My dads inheritance

[Babbyjones]

My dad has recently died and I am going through probate, in the will I am the beneficiary of his property
My dad left an undated and unsigned letter of wishes his partner can live in his house till she dies, however she already owns another property that her sons lives in rent free.
She has already benefited from his money in his joint account and been left a portion of his pension (around 40,000)
I want to sell his house, what am I entitled to do??

Yes inheritance tax to pay on his estate

Has there been any developments op

Thanks good advice

Over 20 years

Did your Dad tell you what he wanted to happen?

I got left everything in a will but told verbally just prior to death of a change - £170k to another relative. I honoured that request in full.

If you e got a key just enter the property, preferably when she isn't there

I have a very similiar situation waiting to happen. I am fairly certain the individual
won’t draw up the required legal document. A clusterfuck for sure!

@Babbyjones I’m sorry for your loss.

Id be around right away getting grandads hat!

If the Will does not give the right to remain in the property then she has no right to remain. If you are the executor then you should seek legal advice on how to remove her from the property,

However she has a potential claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The usual time limit to make such a claim is within six months of the date of the Grant of Probate. The court can allow claims out of time but this would usually be at the discretion of the court.

@Babbyjones - Are you the executor? Are you the only beneficiary of the Will?

You are spot on
i will have probate soon and then will wait 6 months and 1 day before I make any moves to remove
however in that time she may sell her other property thinking that she will live there till she dies as obviously I’m not going to tell her earlier otherwise she may contest before the 6 months and 1 day

If the letter is undated and unsigned I wouldn't imagine it is legally binding. Just consult a solicitor.

How heartless you all are. This woman has just lost her partner of 20 years and you’re encouraging the OP to kick her out of her home asap. There’s obviously bad feelings between them, but it is possible to go through this process with a modicum of compassion.

Give 6 months notice and state you need to sell to pay the inheritance taxes, also state that the property is left to you in the will with no rights to her however you will not be taking possession until x date to allow her time to make arrangements to move into her house. It's a bit cold hearted I admit but it's as per his will

If the letter is undated and unsigned then I would be doubting whether your dad ever intended it to be taken seriously. If he really wanted to give those rights to somebody, then dating and signing is really the least he could do (and also surely most people sign letters automatically, once they've written them?!). Your dad was savvy enough to make a legal will; it's pretty unlikely he thought that a random unsigned letter had legal value. This sounds more like it was written to shut her up at some point.

That's if it was actually your dad who wrote the letter in the first place...

People are saying give 6 months notice but if this ^ is the way you want to play it, I wouldn't say anything at all about notice until the 6 months have passed. 6 months is such a long amount of time she will probably get suspicious and may seek legal advice, and a solicitor will know immediately why you've chosen 6 months specifically.

I know you said you'll wait 6 months and 1 day before making any moves to remove, but I would wait until that point before giving her notice and don't show your hand at all before then. Let her assume she can just live there and pretend you're fine with it via silence.

Have dealt with many probate issues professionally, My strong advice is get the help of a good solicitor.

Unless there is an instrument in the will (ie an immediate post death interest trust) or the letter is an officially signed and witnessed codicil then it legally probably has no standing.

But proceeding with good counsel is essential to avoid a contest to the will etc., if there is IHT to pay you can enter into an agreement with HMRC to make a down payment and settle the balance when the property is sold, I find them quite flexible on this so long as they are kept informed and a payment on account is made.

@HeddaGarbled Mosf people, having kept their own house, and hopefully knowing what was in the will, would talk to the OP about arrangements. Not allowing the OP her inheritance is also unkind.