He now owns the house. Is there anything we can do?

[Toomuchgrief23]

MIL sadly passed away 6weeks ago.
She and my FIL separated over 30yrs ago, started divorce proceedings but recently realised they didn't have the decree absolute. FIL wanted to remarry and so was eager for the divorce to be finalised quickly so suggested 'sorting' the house at a later stage, and whilst there was lots of talk about this in recent years and solicitors appointed and paid, nothing seems to have been done.
We are now in the situation where he owns 100% of my MIL's home and is suggesting that it is split 3 ways between him, DH and SIL, however is very clear that final say will be his and this is not something he has to do. DH and SIL were happy enough with this arrangement
SIL wants to buy the house, but tonight FIL has said that it will be put on the market as he has an idea of a minimum amount he wants from the sale (more than 1/3 of valued price) and doesn't seem to care that the family want it to remain within the family due to sentimental reasons.

Is there anything that can be done in this scenario as legally FIL is the owner? If DH and SIL were to fight it in court is it likely to go anywhere?

Any advice would be much appreciated, we are all still grieving and this is the last thing we want to be dealing with at the moment.

If they had sorted finances with the divorce, your MIL would possibly have been awarded 50% meaning that your husband and SIL
would now inherit that jointly.

The offer of 1/3 each is likely generous from a legal perspective, even if morally you don’t feel it’s right. Your MIL had obviously not chosen to pursue any legal avenues since their separation so she must have been aware this was the case.

@WallaceinAnderland the will is irrelevant in terms of the property held as joint tenants.

Thinking about finances sorting in event of a divorce and death.

If you have not sorted out the finance side it's stlll open for both sides to claim for say future inheritances

But also, if you die just as sorting out finance side and divide assets (but post divorce) it's not quite as simple as TOO LATE SUCKER! (And if dad died first, the ex wife would be able to claim what she would have been entitled to in a divorce. )

Of course best to get finances sorted pre divorce finalisation!

You couldn't be more wrong. Neither myself nor my husband are interested in 'his cut' of the sale, the priority is to keep the house within the family.
It is a matter of principle...MIL's intention was for the home to go to her children, if her wishes were for the home to go tona chosen charity (I.e. DH not getting a 'cut'), then we would feel the same...but thank you.

What did MIL’s will say?

Were they still owners of the house as ‘joint tenants’ rather than ‘tenants in common’?

Thank you everyone for your responses I wasn't expecting to get so many.

They were joint owners and this is the grounds on which FIL owns 100%. I think most comments confirm what we already knew in terms of this being how the law works and that it should have been resolved between MIL and FIL many years ago. I just wanted to check if there were any other options we weren't aware of/hadn't thought of.

I guess there is nothing more we can do now other than wait it out.

MIL's intention was for the home to go to her children,

Did she write a Will saying this?

They were joint tenants, you cannot leave a jointly held property to anyone else in a will. It automatically goes to the other tenant.

This is going to sound a bit harsh, and sorry for that as I know how awful it is to be sorting out inheritances when you are all grieving, I've done it myself and it's been very unpleasant...but your MIL's wishes were a bit pie in the sky as she didn't fully own the house.

If she had fully owned the house, by buying the FIL out with a sum or a mortgage 30 years ago, he would have been fairly compensated at that point.

She didn't, presumably as she didn't have the money. It isn't really morally fair that out of the marriage she got an entire house and he got nothing. This was to her advantage in life, as she was able to live in the home she wanted and never had to pay the FIL out like normally happens.

Getting 2/3rds of the property now would be absolutely fine for your family, I think MIL's wishes are a bit irrelevant as she either wasn't able or didn't act to make that happen, I suspect she knew that and chose not to address it.

I did post above a lot how the joint tenancy can be severed by a few ways including things like both acting like they own a share rather than joint and things like getting mortgages in own name.

IF fil gifts them 1/3rd of the sale each he is legally being generous. Pointing out how much a private sale will save in terms of fees and how much sooner he would get the money might encourage him to let it remain in the family. Wait it out - but if he tries to give them nothing see a lawyer.

Family law solicitor here.
Was the house definitely held as joint tenants? You have mentioned joint owners but not mentioned whether they were joint tenants or tenants in common as joint owners and the difference is critical.

A jointly owned house as joint tenants means the whole passes to the other joint owner.

However, a severance as that the house is owned as tenants in common, ie in two separate shares so each can leave their own share under their will is very straightforward to do. A will by your MiL can sever the tenancy. A notice to your father can sever. I am surprised your MIL did not take this very simple step if solicitors were involved.

Have you checked the on Land Registry title register? You can order online for £3.
https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry
You are looking for the following words under the restrictions section.
“No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court"
If the above appears then the house will be owned as tenants in common and your MIL’s share can pass separately under her will or according to the rules of intestacy (which determine who inherits if you haven’t got a will).

Even if the severance has not been registered on the Land Registry it is worth checking that there wasn’t a notice served that hasn’t been registered.

If her divorce lawyers did not advise her to do this then this was bad advice.

There have been cases where a mutual intention to sever the joint tenancy has been found, notwithstanding the lack of registration at the Land Registry

If the property has definitely passed to FIL then DH and SIL should take advice and in any event on the position as to whether there might have been a severance of the joint tenancy.

@Familylawso1icitor

Even if it is tenants in common, then FIL gets his half and the two adult children get 25% each, i.e. half each of MIL half.
So the offer of 1/3 each is generous.

OP - Don't rock the boat, take the 1/3, and let the house go.

Or, wait for FIL to put in on the market and pay his asking price if you want to keep it.

If you want the house to stay in the family and your SiL can't afford to purchase at a price above valuation, dh will have to donate some of his share.

If you piss FIL off now, you may end up with nothing.

I would strongly advise against sentimentality though. No home is forever.

He is being legally generous and i suspect that this is because he would have intended on his children intending something from him as well i.e. 50% from their mum and an extra 20% will be their 'inheritance' from him, although technically will be gifted.

This is a good pount re:fees so will mention it.
It is likely that the fees, etc for open market sale will cost him the difference in his ideal amount and his 30% share.

Thank you.

Thank you. Unfortunately I don't think any of these options work now that MIL had already passed.

Yes definitely joint tenants. There were conversations about severing this and FIL did make an application but I think this was withdrawn.

If her will says she leaves everything to DC, could that be considered to sever the joint tenancy?

I think it all became a bit much for MIL in the end as her health was deteriorating - being told that he was remarrying and then realising that they were not actually divorced after believing they were for over 20yrs.
DH thinks his mum mentioned that there was a financial order which mentions the house as part of the original divorce (only decree nisi received) but then this was not considered as part of the recent divorce as FIL said that there were no assets to be considered in the proceedings.

At present things appear to be going OK and are generally quite amicable but it is just good to consider their options if things take a turn as DH and SIL do have a sentimental attachment to the home, especially when their mums death is so recent. Although I appreciate that it is just bricks and mortar, it is a bit more to them at this stage in their grieving.

So fil lied at time of divorce? (And maybe mum too)

He said he had no assets? Did either side mention the house? Could the solicitor used in the actual divorce be negligent for not checking the house was dealt with? Or who owned it and how?

This isn’t quite making sense to me as a divorce lawyer so I would try and get more info OP.
there can only be one divorce.
The divorce that got to decree nisi stage would have had to have been withdrawn - did that happen? But if there was an order about the house in those proceedings that couldn’t have been withdrawn except by agreement.
The statement about formally saying there were no assets does not make sense in the context of current divorce law although 30 years ago (I have practised for 20+ but not that long) who knows. You would give information about assets either on a financial agreement or order but there doesn’t seem to be one of those.

Well yes IF he honours the 1/3 deal - he could pull out of that at anytime and it does seem like there are difficult family dynamics. If they do have a certain entitlement to 1/4 that’s a much better starting point. But agreed re not rocking the boat if not.

If he wasn't actually divorced, how was his second marriage legal?

Read OP's updates. The divorce was finalised before he remarried.

@Familylawso1icitor the MIL and FIL got to decree nisi stage 30 years ago then stopped. Very recently FIL wanted to remarry, realised divorce not finalised so went ahead and did the full divorce. MIL shocked to find divorce was not finalised 30 years ago. Having lived apart for 30 years, on the assumption of being divorced, no one thought to do the financials. Hence the fact FIL owns the house.

Did they diy their actual later divorce?

As any solicitor would have asked about assets and the house. If not, that's negligent!

OP’s update said the decree absolute was granted.

This is the only was forward, in the UK, that prevents FIL from bigamy. I think that was a distraction from the main issue.