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Legal matters

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Mother wants to put her house in a trust. Advice?

177 replies

fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:06

Hello

My mum does not want her husband to be able to sell her house as she wants my kids to have it ( im an only child) so she wants to make a trust will and name me as trustee but her husband will need to live there until death if she goes 1st ( she is older than him )

I do not like this man. He has has only ever financially abused my mother and currently has a lot of debt in his name.

This is not his home land she worries he will sell up and go back home with all the money and he doesn't deserve to be able to take it all and run.

Advice welcome ? Also if we are trustees then does he need to be as well? As I imagine that just would be crap too.

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 15/10/2025 15:14

She can just leave it to your DC and say that he can live there until he dies or no longer wants to, no need for a Trust
My Mum did that (left it to me though) and I have to say its a pain in the arse. We have an asset we can't sell and her partner lives in a house completely unsuitable for him

LoveItaly · 15/10/2025 15:15

You need proper legal advice with someone who specialises in Trusts, this is an important and potentially complicated matter that needs to be done properly. I hope that your Mother manages to keep her house secure, but she must be prepared to pay for it to be dealt with professionally.

NutButterOnToast · 15/10/2025 15:18

If they are married she needs advice from a solicitor.

He could put a claim in for part of her estate regardless of what is in the will unless it is done with proper legal advice.

parietal · 15/10/2025 15:28

What is the age difference between them? If he has permission to live in the house and lives 20 years longer than her but does no maintenance, the house could fall apart and be a nightmare for you and your kids.

leaving the house directly to the kids with him having a life interest is probably best but talk to a lawyer.

Andprettygood · 15/10/2025 15:28

Go to a solicitor and put this to them for a solution

a lot of questions will follow and they will answer on the basis of the full picture

fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:35

Hoppinggreen · 15/10/2025 15:14

She can just leave it to your DC and say that he can live there until he dies or no longer wants to, no need for a Trust
My Mum did that (left it to me though) and I have to say its a pain in the arse. We have an asset we can't sell and her partner lives in a house completely unsuitable for him

Ok this is an idea. Thank you.

OP posts:
Leavesfalling · 15/10/2025 15:38

Hoppinggreen · 15/10/2025 15:14

She can just leave it to your DC and say that he can live there until he dies or no longer wants to, no need for a Trust
My Mum did that (left it to me though) and I have to say its a pain in the arse. We have an asset we can't sell and her partner lives in a house completely unsuitable for him

No you need a trust. It either belongs to the husband (and he can do what he wants) or it is held in trust and he is given a right of occupation. It will be in his IHT estate.

Leavesfalling · 15/10/2025 15:39

fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:35

Ok this is an idea. Thank you.

No you need a trust. Also you will need to work out who pays for the upkeep of the house.

prh47bridge · 15/10/2025 15:40

Leavesfalling · 15/10/2025 15:38

No you need a trust. It either belongs to the husband (and he can do what he wants) or it is held in trust and he is given a right of occupation. It will be in his IHT estate.

Agreed.

The way she arranges for him to live in the house if he wants whilst protecting your children's inheritance is by doing what she is proposing - setting up a lifetime trust. If he wants to sell up and go to his homeland, he will be able to do so but he won't be able to take the proceeds with him. He does not need to be a trustee.

fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:41

Leavesfalling · 15/10/2025 15:38

No you need a trust. It either belongs to the husband (and he can do what he wants) or it is held in trust and he is given a right of occupation. It will be in his IHT estate.

If its in a trust does that mean we are financially responsible for it, while not being able to live there ?

OP posts:
fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:42

prh47bridge · 15/10/2025 15:40

Agreed.

The way she arranges for him to live in the house if he wants whilst protecting your children's inheritance is by doing what she is proposing - setting up a lifetime trust. If he wants to sell up and go to his homeland, he will be able to do so but he won't be able to take the proceeds with him. He does not need to be a trustee.

So he can enforce a sale still in a trust?

OP posts:
Daisymay8 · 15/10/2025 15:43

Sell the house and give him a quarter or a lump sum to get him home I don’t know what the house is worth but I know maintenance of a property is v expensive nowadays -tradesmen cost a lot.

KimTheresPeopleThatAreDying · 15/10/2025 15:44

She needs legal advice.

Leavesfalling · 15/10/2025 15:45

fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:41

If its in a trust does that mean we are financially responsible for it, while not being able to live there ?

Depends how the trust is drafted. Often the person with the right of occupation has to pay for the upkeep. Otherwise a sum of money could be set aside. The ultimate beneficiaries (you) would have an interest in ensuring that the property is maintained.

This is a will trust by the way. I don't recommend your mum gives you her house in her lifetime.

You need proper legal advice. It's a straightforward Will. Not unusual.

Tumbler2121 · 15/10/2025 15:51

Many people put their house in a trust to ensure that it cannot be used towards care for them as they get older.

This is all very well for the people who inherit, but it does mean that the elderly person cannot go into a nice care home. They have to take what they’re given by the state..

as long as your mother realises this

Daisymay8 · 15/10/2025 15:55

Putting the house in trust means residents are no longer owners and would pay going rate for rent - in response to above post

Andprettygood · 15/10/2025 17:26

Are you intending to get legal advice on this op?

Andprettygood · 15/10/2025 17:32

Do you live and your children live with your mum or plan to?

Lamelie · 15/10/2025 17:35

Please please get proper advice. There’s a lot of misinformation here.

Maersk · 15/10/2025 17:36

Trusts - unless large and managed by professionals - are a bit of a nightmare. Lots of admin, tax returns etc.

If your DM is married to her partner he may have a claim on the property regardless of her will. Where did the funds come from? Had she paid it off before they married? Has he ever done work on the house or contributed to the maintenance? If he needs care in his old age the LA will argue it is a marital asset nd seek to put a charge on it.

Maintenance is always an issue in these cases. Do you have sufficient funds to maintain the property until her partner dies or goes into care?

Irenesortof · 15/10/2025 17:38

It sounds a bit of a nightmare to be owning a house, perhaps for decades, which you can't occupy but have to maintain.
You might suggest to DM that she leaves a share of the value of the house to her husband and a share to you or your children. Then he'd have some money to return to his home country and/or buy or rent somewhere else, and her blood family would get something without waiting until he dies.
I think that once a couple have got married it doesn't really work for them to try and have completely separate finances, especially if one is better off than the other. Best to just live together if that is required, then at least it is clear to everyone.

Enrichetta · 15/10/2025 17:43

Please, whatever she ends up doing, make sure she gets competent legal advice from a solicitor who specializes in wills and trusts.

strawgoh · 15/10/2025 17:55

She needs to take advice from a solicitor, explain the whole situation and tell them what she wants to do with her estate should she die first.

She can make a new will without his knowledge if she wants to, there is nothing stopping her doing that at all.

Another2Cats · 15/10/2025 17:57

fishtank12345 · 15/10/2025 15:42

So he can enforce a sale still in a trust?

To answer that specific question - it depends.

The first question to start off with is - who owns the house?

Is it owned solely by your mum? Or is it owned jointly between as joint owners?

This is very important.

Most homes are owned by a couple as "joint tenants". This is where you both jointly own the whole house (just like a joint bank account). So, when one of you passes away the house automatically goes to the surviving spouse.

(This is the English terminology, if you're in Scotland then it will be something like "survivorship destination")

If you own the house as joint tenants then the house automatically passes to the surviving spouse regardless of what any will might say.

So, if your mum were to pass away first then he would get the whole house regardless of what any will says.

The other way for a couple to own a home is as "tenants in common". In this situation you each own a separate 50% of the home and you can leave your own 50% to whoever you like. In this situation it is usual for each spouse to leave their 50% to their children (but you can leave it to whoever you like).
.

That's the situation if your mum and her husband own the house jointly.

If your mum owns the house just in her own name then it's a different story.

So, the first thing I would suggest is to go to the HM Land Registry website and download the title register for your mum's home. This will cost £7 and you need the address and post code.

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

This will either show the registered owner as just your mum or it will show that both her and her husband are the registered owners.

If they are both registered owners then you need to find out if they own it as "joint tenants" or as "tenants in common".

You can do this by looking at the title register. If there is a restriction that is worded like this:

"RESTRICTION: 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"

Then the home is held as "tenants in common", and they each own 50%. If there is no restriction like that then they own it as "joint tenants" and everything goes to her husband after she passes away.
.

What you do next depends on whether your mum is the sole owner of the house or owns it jointly either as joint tenants or tenants in common with her husband.

If she goes to a solicitor who is used to dealing with wills then this will be a straightforward matter to sort out.

Depending on the situation, if your mum owns the house on her own then it is likely that the will, will then say that the house is left to the grandchildren in trust on her death and that you will be a trustee.

It will also likely say that her husband has the right to live in the house until he dies or some other event happens. This other event may be something like co-habiting, remarriage or moving abroad etc.

In that situation, he may be able to bring a claim against the estate but that is something you need to talk to a solicitor about. If the will just left everything to the grandchildren and kicked him out of the house then he might well have a claim in that situation.
.

In contrast, if the house is owned jointly then the first step is to get that changed to tenants in common if it is not already like that.

If the house is owned as joint tenants then he will get the whole house after your mum dies.

Once the house is owned as tenants in common (your mum can do this herself or a solicitor will explain how to do it) then your mum and him each own a separate 50% of the house.

In this case, she can leave her 50% of the house to her grandchildren but her husband does own the other half.

In that situation, the usual advice is to put your mum's 50% share of the house into trust in the will so that the beneficiaries (the grandchildren in this case) cannot kick the surviving spouse out of the house. But do I get the impression that you wouldn't mind if he moved out?
.

So, it all depends on the ownership of the house. If it's just in your mum's name then she can write her will however she likes and leave everything to her grandchildren.

If her husband is also a joint owner of the house, then there's no getting away from the fact that he is going to end up with 50% of the house.

But, as others have said, you need to tell all this to a solicitor and they will write a will that achieves what you want to happen.

Search for land and property information

Find a property and get its title plan, title register and see who owns it

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Redburnett · 15/10/2025 18:02

Why isn't your DM divorcing her husband if the situation is as you describe?
In any event leaving a property to someone with the proviso that someone else can live there until death is unwise as other posters have pointed out. Proper legal advice needed.