Any advice on ownership rights appreciated.

My mam and dad (in their 60's) are living in my mams childhood home. My mam took care of both her parents and her brother until they died and continued to live there. All my mams siblings signed their share of the house(1/6th each) over to my mam as a gift about 8 years ago. Only 1 sister didn't, she died a good few years ago but that sisters family still own 1/6.
The advice I need is (a)if my mam can have the 5/6ths of the house in her name. (b)Can the family force her to sell the house to get their share as my mam and dad have no means of raising that kind of money. (c) do the letters of the gifts still stand.
Thanks for any advice on this matter.

There are some fairly complex issues here.

When did your grandparents die? In relation to your uncle when did he die?Was there an understanding that your mother would inherit the house as she was their carer( ie an understanding between your mother and her parents/brother)? Would your other uncles/aunts back that up?

How long has your mother been living in the house now?

Are any of your deceased aunts children minors ( under 18)?

In relation to the documents that your uncles and aunts signed- who drafted them? Was it a solicitor?

When did your grandparents die?

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Grandmother died 20 years ago,
Grandfather 17 years ago.
Uncle 15 years ago.

Was there an understanding that your mother would inherit the house as she was their carer( ie an understanding between your mother and her parents/brother)?

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It was never discussed. She was the only one willing to look after them so she just did it. All other aunts felt that she deserved to have the house after everything she did. She gave up a council house to move in and look after them.

How long has your mother been living in the house now?

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approx 15 years.

Are any of your deceased aunts children minors ( under 18)?

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no her husband is still alive.

In relation to the documents that your uncles and aunts signed- who drafted them? Was it a solicitor?

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The solicitor asked them to write letters stating that they give their share to my mam. So they wrote and signed and sent them to the solicitor.


My mam doesn't have a clue where to go from here and says the solicitor frightens her by saying she might lose her house. That's why she has done nothing in 13 years. He also (solicitor) has a couple of thousand pounds belong to her from back then. I have rang the solicitor to talk about this a few times and am always told by the secretary that he will look over the case and get back to me but he never does.
Ideally she would like the 5/6ths of the house in her name and then if the house is ever sold they could have their 1/6th of the proceeds.
Thanks again for the reply, hope that is more helpful.
Losing faith in the solicitor.

It is unfortunate that there is poor communication with your mother's solicitor. However, this is a case where possession is nine tenths of the law. Have the family who "own" the one-sixth interest ever claimed it? Have they ever formally or informally said that they will allow your parents to live in the house, but will not abandon their ownership claim? Or is it (as is common) one of these things which simply hasn't been discussed?

When one child stays on in the family home after others leave, it can often be the case that the child staying on would be deemed to acquire a "squatters title" as against the rest of the family. If, on the facts. your mother can show this, she could just apply to the Land Registry to be registered as owner. This would cause a notice to be served on all the other potential claimants, and if none disputed your mother's entitlement, she would be duly registered as owner.

The foregoing application would costs perhaps up to €2,000 in legal fees and outlays. I don't like to encourage expenditure. I think that if nobody has ever done anything to press their claim for the outstanding one-sixth interest in the house, then your mother's case is only getting better as time passes, so perhaps your mother's best option might be to keep the head down. However, it would be important that she take detailed legal advice - these cases do depend on individual facts.

Incidentally, are we talking about a city house? This type of thing is historically far more common in rural areas and on agricultural property(where one child stays behind on a farm). Rural solicitors would (in my opinion) be more likely to have experience of this sort of situation, though it isn't really a terribly complex area of law.

As someone who has a great deal of experience in these types of scenarios, my opinion would contradict that of MOBs, in that I do feel that this IS a fairly complex area. A great deal of work and research goes into a successful s.49 application and it is important to identify all of the issues involved and all of the potential rights or possible applications of the various family members.

In relation to your initial questions, the answers are a.Yes, quite possibly, and if your aunts would now be willing to sign a deed of family arrangement or a consent to a s.49 application, depending on the situation, that becomes a certainty. In this regard, has your mother ever approached the remaining aunts husband/family in relation to the possibility that they might also be agreeable to her becoming the full owner of the property? In this regard, it is important that you would take legal advice before any such approach in case such said approach would inadvertently confer ownership rights that they do not now possess. b. Although this is possible, it would take a costly court application to do so and your mother may well have a very good defence to any such application- i.e. that she is the rightful owner of the entire property. c.Possibly, the problem with such letters is that if they have changed their mind in the meantime, they may for example, claim that they did not have the benefit of independant legal advice before signing etc etc Also if they consist only of a letter, while it would be relevant and important in the context of a s.49 application, it would not be the same thing as an actual transfer of any rights they have, if any, and in that regard, a signed deed of family arrangement would have been better, or would now be better. Such deeds would also have to be couched carefully, again so as not to inadvertentlyconfer rights of ownership that may not apply.

Thanks so much. That has given me a bit to think about. Still don't really know where to go from here but I have an appointment with a solicitor in a couple of days.

Thanks again.

Hi
I hope someone can help
I have a married friend who put Irl25000 of her own money as a deposit on a site
Took a loan out with her husband for the balance & both names are on the deeds.
She has paid this loan by herself every week, as the husband is totally unreliable, had disappeared on numerous occassions. Has never paid up
what was due neither for the Land, house they live in, or his children.

They have been seperated ( not legally) for some time and now she just wants shut of him.
Does he still have a legal entitlement to this land
even though she paid for it initially
she has maintained the loan all this time and can prove this
Or does the feckless git have a stake in the property still!
They have 2 children so surely they would be entitled to some of this share
Like I say she just wants shut of him so the easiest way around would be great
Do you have any knowledge of this?

"& both names are on the deeds."

Both own. In the event of a separation/divorce she could apply for a larger share of the property.

"Or does the feckless git have a stake in the property still!"

Yes.

They have 2 children so surely they would be entitled to some of this share

No.

mf

Thanks for being so quick getting back
Can't believe she has to put up with this!