Signing over house - Dementia

[mamabird201313]

Long story short, FIL was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. He & MIL moved into a static caravan on their land and let BIL move into their house. They refused to sign house over to him because he's notoriously bad with debt, been bankrupt before, has addiction issues. They said the house will become his when they both died.

FIL died 12 months ago. MIL was still living in the static caravan, BIL still in the house.

Fast forward to yesterday and BIL took his own life. We've found out today that FIL signed the house over to BIL in 2020 (2 years after being diagnosed with dementia. MIL had no idea) If I'm being honest, BIL was a selfish, dodgy person and probably coerced FIL into doing this secretly.

The worry is now that BIL's 2 children will inherit the house (there was no will) and MIL is now going to be left with nothing and homeless.

Is there anything MIL can do? Will it stand up in court if she fights this because FIL had dementia at the time of signing everything over?

OP you need proper legal advice. This is not one for mumsnet.

Sorry, should have added that they're going to see a solicitor tomorrow. It's just that MIL is in bits tonight and wanted to put her mind at rest that she might have a leg to stand on

On the face of it, yes absolutely she has a leg to stand on.

But as a PP said, you'll get much fuller and more accurate advice during a face to face meeting with a solicitor who can have the full facts, paperwork, medical records, etc in front of them.

My question would be how he managed to sign a house over transfers of property are usually overseen by legal professionals especially full equity. Assume you have checked the deeds at time of transfer. If FIL owned the house and MIL was married surely the house would have been joint owned prior to the transfer to BIL. Yes legal advice is good idea.

I’m not a lawyer but was MIL ever on the deeds of the house, can you check back?

What evidence have you found that the house was handed over to bil

No it was always only in FIL's name AFAIK. I don't know all the details, it's actually all my ex's family so I don't know all the ins and outs. I'm only invested because I have a DS and even though his dad is my ex we are still amicable and I hate the thought of ex MIL being screwed over. And equally know it'll break her to know she won't ever be able to leave anything to my DS when her other 2 grandchildren will get everything

You can have dementia and be perfectly able to make decisions. It depends where she is along the process and if there was any need for a doctor to clarify the situation. It depends what was known and what steps were taken to check her capacity. If the doctors said there was no need for an assessment this should have been documented somewhere even if on the patient's file.

I would have expected a discussion with the solicitor about the family and why someone was being excluded. The solicitor would have needed to check with all parties on the deeds or married and ensured the MIL signed and agreed any transfer. You need a copy of any transfer and see what checks were made by the solicitor. I can not imagine a solicitor not ensuring the MIL was involved in the decision as a spouse? There would also be the issue of bills and who was paying what and who has been responsible for paying MILs bills etc for the past year and what should have been queried about council tax, who sorted the FILS estate and who owned what and what was known or should have been quired then rather than now. I would certainly be asking questions about the process and who sorted what and what checks were made at the time by the solicitor.

@MissMoneyFairy they've seen the title deeds from the land registry which show it was transferred into BIL's name in 2020

@cabbageking tbf there might be more to it, it's my ex's parents and family (I'm only invested because I have a DS and me and my ex are on good terms so he's told me all of this)

It might not be as straight forward as I've said in my OP, and they're going to see a solicitor tomorrow so I'm sure they'll find out more then