Legal advice for a house left in a will

[HouseQuestion12345]

My partner and his brothers were left a property many years ago when their father passed away. The value of the property was split 4 ways between the 3 brothers and the fathers partner at the time. It was stipulated in the will that she could continue living at the property until she either
-remarried
-died
-ceased to be permanently reside at the property
-until she ceased to pay all the outgoing bills / keep the property in good repair.
This has always caused some tension- the brothers have families of their own and need the money from this property to be able to move on in life, it has also been very difficult for any of them to get closure from the death of their father knowing that she is living in what was the family childhood home.

If they were to seek legal advice regarding this, what type of solicitor/lawer would they need to talk to?
What are the chances of them being able to get this woman out of the property/buy her out etc?

I have been with my partner a long time and this has always caused him a lot of distress. It isn't just that they want the money (whilst that would be nice) , it's the closure that goes along with it. I think it has effected them all quite badly to know she is living it up in their childhood home whilst they have all struggled a lot financially over the years. They haven't had access to any of their dads possessions. Lots of childhood pictures are in the house and generally it seems there is a lot of bad feeling around it all. It seems it would be best if the house were sold and everyone were able to move on but I have no idea how they would achieve that.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

One thing I would say is if this lady is only in her fifties she may very well have a new relationship. You say that she looses her right if she remarries but is there any rules about a partner moving in ? I would ask a solicitor if she could get a civil partnership with a new partner and stay in the house too. I think she could. That being the case I would look at the question of beneficial interest that a new partner or civil partner might claim. For example let's imagine she meets Bob who is ten yers younger, in his forties. Bob is a builder and does lots of work on the house, and pays for materials. Extends it, new kitchen and bathroom. Stepmum dies aged 95. 85 year old Bob's kids are furious that Bob is facing being thrown out of his home of 40 years and Bob is devestated tgey can not benefiting from the time money that Bob has spent on the house. I am not sure if Bob and his kids would have a claim to a beneficial interest in the property or not but you should ask the solicitor.

There is a situation in my fiance's family where a new partner may be doing things to a property. Him and the life tennant do not live there even though the will says that she looses her right if she moves out permanently. She lives with the new partner and they visit the house as it is near a beach. The trustees ( a family trustee and a solicitor) know that she does not live there and that the partner is at least doing repairs if not more. If he does anything substantial I do wonder if he might gain a beneficial interest. His aunt has not given any explaination for why she has not taken any action about the fact the 'occupant' is allowed to just visit the property despute this beung against the terms of tge will. My fiance along with his siblings are only discretionary beneficiaries of the trust. The will lets the aunt and solicitor choose the person or persons they want to inhearit so fiance does not want to question anything incase he is thought grabby and then the aunt might not give him anything. It is a bit of a King Lear will where who sucks up to the aunt the most wins.

@thecognoscenti

This is grim.

Your DP's father made his wishes clear. He wanted his DP to have a home for the rest of her life and now his sons want to chuck her out so they can get the cash (sorry, 'closure')? They have no grounds to do this, They need to forget about it and learn live within their means rather than hanging around clock watching and waiting for their bereavement dividend.

I hope this lady lives to be 100.

This, this, this.

What are the chances of them being able to get this woman out of the property

I can't believe you refer to her as 'this woman'. That's his partner. All this 'closure' stuff is bullshit too; be honest - they just want to evict her and get their hands on the money.

your partner and his brothers don't have a a leg to stand on. They are greedy and selfish in thinking they can grab something which quite frankly is not theirs.

At some undefined time in the future they may get an unknown amount of money, but that is not something they can plan on or rely on, any more than they would have been able to if their father was still alive

Their father had every right to choose what happened to his estate, he did choose, and his wishes have been carried out - that IS closure! - very similar to my father's in fact and the idea that I have any right to challenge that is quite frankly disgusting.

If it is personal items, what is to stop them asking for one little memento each? As long as it is something of no financial or sentimental value to the widow. I did that, and have two items of my father's that remind me of happy days in my childhood, although they didn't matter or have any value of significance to his widow, so she was happy to hand them over.

Why talk to a solicitor? They' ve been told the terms of the will. It's been written professionally so it's black and white. There is nothing they can do because their father wanted it this way, not the way they want it.

They should count themselves lucky because it's almost certain that if their father could see their behaviour now, they would have left them nothing at all.

Whatever the past, they never and never will be able to change their father's wish. It's one blessing in the law, that people are still allowed to dispose of their money as they wish rather than how greedy vultures want to get their hands off. It's a real blessing that their father made sure the will was tight. They should be ashamed of themselves.