Brother-in-law inheriting mum's house? Help!

[ManicFreakCreature]

Briefly... We are in England. My sister died a couple of days ago. After her death, my mum asked me to look at some paperwork and I found out that my mum added my sister and her husband to mum's property title deeds 9 years ago, after my dad died. No mortgage, property worth around £500-600k. I have 2 other siblings. None of us was aware of this until today. None else named on the deeds, just the three of them. I don't know whether my sister and her husband were added as joint tenants or tenants in common, or why they were added. There is a phrase 'The Transfer to the proprietor contains a covenant to observe and perform the covenants referred to in the Charges Register' in the deeds - what does this mean? My mum's will states that her children should all inherit equally.

What are the implications of my sister's death? Does this mean that my brother-in-law now owns half (if joint tenants) or 2/3 (if tenants in common, assuming an equal split, and assuming that my sister left her assets to him in her will) of my mum's house? Why would she do this?

first Im very sorry to hear of your sisters death

I’m not a lawyer but I think this is correct and I’m only going on my recent experience of this

Once you have your dad will you will be able to work out why they were put on the deeds

it only really makes sense if they are the trustees of your dads half of the house

so your brother in law could be the legal owner but not the beneficial owner of your dads half of the house as he is probably not mentioned as a beneficiary in your parents will .

but your sister could also be a the legal owner and the beneficial owner as a beneficiary of both your mum & dad will as most will are often mirror wills

if this is the case then I would think that your sisters share would go to him but it depends on what’s written in the your parents will
it could be something like that it goes to the grandkids in the event of your sisters death

but while your mum is still alive and living in the house I don’t think your brother in law can force a sale / or get your sisters inheritance as in my parents case the grandkids only got their inheritance once my father passed away and we then sold the house and the beneficiaries of the wills were then paid

your dad will should say something about leaving a lifetime interest of his half to your mum

it should say in the will who the executors and any trustees are of your dad half

Normally it’s the surviving spouse and 1-2 of the kids

The fact that your BIL owns three other properties outright makes me question even more so why he's on the property deeds of your Mum's house.
To me, it sounds like he knows exactly what he's doing regarding trying to acquire property, and has maybe talked your Mum into adding him for his own selfish reasons.

True - didn't mean to imply that there couldn't be something nefarious going on just that the OP didn't seem to think it likely (I wasn't sure based on her first posts if, in fact, the OP did worry about/suspect coercion).

Hopefully you'll have a better idea when you see your dad's will. If he left his share to his grandchildren and they are under 18 they can't be put on the deeds, so maybe your sister & BIL were trustees for them until they reach 18? (IANAL)

Is there an entry that starts “no disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (not being a trust corporation)…”? That’s what tells you it’s tenants in common. Otherwise it’s joint tenants.

Why so suspicious? It could equally be that in the extended family he had the most experience of managing properties and so was best placed to act as trustee. As he's not a blood relative your sister was added as well.

When was the property transfer done in terms of your mum being able to make that decision or having questionable capacity to understand what she was doing?

If it's joint tenants it goes to survivor/s and not through the Will.

@ManicFreakCreature it sounds like your mum has been coerced to add their names!! you have no idea how sneaky some builders can be if they can spot money!!! I know of one builder who got his parents to transfer their house to him. he immediately evicted them!!!

I'd leave it a few days and try talking to your mum again when she's had a little bit longer to process your sisters death and shes realised that you aren't cross with her about this.

I suspect that she might remember more than she is currently saying. There must be a reason that now, so recently after your sister has passed away, she has got the deeds out. She must have known that your BIL was on there and remembered that clearly enough to find the deeds and talk to you.

As my parents have got older they have, in some ways, got more child like and they often try to hide things which they think I might dislike. Could that be happening here?

BIL is obviously in the know about how to own property, I'm not sure if I'd trust him.

I’m so sorry this is the last thing you need, hopefully the solicitor who dealt with your dads probate can shed some light

This. It will be in the B part of the register.

I thought similiar. Sorry about your sister OP.

If for whatever reason the bil DOES own part of the house and won't give it back.

Then (if tenents in common) your mother could change her will to give her entire estate to you so you get the third of the house remaining (otherwise it may be split again on her death)

If joint tenants I believe that she doesn't need the other owners permission to change it to tenents in common which she would need to do or bil would inherit the rest as survivor. I think with only two owners they would only get 50/50 each and again she could will her half to you to equalise inheritance.

Sorry for your loss. Keep an open mind until you see the solicitor. It may have been due to trying to avoid inheritance tax or funding care home in the future. We had done very fishy advice previously and were encouraged to put our nieces (who we barely see) onto our deeds at one point.

Thank you all for your help. It is exactly as some of you suggested i.e. in trust. The lesson for me is to ensure that people affected are informed, and I'll not leave my children in this position of uncertainty. I'm going leave this thread now but just wanted to update and thank you all who contributed. It's been immensely helpful 💐

I may sound stupid but couldn't your mum now update the will to remove him?

I know it's not ideal but if your BIL now owns 50% of your mum's property and she owns the other 50%, she could change her will now to ensure that her 50% only goes to you and your surviving siblings

I don't really understand your update @ManicFreakCreature and if its good or bad, but you sound ok so I'm glad that this thread helped you and good luck with it all.

I’m so sorry about your sister.

Is it advisable that going forward you or another family member are added as a trustee? Hopefully BIL will always be part of your family especially as there are children involved but you don’t know what his life will look like in years to come

I don't understand either @ssd, but OP seems happy that it's all resolved.

Might BIL have loaned your DM a very large amount of money when this was enacted?

Just thinking: if he owns a few properties, he's probably quite comfortably off. Could it be that your DM mentioned looking into equity release for whatever reason (debts, struggling to afford bills, wanting to enjoy her money whilst she's alive and have a nicer standard of living) - and he offered to keep it 'in-house' - ergo he's effectively bought your DM's house from her but is happy for her to live there interest-free for the rest of her life?

Not that she should be ashamed or embarrassed at all, if that is what she chose to do with her own money; but I can see how she might be very reluctant to admit to you that she's already 'cashed in your inheritance' - and is pretending not to really understand it. Or... she didn't understand/has forgotten the set-up and/or he might have taken advantage of her?

Do you know how he acquired the other properties that he owns? Were they a result of legitimate inheritance or wise investing/honest hard work - or could there have been something else afoot?

Ah I should have refreshed the page - glad that it's sorted.

If there is a trust then there will be a "remainderman" of that trust, which is the person or persons who ultimately benefit at the point the trust ends.

My grandmother put her house in life interest trust for my mum, I am a trustee along with our solicitor, both my and my solicitors names are on the deeds, not mums.

When mum passes the trust ends and I inherit the property, and it will be transferred to my name.

What I am saying is, if its a trust situation, just because a trustee is named on the deeds, as they have to be, does not mean that they will ever "own" the asset long term, the trust owns it and the outcome (ie final inheritance) will be in the detail of the trust.