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Original poster

Inheritance - maybe

10 replies

Poptasmagorical · 29/03/2022 18:38

Does anyone have any advice on this situation, please:

I have two brothers and our Mum is terminally ill. She's in the process of updating her will as unfortunately we lost dad a year ago.

Conversations about her house have changed recently as I have separated from my husband and am renting a house, whereas we could move in to hers. Previously Mum had wanted us to sell it and split the money. In reality it would have to go to auction and probably wouldn't fetch much because it needs a fair amount of work.

I know one brother is keen for me to live there, I don't know about the other as we haven't actually spoken about it together as a family yet but I do think he'd be on board.

Does anyone know how we could make it work in a fair way?

For context, since my ex left at the end of Jan I've had to go on UC so don't know what the situation would be with me being able to get a mortgage. My brother had mentioned some way of me paying a 'rent' type amount to them but I can't see how that would work.

Any ideas welcome.

OP posts:
iseeyou1234 · 29/03/2022 18:44

Why would paying them rent “not work”?
I understand your circumstances as you outlined them but I’m not sure if your brothers should forfeit their share of the inheritance and get nothing in return.

Lastqueenofscotland · 29/03/2022 18:47

OP I’m sorry to hear about your mum.
I’d be realistic about costs, are you working? If not you aren’t getting a mortgage. If you are you can borrow as a VERY rough guide 4x what you earn.
How much is the property worth, would it be subject to inheritance tax?
The property market is very buoyant at the moment and as long as it was connected to services would likely still sell well.
Selling and splitting the proceeds sounds like a good option especially if you’re a bit tight for money and may struggle to afford to renovate? Id also not want to soend all my money renovating a property jointly owned by three people for someone to turn round and be a dick and the proceeds of my hard work get split.

BlanketsBanned · 29/03/2022 18:50

Can you afford to have the improvements done if you did move there, the only fair thing is sell it and split the proceeds 3 ways, its not going to be your inheritance but also your childrens so your brothers will miss out. is mum likely to have to pay anything towards her future care.

TabithaHazel · 29/03/2022 18:53

That's so tricky as if your mum leaves the house solely to you that is deeply unfair, and if she leaves it to all of you and you have an agreement with your brothers that you can live there and one of the brothers falls on hard times and needs the money you will then end up homeless. Probably the best thing to do would be spruce it up as much as you can then sell it and split the proceeds. Sorry your mum is terminally I hope you can still have some happy times with her while she is still around.

Candleabra · 29/03/2022 18:55

You need a valuation of the house, then take it from there.

Options are:

you live there, pay rent to your brothers, house remains jointly owned by all 3

You keep it (all three) and rent to a tenant

You buy out your two brothers’ share and then you own the property (and live there)

One (or both) brothers buy you out, and they own the property

You sell, and split the proceeds 3 ways

Whatever you decide, all three of you need to be in agreement

Isonthecase · 29/03/2022 19:35

The other option is you live there for a period of time and do renovations in lieu of rent. If say you would have paid £10k rent and can add £15k value with your labour then it's even stevens for your brothers.

Tinkywinkydinkydoo · 29/03/2022 19:38

I think you may also need to check if unfortunately your Mum passes while you are divorcing, would it be considered an asset so your ex could claim something? I’m not saying he can as I’m not a solicitor but it would be something you need to check.

Laptopsandmouses · 29/03/2022 19:45

You need to own it three ways and then you pay market value rent minus your third.

It’s very complex to do though , like who is responsible for repairs, what about damage, what about anything improved, what about if one wants to sell, and I’m assuming you can’t afford to buy them out.

I think it needs to be sold. You would literally be holding their inheritance from them. Also if you can’t just phone your other brother and ask him then it indicates an issue there.

Laptopsandmouses · 29/03/2022 19:46

@Tinkywinkydinkydoo

I think you may also need to check if unfortunately your Mum passes while you are divorcing, would it be considered an asset so your ex could claim something? I’m not saying he can as I’m not a solicitor but it would be something you need to check.
No inheritance is normally excluded.
Original poster
Poptasmagorical · 30/03/2022 18:30

@Laptopsandmouses

You need to own it three ways and then you pay market value rent minus your third.

It’s very complex to do though , like who is responsible for repairs, what about damage, what about anything improved, what about if one wants to sell, and I’m assuming you can’t afford to buy them out.

I think it needs to be sold. You would literally be holding their inheritance from them. Also if you can’t just phone your other brother and ask him then it indicates an issue there.

There isn't an issue with talking to my brother, it just hasn't happened yet. At the moment I guess I'm mulling over what could feasibly work before I even think about doing anything.

I guess what bothers me about paying my brothers rent is that to UC it would probably look like a pisstake of a scam?

There's no way I would ever do my brothers out of their share. I can see how there could be complications down the line if we owned a third each and I was living there, though.

I'm not currently working. I have two young kids, had to drop out of uni because of the practicalities of my husband leaving, and am now on UC.

What I wondered was whether if she left it to me (on paper) I'd be able to remortgage it to pay my brothers out? But I guess that would be the same as trying to get a mortgage in the first place and wouldn't work?

This is all just a thought experiment at the moment, really.

The average house price on the street is about £110k and Mum's needs rewiring, new kitchen and bathroom, asbestos garage ripping down, shoddy lean-to sorting, and then general new carpet type things. It's the sort of thing that would go to a landlord at auction.

At the moment I only have £5k which I think would possibly cover the wiring. The kitchen and bathroom are things that could wait if necessary.

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