A house. 2 brothers. How does this work please?

[Damnyoureyes]

After some informal guidance about something that will come up in the future.
A house owned outright has been left in a will to two brothers.
One brother lives in the house and has done for life.
Other brother married, house of his own.

When the time comes, if brother living in the house doesn’t sell and move out but has no means to pay other brother his share, what happens then?

Brothers on very good terms, no bad feeling here at all, just curiosity really.

Also not banking on anything as family dynamics are definitely that of support and harmony.

OK, so there could be another 15-20 years before it all happens, so brothers could be 60s or 70s.

Care home fees may resolve it anyway.

If not, possibly bro A will pay bro B rent.

Eventually, if bro A dies before bro B, bro B can then sell house, get his half.
If Bro B dies first, he leaves his half to whoever, and then when bro A dies, that person can sell up.

What about repairs and upkeep costs? Is the resident brother liable to cover these or will they be split? If they are going to be split I'd consider giving up my "inheritance" if I were the non-resident brother.

Morally the resident brother should buy out the non-resident one. I'm surprised the parent has a "for life" clause for resident brother if there are no additional needs. I'd have thought 2 years to be adequate.

The parent also needs to make sure that non-residents brother's share passes to his children rather than the resident brother in the event non-resident brother pre-deceases the resident brother.

It doesn't sound as though this will was drawn up with much thought as to it's implications or by a decent will writer really.

Waspie raises a good point.

If / when the brothers come to own the house they need to make sure they own it as joint tenants, each with a defined percentage of ownership. Not as tenants in common.

So many people responding to this thread not having read or understood OP's post that brother 1 would have the right to live in the property for life. Effectively the property is placed in to a lifetime trust on the death of the owner. Brother 1 to live there fore life. When that comes to an end the house is sold and the proceeds divided equally (probably between the two estates of the brothers).

Just to add - brother 1 pays no rent to brother 2. That is the effect of giving him a right to reside there.

Does the current owner wish only the resident brother to pay for repairs ?

Brother living in house pays other brother rent.

Half the current going amount for a property of that size/area.

There will be no one paying rent to anyone.

Nothing will change, everyone is happy with the arrangements as far as I know.
Repairs will be paid for by resident brother.

I was just thinking about things.
Many thanks for all your answers, much appreciated.

We've a similar situation in our family but resident sibling only gets 5 years then has to either buy out the other or sell up. So time to get her head straight when the time comes, but the 2 are not tied together indefinitely.

There are so many tricky things around wills and death, people are so reluctant to talk about it then it gets more awkward than it would have been if people had just talked in the first place.

@Damnyoureyes

Hello neither of which will happen.

Brother 2 kind of accepts that he will receive nothing from the will or from the house because of brother 1.
This money though could be life changing for him. (It’s not much, probably £50k as house isn’t worth much)
Oh well, thanks all

Why won't he get his half of the house when the brother living in it dies?

Resident brother is younger.
I hadn’t even considered either brother dying.

I agree with pp re talking about these things prior to them happening. It seems distasteful and grabby and unacceptable to many but I’m in the “let’s talk camp” especially around death, personal wishes, organ donation, preferred place of death & care, funeral planning and personal preference. I think it’s vital.

In a well written will it would specify what happens to each brothers half should the pre-decease. So IMO (I am not a lawyer, Collaborate on this thread is) if resident brother has a life interest, the will should say that if non resident brother dies before resident, then non/residents half of the house passes to his offspring.

I would have thought if the house has brother 1 living in it that it wouldn't have to be sold to fund care fees, the LA can't make him homeless to do that.

Just out of curiosity if brother 1 is living in the family home rent and mortgage free, what is he spending his money on? Surely he would have put some money aside in his working life to pay the other brother for his half of the house? Its pretty poor that he has had all the advantages and the other brother will get nothing until he dies.

If the house is in trust for the brothers lifetime then until he dies or leaves the property the other brother gets nothing. However on his death the 50% of the house will go to him or his children or wife.

I'm not sure if he can force a sale to get his half as it may leave brother 1 homeless? Only a solicitor can advise on that.

I’ve no idea what he spends his money on!
He smokes cigarettes, runs a car, doesn’t go on holidays ever, shops at Asda, even for clothing, has sky TV, drinks a bottle of vodka on a Friday & Saturday night. Doesn’t go out other than to work and back which is a 15 minute drive from his house. A local factory so minimum wage.
Doesn’t gamble. Single. Never had kids.