for everyone, and are making him feel like an outsider in his own home.

can there be any mistakes in the executrix an benafitiary son an mothers second name , the name is steen for both an theyve made it steans on both names on the will an it made it through probate

can a witness date the will, rather than the the 1 who sighned ,who was makeing her will ,gives me reason to beleive there was no witnesses at when her signiture was made, the witnesses an date used the same pen an the an the deceased different

If the house is your relatives home and it’s not the home of those who have moved in, then they should move out as they are breaching COVID rules. They should not be visiting a house in T4 and definitely shouldn’t be overnight.

They also have not right to claim the house until the will is upheld and executed. Your relative needs to contact the police and ask for them to be removed from her home.

@Pez123 you need to start your own thread.

o sry im new on this an dont fully understard it i will try now sry for any probs an thanks for telling me

@LemonTT

Relative finally lost patience with them and told them to go. He went out for a walk with the dog and an hour later came back to find they had gone but taken a lot of documents with them. At least he can sit down and relax and maybe have a nap in peace.

[quote Haggertyjane]@LemonTT

Relative finally lost patience with them and told them to go. He went out for a walk with the dog and an hour later came back to find they had gone but taken a lot of documents with them. At least he can sit down and relax and maybe have a nap in peace.[/quote]
He should report the theft of the documents and definitely get his solicitor to act on it.