Squatter's Rights in The Family Home

eebilgenius

I was wondering if anyone could help me with the following dilemma.
Any advice, legal or otherwise, would be greatly appreciated.

My sister has lived in the same home for over 30 years. It was bought for her & her husband by her father-in-law. The house is in her husband's & his brother's name. Her husband did not pay for the house however, nor did he ever pay rent or a mortgage on it.

More than 5 years ago, she & her husband separated & he left her & his two children in the family home. She & the kids are still living there.

The youngest of the girls just turned 18. My sister's husband has approached her & told her & the kids to get out of the house, because it's his & he wants to sell it out from under them. 23rd of December too, what saint of a man.

Is he within his rights to do this? My sister did not divorce him, but they are legally separated. This house has been her only home for over 30 years, can he get away with chucking her out like this without warning? And where do the kids stand?

If he did decide to sell the house would they at least be given fair notice?
Or would they be entitled to some kind of compensation at least?

Any advice or opinions would be very much appreciated. I'd also like to hear from you if you've gone through any similar situation or know someone who has.

Thanks & Happy Christmas!
Tommy

Paulw

Without a doubt, she needs to see a solicitor, and quickly.

My understanding, is that he is well within his rights to give them notice (they are not renting nor paying mortgage), and he is well within his rights to sell the house.

I don't believe that squatters rights, she they are not squatting. They are living there with permission, which is legally very different.

And no, I don't believe she is entitled to any compensation.

But, again, she should consult a solicitor and get proper legal advice.

dollyk

something similar happened my friend, when the youngest turned 18 her ex decided to sell. as it was not considered a family home at that point he was indeed entitled to sell, but she went to court and got half as she had lived there paying all the bills etc for many years. she opted to buy him out for half the then market value. My now daughter in law lived with her ex boyfriend for three years, he had bought the house before he even met her , but when they split he had to remortgage to compensate her for what she had paid in bills as she was working and paying her way, although she never paid the mortgage, she got a fair sum. your sister should seek legal advise, she is entitled to half as far as i know. did she have anything in writing regards the house in her legal separation, if not she should now go for divorce as all the cards are back on the table .

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Ok, not in the know here, just a question:

Does the fact that they are NOT divorced protect her? Would she not be entitled to half his share if he did sell?

dollyk

yes , because they are not divorced, she owns half, regardless of who,s name is on the deeds.

Victor

That would of course probably only amount to half of the half.

She really needs to speak to a solicitor or the likes of FLAC www.flac.ie

antoinolachtnai

She certainly should not move without legal advice. I would say that she should not move without a substantial settlement.

He can't really sell it without a lot of palaver. Although she doesn't own it, she is in possession, and this counts for quite a lot. She really really needs legal advice.

Before going to a solicitor, it would be very wise to figure out the circumstances of the original gift. He will want to know why, if this was some sort of wedding gift, the brother was in for halfs.

The solicitor is going to need to know all about the support arrangements and all the rest of it while the children were growing up.

If this lady is put out of the house, I'd say it will really be up to the husband to make provision for alternative accommodation for her. Her problem is that she has (by the sounds of it) rightly dedicated herself to the raising of the couple's children, rather than to supporting herself.

This could well mean that if the husband has some sort of assets apart from the family home, that they could easily come into play now.

My own feeling is that the brother has done something really stupid here and that he is about to inadvertently hang the husband out to dry. But really, this is complex stuff and needs all the circumstances to be considered by an experienced solicitor.

eebilgenius

Thank all of you for your advice so far. It's great to hear your opinions. She'll be seeing as solicitor asap after Christmas. Hopefully I'll be able to update her situation when I know more.