Sister won’t sell the house, wants €50K extra from my half

As has been pointed out many times the terms of the will are clear and therefore so is the legal situation. However all the legal eagles in the world will not unite this family which will carry on down the generations.

My sympathies are with the sister who gave 18 years to caring without any visible signs of appreciation. Surely the mother should have shown her appreciation in her will if not by agreement in advance. Why would a brother who went away to live his own life in whatever way he chose expect to inherit in the same way as the sister who did not have that choice.

Sorry I have no meaningful advice to offer except to say stay away from the legals and perhaps try mediation as already suggested
 
a lot of assumptions offered here however I know of at least one family who had a similar situation and for an outsider looking in they may favour the live in relative. However my knowledge of the one I know of would not have me being too kind to the live in relative. If the OP has any chance of a reconciling then I would suggest they try take it as money is nice to get but good family friendship is worth more.
 
I just stumbled across this thread today, having read down through it, I would have to ask, how involved in your mother's care were you, I do feel the person who cares for an elderly parent and possibly sacrifices certain things in their own life to do so, would be entitled to a greater portion of the estate. I notice many have mentioned the benefits the sister received by living in the house rent free, but this has also benefited the other party i.e.the brother, in that he didn't have to come day and night to take turns in minding/caring for his parent. Looking after elderly parents should be a shared responsibility and not left to one member of the family. I would strongly urge both to try and negotiate without going down the legal route.
 
The mother, i.e. the person who was the beneficiary of the alleged care, thought so much of it that she left the assets to be split 50:50. I’d be reluctant to agree to deviate from that the more I think about the case.
 
If the mother left her entire estate to the local butcher, it would be a closed case. She chose to leave it 50:50 so that should apply.

The sister who looked after the mother should have fine it out of love. Not because she was going to get an extra 80 grand at the end of it all.
 
mr. grumpy said "That meant that the outstanding nursing home fees for our late mother & legal fees/estate agent fees etc would all come out of my half of the sale proceeds approx 80k."

The actual liability for the nursing home fees is that of the estate. Thereafter, beneficiaries receive their proportion of the net estate.

My 10 cents in relation to Sister Beneficiary ;

She has no authority to seek to rewrite the terms of the will. Classically, a will speaks from the grave......

However, she could try and attack the will under S.117 of the Succession Act 1965. This relates to provision for children. Children in this context is not confined to those under 18.
Link http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1965/act/27/section/117/enacted/en/html#sec117

She could also try and argue - with justification IMHO - that she has created something of an equitable interest in the property by payment of the mortgage and undertaking work that has preserved the asset and it's value.
In this respect alone I think that a judge would have no difficulty in recognising this and making an appropriate adjustment.

A negotiated settlement would be the wisest strategy as I believe that Sister Beneficiary has a stateably fair argument but possibly not to the degree that she thinks.
The legal fees involved in disputing something like this if it went to a hearing would leave you with a limp and achieve perfect equity i.e. everyone equally impoverished and miserable.......
 
Was the mother in need of care for all of the 14 years that the sister was living in the house with her? Or did she just move in when the father died so she could get cheap accommodation?

I find it a bit rich for someone to look for money back on getting the garden done in a house they have effectively been living in rent free.

Also, there can be a gift tax issue if she has been living there rent free for the last 20 years.

But as has been mentioned numerous times, it is a black and white issue, the will must be carried out.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Well now isn't that a great result. Hope you and your sister get a good price and that you both don't let this 'blip' mean that you and she let this affect your relationship going forward. How much did the solicitor's letter cost you? Either way it was very cheap really.
 
I would advise you to sort something out with your sister - point out to her that if you give her the €50k there would be tax implications for her. Strictly speaking she is supposed to respect her mother's wishes and split everything 50/50 but if you go down the legal route it will cost you and if she engages a solictor it will cost her as well. As she looked after your mother and did some work on the garden I would feel she was entitled to more than the 50% so try and negotiate - it will save both of you money and grief in the long run.
 

Have you read the updates before your post??
 
Well folks, alot of time has passed since my original post, but I thought I should post an update with what the end result was. My sister spread alot of nasty & unfair roumours/comments to my old neighbors and friends about me. We settled on 70/30 split which in the end wasn't fair for me but it's all finalised now thankfully. I paid our mams nursing home bill, and other utilities, property tax etc. My sister relocated somewhere close to the family home, where I don't know where specifically and don't want to know. We have not spoken since the solicitors got involved and although I have lost her in my life, I feel great relief that's is all over and done with now. She showed how nasty she can be so I am better off now she's out of me & my families life. I'm not suffering from stress and depression anymore which was really getting me down during the whole process. My close friends and family are what matters now.

Please please make a will and let those that matter in your life know what your wishes are for when you die, it may save alot of unhappyess and stress down the line.
 
mr grumpy said:
Please please make a will and let those that matter in your life know what your wishes are for when you die, it may save alot of unhappyess and stress down the line.
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Are you saying that your mother died intestate?
I can't see in this thread anywhere that you mentioned her having made a will.
Would having a will actually have made any difference here given that, if she died intestate, you and your sister were already entitled to 50% each?
 
So in the end you would have been better off giving her the extra 50k (which is in reality 25k) than having a 70:30 split on a 500k+ house. Plus probably 10's of thousands in legal costs.
 
Towger said:
So in the end you would have been better off giving her the extra 50k (which is in reality 25k) than having a 70:30 split on a 500k+ house. Plus probably 10's of thousands in legal costs.
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Have you factored the likely increase in the value of the house over the past 4 years into that conclusion?
 
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