Mums Will, failed!

[1452kc]

Husband(H) and Wife(W) walk into a Solicitors(S) to make the W Will, both H and W are present in the same room at the Will writing. W has been unwell for a number of years and will, just a few weeks from now pass away. H and W have lived separate lives for many years, separate beds, separate rooms and if finances would have allowed, separate houses. They have no children, H has no children, W has adult children from a prior relationship. H and W bought a house together over a decade earlier, the house they live in, the bulk of the purchase was made with W money, which included inheritance from W parents and blood relatives. However they own the house 50/50. H is somewhat controlling and abusive.

W tells S she wants to leave her half share in the house to her children, S adds to the Will, i assume after informing W this is what would be needed, that 'there was to be no restriction on the sale of the property' and 'no life interest for the H'. The point of these statements was to ensure the children got the W share in the house upon her death, not decades(?) later when the H dies. The H has significant funds of his own after inheriting his own fathers house.

During this meeting about the Will, the S asks these laypeople(H and W) 'is the house held as JT or TIC', what layperson know the ramifications of that? Anyway, S states in his notes that the(who responded?) response was 'TIC'. As the house is held as TIC what W has put in her Will, ie leave her share in the house to her children, is valid. Anyone can check the Land registry for a few £'s to find out the answer to JT, TIC, why didn't the S or S secretary do so? Why even ask the question? S should confirm with the source(Land Registry). Lazy, negligent, stupid, in on it? The H and S were both male, same age, etc.

Around a week later H walks back into S office and asks 'what if the property is not held at TIC?', S states, ' you will need to discuss that with your W'. S does not contact W. H does not talk to W.

A few weeks later W passes.

Turns out property as documented at the Land Registry is held as JT. Therefore W share passes to H and Will is worthless.

There may be paper work at the property that severed the JT, but that cannot be accessed. H will not allow it.

So the issue is the TIC vs JT. Many argue a course of action can severe a JT without any formal paper work explicitly severing the JT. If you apply for divorce it's likely you don't want to leave your share to your soon to be ex partner. Equally if you make a Will in front of your partner that states you want to leave your share to your kids, not them, surely that severs the JT. It's just common sense. Another point is, both(we will never know) H and W stated the property is held as TIC during the Will writing, that's a mutual agreement right there, a bit like saying 'i do' in the church.

So why does H now own 100% of the house? What a bs legal system. Deliberately grey, it should be a flow chart.

So how do we go back and get JT changed to TIC, so the Will is effective and the children can get their inheritance.

Thanks

Also, exploring a negligence claim isn't "being a dick". Everyone makes mistakes at work on occasion, in some professions those mistakes can cause other people to lose hundreds of thousands. This is the reason why professionals have compulsory insurance.

Interesting to see that some people think the solicitor has some responsibility here. In my experience of making a will (with someone who is widely recommended on MN) was that it was a very rushed process where I said what I wanted and it was written, with no questions to establish whether or not it was appropriate. It was an expensive service that honestly felt worthless. No advice and no talking through potential situations. I may as well have saved myself the money and done it myself, and it seems like the wife in this situation is the same.

Because of my experience, I’d have thought the responsibility was on the customer (W) to provide accurate information to the will writer and the way the property was owned should have been understood at the time it was bought.

We also need to remember that the OP presumably wasn’t at the meetings with the solicitor so has no idea what was said

@SometimesCalmPerson Are you referring to a "Will Writer" rather than a proper solicitor ?

You cannot change from Tenants in Common to Joint Tenants without the agreement of both parties. Your DMs signature would have been required on the application form.
Your stepfather cannot prevent anyone from accessing Land Registry documents - these are legal documents held in the public domain.
So, either your DM was mistaken about how the property was held; your DM wasn’t mistaken but agreed to change it to JT; your stepfather forged her signature on the application to change it to JT.
I’m not sure how you knew exactly what happened between both parties at the solicitor’s office.

And making himself homeless?

This isn't true. Unilateral severance is absolutely possible. Don't say this stuff when you don't know what you're talking about.

https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership/change-from-tenants-in-common-to-joint-tenants

You're confusing Joint Tenants with TIC.

He unwittingly or deliberately misled the solicitor who drafted the wills, making the wills invalid, cutting W's children out of the will and leaving them nothing when he dies

He may not have children, but if the will has failed, he dies intestate and any rag tag and bobtail member of his family can now inherit according to the rules of intestacy

Unless he writes a will, specifically making W's children his sole beneficiaries, they have been shafted

"H has significant funds of his own"

I’ve got significant funds of my own - doesn’t mean I’ve got enough to buy myself another house though!

If a house is held as Joint tenants then it passes to the surviving joint owner immediately on death, not via the will.

So unless it was held as TIC via a restriction then there is nothing you can do.

It is, you are confused.

You can change from joint tenants to TIC unilaterally

You can't go from TIC to JT without everyones agreement, although its easy to do if all parties agree.

Not really relevant, but what would be the point of that ?

Once one of the parties in a joint tenancy has died then the property passes to the survivor and is owned solely by them, so who would they be 'tenants in common' or 'joint tenants' with ? Surely neither form of ownership is applicable when there is only one owner.

In my vast experience very very few people will’do the right thing thing’
A case against the solicitor will turn on whether a competent solicitor would have checked the way the title is held

H is not honouring his W wishes. H cut off all contact, even withholding childhood things that were stored at the home.

Exactly, and you don't have to explicitly sever a tenancy, a course of action can be considered enough to sever it. Like filing for divorce, or in this case, creating a Will leaving your share to your children and not your H.

You need a contentious probate solicitor.

He currently lives alone in the family home, a large 4 bed, double garage, detached property, he also inherited a large home, and he is only having to give up a half share in that family home. This is irrelevant though, W owned half the home and it's her choice what to do with it, not his.

You don't buy a dog and bark yourself. That's the point of paying through the nose for a solicitor, in this case a senior partner in a large firm.

It possible the tenancy was severed and that paperwork is stored at the home, and if the W did indeed answer, she answered correctly, its held as TIC. This is why the Solicitor should check the source, ie the land registry. Its cost £7, takes 2 mins. Its down to the solicitor to check the ONLY thing that they need to check. Lazy.

what you will find is over the years it's been 'fashionable' for married couples to hold it as JT or at other times TIC, the solicitors just make it up depending on prevailing winds/how they feel/current guidance (which changes over the decades).

Unless a restriction has been entered on the land registry then it will by default be JT, doesn't matter what paperwork exists if it wasn't done it's still JT

Form RX1 would have had to be completed and a fee paid, you can do this yourself, but typically a solicitor would do this.

If it wasn't done, it can't be retrospectively.

If the title is as JT the house is legally now his, all he has to do is submit form DJP to remove your DMs name, which is easy, and free, and its all in his name alone, only a court order can unpick that.

This is correct. The solicitor should have advised the W how to sever the tenancy and offered to draw up the letter.This may have been done by W but just not registered at the land registry. It definitely merits a complaint. It is also worth speaking to a contentious probate solicitor as there was an intention to sever the tenancy. The solicitor’s attendance notes from the meetings should be requested.

I would be taking advice on pursuing a claim against the solicitor.