Life interest in a property

[Linnet]

Probably a very Stupid question but, if you own a property and are tenants in common with your spouse when the spouse dies and you are left a life interest in the property in their Will, do you have to live in the property? Or can you live elsewhere and still have the life interest?

Also if the person with the life interest doesn’t live in the property can they rent it out? And if they do rent it out do they get to keep all of the rent or does it get split between the life interest tenant and the person who has been left the other half of the property?

thanks

In the absence of any stipulation in the trust (contained in the will) to the contrary this is what will happen. Person with ligfe interest entitled to live in it or rent it out.

And If they rent it out do they get to keep all of the rent? Unless there is something in the will that says otherwise?

It’s by design OP, so the life interest will look however you want it to.

Yes, they get to keep all of the rent.

I'm not sure who you think the "person who has been left the other half of the property" is in your scenario. If you own the property as tenants in common, you will still own 50% of the house when your spouse dies. If your spouse leaves you a life interest in their 50% of the house, the situation will be that you own half the house and have a life interest in the rest.

@PRH47bridge

Yes, they get to keep all of the rent.

I'm not sure who you think the "person who has been left the other half of the property" is in your scenario. If you own the property as tenants in common, you will still own 50% of the house when your spouse dies. If your spouse leaves you a life interest in their 50% of the house, the situation will be that you own half the house and have a life interest in the rest.

The adult children of the spouse who has died are the ones who have been left their half of the property, with the surviving spouse having a life interest.

What that means is that they inherit that half of the property when the surviving spouse dies. They are not entitled to any income from the property while the surviving spouse is still alive.

It really depends on exactly what the will says.

Thank you. The Will has not been seen yet. All that has been said, by the company dealing with probate, is that the adult children of the spouse who died have been left half of a property, with the surviving spouse having a life interest in it until they die, then it will pass to the children.

The couple own two properties, only one of them is tenants in common the other seems to be joint tenants.
On researching, as I understand it, you can only leave your share of property to someone if the property is held as tenants in common. That property is rented out and the surviving spouse lives in the other property.
This was why I asked if they have to live in the property they have the life interest in since it’s rented out at the moment and questions were raised as to whether or not the adult children would be entitled to a share of the rent that is paid on it.

If the children don’t inherit the property until the surviving spouse dies, does this mean that they aren’t responsible for any maintenance or repairs needing done to the property during that time?

I understand that once the Will has been seen things will be clearer and all the questions will be answered by the legal team. But at the moment questions just keep cropping up and googling doesn’t always have an answer.

thanks for your help

Yes, any property owned as joint tenants automatically passes to the surviving spouse and does not form part of the deceased spouse's estate.

The trustees of the life interest trust are normally responsible for repairs and maintenance.

And if you want to know who the trustees are, you need to see the will.

Thank you all for your advice.

The adult children, in talking to the company who were dealing with the probate, have now been told that the surviving spouse has changed their mind and the company are no longer dealing with it. The surviving spouse is now looking for another company to sort it out and when they have been chosen the company will be in touch in due course.

So the Will has still not been seen and the surviving spouse is now not answering any messages sent to them. The adult children had been looking for a couple of mementos of their parent from the house but the surviving spouse has not acknowledged or replied to the enquiries about this so not sure if they will be given anything to remember them by.

They will wait to see what happens in the coming weeks, thanks again for your help and advice.