Inheritance advice pls...

Plunk13

Plunk13

Plunk13

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16 Aug 2006
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800
GD advice please,..
Situation: after recent bereavement of parent (both have passed away), my 2 sisters and I will inherit a sum of money and the house. It has been suggested that I move into the house, which I think is a good idea.

Now, lets say that the accounts/savings add up to 80K. The house is 180K.
I have my own house which is valued around 120K, with 70k left on the mortgage.

How do I go about ensuring that the value of the estate is shared relatively equally? I was thinking that my sisters could split the savings between them [40K each], and I would sell my home, give them the difference between the ideal split [180+80 / 3 = 86K] and the savings, so 40K ~ish.

Is that possible?
 
Sell your house and then buy out your sisters' equity in your parent's house by taking on a new mortgage.

Seek proper legal advise though! Also make sure your sisters are 100% behind the plan before hand, and that you all agree on the value of the property.
 
I would ensure that the selling fees of your house are shared 3 ways as you would only have to do the same for the sale of your parents house. I would also take the lowest valuation on your parents house and make it clear it would be on a quick sale basis.
 
What does the will say?
Who's the trustees / executors, (they will be granted probate to 'dispose' of the estate as stipulated in the will)?


As part of probate by the executors, a proper RICS open market value survey needs to be done, plus valuations for furniture jewellery tv's household goods etc. Debts. pensions, household bills also come into the equation.
IHT205 and PA2

'How do I go about ensuring that the value of the estate is shared relatively equally? '
see above points


If there is no will you and your 2 sisters would have to apply for probate.
 
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Just out of curiosity, is there any reason in particular why they think you should have the house?

Sound advice on the thread thus far. My advice: move into parents house, take out mortgage to pay sisters, change mortgage on your old house to buy to let, rent out old house, become fat cat property investor, profit! :)
 
Plunk13 said:
How do I go about ensuring that the value of the estate is shared relatively equally? I was thinking that my sisters could split the savings between them [40K each], and I would sell my home, give them the difference between the ideal split [180+80 / 3 = 86K] and the savings, so 40K ~ish.

Is that possible?
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yup... just make sure you get a fair valuation on the house (that everyone agrees with)

So long as you're all happy with the value then you're still just splitting it 3 ways and saving extra hassle with having to sell that house(albeit you've got some hassle in having to sell yours). Plus you don't then have the immediate faff of having to deal with all the belongings/sentimental stuff quickly before the house gets sold to a random person.

you'd maybe need a mortgage on the parent's house to pay off your sisters though... 46.6k each, unless you've got savings to pay the difference with as you've currently got 50k equity in your house but need to find 93k or so total to pay them... so a 43k shortfall
 
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Thanks for replies.
The will named an aunt and uncle as executors, but we have agreed that they renounce and let us sort out the management of the estate. Everything has been left to me and my sisters. I think I'll be the one applying for probate since I'm closest to mum's home - one sister is in Australia, the other is 180miles away. So that's another reason why they suggested I move in to the house. It's probably twice the size of my house, has a garage, driveway, more wardrobe space for other half...etc.
So I'm getting a valuation done on the house, then sort out tax form and probate form.
I guess talking to an expert is the best course of action as I don't quite understand the process of releasing equity.
 
Hasn't been categorically stated yet but just be very careful. Money makes people do very very strange things. I've met a few people who have been left out of pocket to the tunes of tens of thousands of pounds because of it.

If you can keep it fair and amicable its in everyone's interests though. My Nan and granddad keep asking me what I want from the house. Think the car is going to be mine tbh. But I refuse to engage in conversation other than to ask for a fine china tea set they have.

Me and the Mrs keep sayin we should make a will but never do
 
Me and my sisters had a similar issue. But luckily the house was already up for sale and exchanged contracts just before my father died. On advice we were able to let the sale proceed.

To complete probate, we set up an executors bank account, we were the beneficiaries and the executors of the will. All outstanding bills owed and money in bank accounts went through this account. After a suitable time period, the account was closed and the remaining moneys split three ways.

I suggest that you do the same. The nett. moneys from the house sale (yours) could be paid in together with your parents savings, bills paid out and the remaining balance split.

This could be done in two stages. a larger sum initially, then the remainder on closing the account.
 
Plunk13 said:
[...]So that's another reason why they suggested I move in to the house. It's probably twice the size of my house, has a garage, driveway, more wardrobe space for other half...etc.
[...]
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Sorry for your loss.

I won't throw in any advice about the financial side of things, but think before you decide to move back into the old family home. It's bigger, it might be more convenient, but you are also going to be grieving and being in the same old house without your oldies around - that will take extra strength to deal with than being "remote". Just be aware of it.

Also be careful about your siblings expecting you to do work on the house to improve or make it ready for sale, and you footing all the labour and materials etc. Not saying it'll happen,just keep things fair and tidy between you.

Good luck.
 
Errol said:
ALL parties should have independent legal advice.
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Only if you think that you are going to be done down by your siblings. Having three sets of solicitors providing a legal oversight could be expensive.

The executors account is the best way we found to ensure fairness as any monies in or out are recorded, list all the searches for accounts and outgoings on a common spreadsheet. Have lots of conversations, distribute all the correspondence to all the parties. Try and organise a get together, awkward if one is in the antipodes I know, but skype a lot anyway.
 
Personally what I'd do, is get legal advice, ensure my family are happy with the decisions being made.

If I could, I'd move into the house, but... even if I were to give the sisters their share of the value, it would feel a little bit off as I'd end up owning a property as a result, despite paying them their share? I don't know.

Either way make sure everyone is kept in the loop as to what is going on!

Actually, nkata's suggestion seems the fairest way forward.
 
Personally this is what I'd try and do assuming it's viable.... note get legal stuff checked into first too :)

1) Move into parents house as you say it's bigger etc - check extra costs like council tax though as it might cost more to live there too

2) working with the 80k figure mentioned and 180k house, you'd get 26.66k and 60k worth of house each. So I'd give the 26.6k to the two sisters equally leaving their share of the house at 46.66k

3) I'd then pay off the rest via a mortgage/rental agreement with sisters to get complete ownership of it.

3) The old house would be rented out to finish off mortgage for later income/pension etc. Don't forget to check out rental values etc to ensure it's viable

4) Now this bit might depend on your financial arrangements and this might seem harsh but I'd also look into getting a binding contract with the other half whereby that if a separation does occur and assets need to be split that the parents house is yours and that the old house is the only house that can be split between you or is the other halfs 'share' of properties. Hopefully that makes sense.

Please note I'd expect the same to be done to me by the other half in regards to their parents home if it was being moved into or rented out etc. Now it might seem weird but it ensures you have a home if there is a separation. I also have this thing about 'parent's stuff belonging to their children not their childrens partners'.
 
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