What happens if a sibling refuses to leave an inherited property?

[rikesays]

Brother living in jointly inherited property, worth originally around 300UK pounds…not sure and don´t want to think of the state of the house and worth now!
Refusing to answer the executor´s requests as to when he will move out , so the property can be sold and shared equally between 3 siblings, no other beneficiaries.
He has lived his whole life with one parent, never paying rent, never paying household bills until our father passed, 4 years ago…and has only worked 2 years of his life.
He has lived rent free in the 3 bedroomed house since Dad´s death, only paying bills.
He is now mid 40s
His income/savings are purely from other relatives´ wills.
He is refusing to converse with the executor, and has dishonestly stated that his 2 siblings have agreed that he can stay on in the home.
What would be the proccess now in the UK , including timescales and costs…hopefully to him and not the estate.
This is in the hands of the executor, and probably courts, but just wondering if anyone has experience of how it pans out, and if the estate will be worth anything after 4 years ( Dad passed 4 years ago) and maybe what to expect.
Thank you!!!!

He sounds vulnerable. Never worked relied on parents. Is there a way of allowing him to stay in the property

The bloke is a cfer.
But the council would probably house temporarily in b&b or hostel on the grounds that, although he stands to inherit a 1/4 of of the house, it might not sell straight away. Even if it did the money isn't going to be available tuesday afternoon just because he moved out that morning. He will be homeless as soon as he has to leave.
Once the money is avaiable to him he would have to leave hostel or b&b.

i guess only if he bought us out… call me selfish but 1. Why would a single man need a 3bed semi, and 2. I’ve worked all my life, and live paycheck to paycheck in a one bedroom flat with my husband….and 3. Our father wanted all 3 of us to have equal shares of his estate….stated clearly in his will.

not to mention, wouldn’t a clean start be healthier for my brother, albeit with help, social care, whatever he needs, rather than living basically in a shrine to our dad?
I really appreciate your answer, don’t get me wrong…thanks .

He has ‘savings’…. If that’s what you call large inheritances from deceased grandparents and other relatives, which he’s hardly touched as he’s never paid rent, doesn’t take holidays ever and has a limited social life.
he just started to pay household bills once he had the house to himself when dad passed

Thanks again for the message...I agree with you.
He does have a few friends, but has done his best to alienate me and his brother.
He was the orginal executor, believe it or not....but was removed by the court and the court appointed executor has been in place for nearly 2 years now.

Our brother has denied us any access to our dad´s home since a week after the funeral.
He stated that any attempt to visit him would be seen as intimidation and interrogation, and that all the friends and neighbours agreed!!

Neither myself, my brother, Dad´s daiughter in law, and Da´s GRANDSONS have not been able to spend time in Dad´s home, mourning, spending time in his bedroom, enjoying the garden, maybe taking a shirt or garden too, photo, record, etc as a memento.

Not even the grandchildren!
So, forgive me if my sympathy is low...

He has accused me of attempting to falsify the probate...as if I could as I was not an executor!!
He has accused our brother of bullying him, bullying Dad...complete lies.

All these accusations were sent by his solicitor to the court!

So yes, he has undoubtedly mental health problems, but he´s savvy enough to get a solicitor, and make false accusations, and blacken our names to all Dad´s friends and neighbours.

He accused me of horrifically abusing him after Dad´s death!...
a very serious and obviously untruthful accusation.

My older brother actually was anonymously in contact with the younger brother´s doctor, but he will not admit that he needs help.
He said I was being disrespectful when I suggested that he may need some help with his onward life and feelings...

His last game was to state officially to the court appointed executor that myself and our brother had agreed that he could remain in the home forever....!
An absolute lie, especially as we haven´t been able to see him or speak to him, even on the phone since Dad´s funeral almost 4 years ago.
Not only that, but deceitful to the core, greedy and selfish.

Yes, I realise that´s it a desperate action of a desperate man, but should I just accept that??

I try to rech out to him, I send birthday and Christmas cards, I email, I whatsapp but I get nothing back at all.

Just a bit more background info.....
No, of course I wouldn´t choose his life.
I feel very sorry for him.
I wish every thing good for him, honestly...but that doesn´t mean he gets my share of Dad´s estate.
...if it´s even worth anything anymore.
I think all the legal costs have probably squeezed it dry....

I'm sorry you're in this situation.
Does it matter legally whether you're contacting him? If not, perhaps it would be good to turn up at the house, use the garden etc. I'd suggest moving in if you can. Let him see that he's not getting his way, and his time of living there alone is over.

I would certainly be asking what exactly is the executor doing.

Also I would get them to confirm who will be paying for the legal action, it should come from your brothers share of the estate

There is an issue about what the will says

If the house is to be sold and proceeds divided thats one thing, if its to go into joint names than everyone has the right to occupy the property. Your brother can be asked to pay an occupation rent in consideration of the jooint owners not moving in or selling but thats an issue you need to take advice on.

Thanks for the message....my older brother turned up more than a few times, whatsapping first to say the family were going to drive for 2 hours to visit him, bringing food in tupperware, etc....
I can without doubt say, not only would he not answer, but the neighbours would probably turn on us as he has blackened our names, and he would probably accuse us of threatening behaviour.
This kind of thing is in his arsenal.

We both live hours away from Dad´s home, and thanks for the suggestion, but even if it somehow worked...I can think of nothing worse than sharing a home with him. Not to mention that I have a family and a full time job hours away.
My husband has even in the last few years almost forbidden me from attempting to visit him alone, for fear of what he might do, or accuse me of...

But normally, yes that would be a good idea!

I just thought that people turning up, especially unexpectedly, might make him less comfortable there.

As for the neighbours, if they genuinely think it's fine that one sibling is preventing dad's wishes from being carried out, then their opinion is worth little. I know it's easier said than done, but I was thinking that the short-term pain of visiting etc might be the only way to make him want to resolve the situation. It all seems very comfortable for him at the moment.
Anyway good luck.

thank you.... I have asked them to clarify that all the legal action, unneccessary anyway comes from his share, but I got no answer...
Very interesting, and scary what you wrote about the wording of the will.
I´m going to take a look ...
That would be terrible if it was the case, that we all can in theory reside there...
Kinda hoping the executor would have already spotted that though as they are in repeated contact with him, well, attempted, with no answer...as to when he will vacate the property.

You need to speak to a solicitor to get the wheels in motion to have him removed. My situation was different in that he moved in after the passing of my mum (basically to try and claim the house for himself) so it was pretty straightforward to get him removed. If your sibling has lived in it for many years before your fathers passing, there may be more of a claim to it. Other poster is right though about rent payments. Solicitor is your best bet and the sooner the better

The executor needs to engage solicitor to execute the will . My mum had similar ,cost about 15000 in solicitors fees out of the estate . Luckily my 'uncle' agreed to move out if he wants to contest the will he will ha e to seek his own legal.asvice which will cost him money . The best you can hope is a solicitors letter will move him and he cuts his losses rather than spend a fortune contestunh it

Thanks for writing…..15 thousand??!! Jeez! What a waste of someone’s hard work …I can see the same happening here

I don't have any answers but I am watching with interest as I am in a similar situation.

@rikesaysfrom what you've described it's very likely that your brother always intended this course of action. He seems to be taking the position that if he stays put and doesn't engage with any communication that gives him the right of possession.
Who is providing the legal advice on the action needed? Your DB can demonstrate long term dependence on your DF but would 1/3 of the estate have represented reasonable provision for him?
It's very odd that the court appointed executor has not pursued a legal route in 2+ years, and yes, the costs will be racking up. They will be deducted from the estate before it is distributed, so again your DB will only incur 1/3 of those costs in real terms. A pretty good trade for years of rent free living.
As a lay person I'd see this being at the stage of TOLATA to get this resolved. Perhaps put this to the executor?

That' sounds as though he could argue he was financially dependent on your dad
It is all very complicated and presumably the executor are consulting with lawyers?

He might have been able to argue that the will has not made adequate financial provision for him. However, it is far too late for him to make such a claim. Even if he was in time it is unlikely he would succeed given that he is able to provide for himself but chose not to and the estate is being shared equally with his siblings. Even if he succeeded, at most it would give him a bigger slice of the estate. It would not change the fact that he needs to vacate the house so that it can be sold.

I can't understand why the executor has allowed this to drag on for two years without taking any action. I've had experience of situation's like this, and I'm afraid that the only way to resolve them is to put aside any feelings of sympathy and get the lazy executor to issue possession proceedings without further delay.

Point out that the delay is costing you and the other beneficiaries money, and that if the executor continues to drag their feet you will be seeking recompense from them.

You should contact the executor (I presume it is a professional and not a friend or family member) and ask for regular updates, basically make it more difficult to deal with you than to deal with him.

Coming at it from another angle, given that DB has assets from other inheritances, could he buy the property from the other beneficiaries?

The contents of the house need to be shared, in such a way as those who loved your Dad get a few sentimental pieces plus a fair share of any valuable items.

I’ve come to this thread very late but am attaching a link regarding a similar dispute between siblings.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/insight/son-loses-inheritance-bid-and-faces-265k-court-bill/gm-GM4CB8CDBF?gemSnapshotKey=GM4CB8CDBF-snapshot-1&uxmode=ruby

I've never heard of that Consultant setup, but I'd be wary of using them, as they appear to be a marketing agency for solicitors to sell their services. Consequently, people using the site will be referred to solicitors who have paid Consultant to be on their list rather than a firm that specialises in contentious probate.

By far the best way of finding a solicitor is word of mouth, but if the executor can't find one they should use the Law Society website, which is entirely neutral, and not influenced by advertising - https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

This!

Someone on a thread about squatters referenced an organization that moves people into illegally occupied properties and are not intimidating it rude but just in the way making it unpleasant for the illegal ocupier, leaving hearing on etc to maximize the bills to the illegal occupier. If probate has been granted and the house is owned by all n the siblings they could even do this themselves.