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Original poster

my sneaky brother and his wife

68 replies

milopink · 25/04/2014 16:09

Hi all just looking for an opionion on this problem we seem to have as siblings. Our mother passed away 20 yrs ago now were all maried with family's and houses of our own. We have only last month found out that our father sold the family home to brother and his wife for less than half of what it is worth, now this all happened 4 yrs ago and we only found out so we are all fuming as to what has happened. They have been very sneaky we think as the house was never advertised on it open market it seems like a plan they all had between them.does anyone have an opion please as were all fuming.

OP posts:
Roshbegosh · 25/04/2014 16:13

If the house belonged to your father he could sell it for what he wished to anyone he chose. Your DB would have to pay tax if such a large proportion of the house was gifted to him though, but that would be hard to prove and you would all fall out if you reported him to hmrc.

ajandjjmum · 25/04/2014 16:13

Stupid of your brother and father to do this without discussing it with the family, but maybe your father needed extra money to live.

In all fairness, your father might live for years, so your brother's money is tied up in an investment he can't access. Assuming of course that your father still lives in the house?

Original poster
milopink · 25/04/2014 16:20

Thanks for your help, no it was never discussed with the rest of the family and no my father does not live there anymore as long story short hes moved in with our late mothers sister.

OP posts:
Jumblebee · 25/04/2014 16:24

Well if it is your father's house it's his to do whatever he wants to do. I know that sounds harsh, but maybe your brother and his wife are going through financial issues that you don't know of and your dad letting them buy the house for below market value was his way of offering a helping hand?

Original poster
milopink · 25/04/2014 16:31

They paid cash for the house so no there not stuck for money.

OP posts:
defineme · 25/04/2014 16:35

I'm sorry, I can see how it seems unfair, but it's entirely up to your dad what he does with anything belonging to him.

Floggingmolly · 25/04/2014 16:41

It wasn't your inheritance as your father is still alive. He was entitled to use his assets for his own benefit rather than preserving it for those who outlive him.
Would you have been in a position to buy it yourself if he'd allowed you all a fair chance? If you would, I can see why you might feel hard done by.

sebsmummy1 · 25/04/2014 16:47

What is your relationship like with your father and your brother?

I can see why you feel upset and probably betrayed, particularly since they did this without any discussion. It's a difficult one as we are not entitled to an inheritance but one would normally assume that parents would want to be fair to all their children and not use an asset to benefit just one.

Original poster
milopink · 25/04/2014 16:48

Oh of course its up to him what he does with his property but they have there own house also, there are 5 sibling's and only he was offered the house . If the rest of us had been told what he was planning on doing then we would have all bought it together for market value it looks like hes just handed our brother thousands in profit from the start and its wrong on so many levels they have been sneaky all of them.

OP posts:
Original poster
milopink · 25/04/2014 17:15

Oh and thanks so much for all your replys.

OP posts:
CogitoErgoSometimes · 26/04/2014 10:36

I think you'd benefit from a session with a solicitor or even an accountant. Yes it is his home to be disposed of as he sees fit but, at the same time, by deliberately undervaluing the property he may have fallen foul of a few rules. I seem to remember that flogging property to family for well below the market rate can have implications on taxation, including inheritance tax if he died within a prescribed period.

Scrounger · 26/04/2014 10:37

How is your relationship with your brother and father and do they know that the other siblings have found out? Yes your father can do as he wishes with his property but unless there are any reasons such as hardship, genuine worries about your brother's future etc I think it is really unfair and divisive between siblings.

I think that as it was done so quietly shows that they know it isn't fair. I'm not sure what you can do about it but I think that I would have difficulty having a good relationship with either of them going forward. I would be upset too.

LIZS · 26/04/2014 10:43

Is there any possibility that your brother took advantage and has tried to convince your df that it is good way of avoiding IHT, potential care home funding, release equity etc. Has he relinquished all interest in it ? If DF has the benefit of the capital now and lives "rent free" with few overheads maybe he will make provision for the other 4 of you in another way.

Original poster
milopink · 26/04/2014 15:48

Wow your replies are all so welcome so thankyou all. No they do not know that we all know my df just mentioned it to one of my ds that db and his wife had bought the house just a year ago for a certain price but it was a lie, as we were able to check it ourselves on the internet. They actually bought it in 2010 for much less than he claimed he did, us remaining sibling have said between us that if we have to go down the road of seeing a solicitor then we will as they have done wrong to us it was our late mothers house as well and were all her children too were all sick that they have been so dishonest.

OP posts:
ItStillLooksLikeRainDear · 26/04/2014 16:09

Could they have paid the price your father quoted but given him the rest as cash, rather than it declare it?

supadupapupascupa · 26/04/2014 16:12

when you say you know what was paid for it...how? my house on certain websites is showing the mortgage value and does not include the large deposit put down on it...just wondering

supadupapupascupa · 26/04/2014 16:13

could it be that your brother loaned your father some money in the past and this was 'knocked off' the asking price as a repayment?

LyndaCartersBigPants · 26/04/2014 16:17

Did your DM have a will and leave it to your dad? When my dad died without a will (presuming everything would go directly to my mum) it turned out that actually his half of the house should go to us kids. We had to sign something basically declaring that our mum could stay in 'our half' of the house until she died, at which point her half also came to us.

It's all very complicated. I'm sure there was lots of complicated paperwork when your DM died, but if your sibling was an executor they could easily have sorted something out between them all.

Original poster
milopink · 26/04/2014 16:54

Well we were able to check the details as its on a well known website for all to see its details the date of sale and the Price so that is how we all know.we were all very young when dm died well late teens early twenties, it was a council house but df got a life insurance payout and he then bought it. No db is not e executor or anything like that if anything db and his wife caused lots of trouble for all of us between our father they took over his whole life and we never got a lookin the last few years as they kind of pushed us all out.

OP posts:
supadupapupascupa · 26/04/2014 17:09

if you tell us the site i will check my house too. i'm sure mine was incorrect on the i checked

Original poster
milopink · 26/04/2014 17:15

Its rightmove.uk.

OP posts:
supadupapupascupa · 26/04/2014 17:41

gah out of time range........

LIZS · 26/04/2014 17:47

try nethouseprices

supadupapupascupa · 26/04/2014 18:00

hmm doesn't appear at all on there!

Floggingmolly · 26/04/2014 18:03

Zoopla give a history of the purchase prices, it's searchable by area.