Trouble with step mother

[Lawcruncher]

So was this "agreement" in writing? If it was, what did it say?

[Hudson01]

That is the argument we have with her family but all I get is abuse. Thanks again for comments

By implication then if she had children and they moved in with her and she died...... they would expect to stay rent free until they die..... and on we go !!! She is a chancer and her family are egging her on. This will hinge on exactly what is written in the 2003 agreement, if it is not water tight then you may have issues.

When your father in law married was nothing further discussed about how him getting another partner may have changed his early wishes ??? And did all of this go via a solicitor at the time (pre marriage) ???

[jpkeates]

It's very easy to make assumptions about situations like this.
And family is always complicated.

Maybe the father made promises he wasn't in a position to honour (lots of people don't like to discuss plans for post their own death).

It's a strange arrangement either way, so it's possible there wasn't legal advice.

And what the father's plans were when they gifted the property may have changed when they met their new wife.
There's a reason marrying someone invalidates an existing will - people change with new relationships.
They may not have been in a position to change what they intended, but who knows?

[Jul]

The property was a deed of gift from father to son because the father didn’t want the property carried to the new marriage because it was his first wife/ mother of the sons wish the property went to him. The signed agreement through the solicitor just has the father’s name to be able to live in the property rent free but pay bills and maintenance until his death.

[Hudson01]

Then with the above in my humble opinion she will eventually have to leave but its how to get this to happen which will be your next move. I assume you will be seeking out the best solicitor for the forthcoming battle.

[Ted.E.Bear]

my husband was given a property...

... Only air is free she’s got no chance

So, she is getting kicked out of her home during a pandemic and shortly after her husband died...

I'm not surprised that she is not feeling very cooperative.

[Jul]

If the shoe was on the other foot it would be exactly the same. And you don’t know the **** we have had to put up with her and that family. So don’t try and make us feel guilty.

[Lawcruncher]

The signed agreement through the solicitor just has the father’s name to be able to live in the property rent free but pay bills and maintenance until his death.

Fine, but that is not enough detail to be sure the widow has no rights. The wording may be all important.

[Hudson01]

Fine, but that is not enough detail to be sure the widow has no rights. The wording may be all important.

Totally agree, but the father in law made the agreement via a solicitor with this exact situation in mind, by what i can understand he wanted the house to go to his son and not his soon to be wife and her extended family, seems very reasonable and if only others thought about such things in the same way the families of the recently deceased would have far less stress.

I have seen too much in the job i do to comment on a one dimensional view written from one perspective, but i have learnt that where there is a will...... there is a relative, i have dealt with very distressed relatives who have been disinherited by their father/mother re-marrying and NOT thinking about the consequences of such an action, no new will and no new wishes communicated to their natural children. It appears that the OP's father in law did think of this and (in his mind) put things in place to ensure his wishes took place. I suspect the mother in law knew full well what this arrangement was and married him and lived with him with that in mind, but now he has gone ....... all change, pandemic or not this needs to be dealt with now and not in years to come after she has lived in the house for enough time to then complicate the situation even more when it eventually lands in court.

[Jul]

Thank you you have got it spot on my husband didn’t ask for anything his father came to him and said exactly what you have wrote. The new wife knew the situation from day one and so did her family. Yet we are the bad ones for wanting something that was left by my husband late mam that he lost when he was only 28 and now his dad has passed. We are doing what we have to for his parents wishes

[Lawcruncher]

Totally agree, but the father in law made the agreement via a solicitor with this exact situation in mind, by what i can understand he wanted the house to go to his son and not his soon to be wife and her extended family

Agreed, but until we know exactly what the wording is of the relevant document is it is not possible to say what the position is.

[Hudson01]

Jul - I wish you all the best with this, i do not know how long they were married but your father in law clearly knew there could be problems in the future with his soon to be marriage and what could happen if he passed away first...... he was correct. I trust the original solicitor knew all the details of his impending marriage/concerns and should have ensured that the deed was sufficiently robust to mitigate any challenge from the new spouse.

Keep us informed how you go with this, but seek good professional assistance sooner rather than later. This is an all too familiar story to me.

[Jul]

Thanks Hudson x

[flyingfreehold]

I've had a very similar situation, having purchased quite cheaply a flat in a Marylebone mansion block for which the occupier had been granted a life tenancy at a nominal rent (far lower than the service charges) and a lump sum in consideration of him giving up the tenancy of a top floor flat which the freeholders wanted as part of a multi million pound rooftop development.

He passed away having apparently re-married in old age. We were initially advised that the life tenancy did not allow a successor. A good few thousand pounds later my solicitor, having initially advised that possession could be obtained, changed his advice as the old dear had trotted off to the CAB Law Centre who took up her case with great enthusiasm. Our lawyer recommended that we accepted her as successor to the life tenancy at an assured tenant, ie about 2/3rds of of an AST rent which we did. Eventually she too died. Patience!

[Hudson01]

I can see how the above would have occurred but in the OP's case the father in law knew exactly what he wanted to avoid and i can only assume he instructed his solicitor at the time of his wishes, whom then should have drafted the deed with that in mind, it should be air tight on that point.