Need help with right to property and sale

releverant

Hi All,

Help really needed, dont know where to go and cant afford legal advise just yet.

I am 62 years old, my mother married my father 63 years ago and he died when I was 5, I never remember any talking or anything ever about dad making a will and never really minded as mam was living in the house and assumed it was hers,

My mother later remarried and had 2 other children, no all these years later my half sister is now getting my mum to sell land and now the house, my sister sold and took the money for 3 sites around the home already, my mother having signed the house to her.

My sister has now told me and wrote a letter saying I was to stay away from my mothers house and not welcome, she has taken over the phone line and installed an intercom system which she can hear what everyone who visits mums is saying,

My query, if my dad died without a will and me being the only child of the marriage, surely myself and my mum own the house, her two thirds, me, one third??????

Then my sister only has a right to two thirds of the house which mum signed to her,

Arent I still entitled to one third?

Please help?

blueythebear

releverant wrote: »

Hi All,

Help really needed, dont know where to go and cant afford legal advise just yet.

I am 62 years old, my mother married my father 63 years ago and he died when I was 5, I never remember any talking or anything ever about dad making a will and never really minded as mam was living in the house and assumed it was hers,

My mother later remarried and had 2 other children, no all these years later my half sister is now getting my mum to sell land and now the house, my sister sold and took the money for 3 sites around the home already, my mother having signed the house to her.

My sister has now told me and wrote a letter saying I was to stay away from my mothers house and not welcome, she has taken over the phone line and installed an intercom system which she can hear what everyone who visits mums is saying,

My query, if my dad died without a will and me being the only child of the marriage, surely myself and my mum own the house, her two thirds, me, one third??????

Then my sister only has a right to two thirds of the house which mum signed to her,

Arent I still entitled to one third?

Please help?

Unfortunately it would appear that any possiblity you had to assert ownership expired many years ago. However, this is not legal advice as I don't know all the facts. If your father made a will, leaving you a share in the house, then this would be relevant, but you have no right to a legal right share as a child where a will has been made and you have not been given anything in the will.

You are correct to say that you are entitled to a third if there was no will and if your father died after the commencement of the Succession Act 1965. He died before this (1954?) and I do not know the rules on succession at that time.

I know you can't afford it but you really need to see a solicitor to get fully comprehensive advice. At first glance, I would suggest that you have delayed on this matter for too long and can't do anything about it in terms of asserting your own rights stemming from any will your father may have made.

However, it may be open to you to attempt to have the voluntary transfers to your sister rescinded on account of undue influence. However, you would definitely need to investigate this with the assistance of a solicitor.

releverant

blueythebear wrote: »

However, it may be open to you to attempt to have the voluntary transfers to your sister rescinded on account of undue influence. However, you would definitely need to investigate this with the assistance of a solicitor.

Thanks, this has given me a starting point to make enquiries....

littlemac1980

As the previous poster suggested, get proper legal advice ASAP!!!

You did not post the date your Mother apparently transferred the house to your Sister, so there may be a possibility that you are not out of time considering you had been living in the house yourself it seems. Though without all the facts its difficult to speculate.

Get legal advice ASAP!!

releverant

Thanks,

I was unaware of the transfer until last week when I was told my homeplace was for sale and when I made enquiries I was told the house was now in my sisters name and she had it for sale,

It is supposed to have been signed to her some years ago

littlemac1980

Well in my opinion there appears to be a possibility that you still have a cliam over the house. However, there is no way to tell for sure without access to all the information, which you certainly don't have.

There would be quite a bit of work involved, and the solicitor you retain will have to get copies of various files and documents from many sources, some of which may not be very cooperative.

If you were to have a claim, it could take many months or even years to sort out. There would likely be considerable expense involved if you need to bring a claim through the courts, but in the long run if you do nothing you may potentially lose a lot more.

There are very strict time limits which prevent a person claiming a right over land once a certain period of time has elapsed. From what you have described it is not possible to be sure if that time limit has elapsed or not. A solicitor will be able to determine that issue for you reasonably quickly, but as pointed out they may themselves be at the mercy or certain sources providing the required information to them and this will inevitably further delay matters. For this reason you should get the advice you require ASAP, any further delay now on your part may prove fatal to a potential claim.

blueythebear

littlemac1980 wrote: »

Well in my opinion there appears to be a possibility that you still have a cliam over the house. However, there is no way to tell for sure without access to all the information, which you certainly don't have.

There would be quite a bit of work involved, and the solicitor you retain will have to get copies of various files and documents from many sources, some of which may not be very cooperative.

If you were to have a claim, it could take many months or even years to sort out. There would likely be considerable expense involved if you need to bring a claim through the courts, but in the long run if you do nothing you may potentially lose a lot more.

There are very strict time limits which prevent a person claiming a right over land once a certain period of time has elapsed. From what you have described it is not possible to be sure if that time limit has elapsed or not. A solicitor will be able to determine that issue for you reasonably quickly, but as pointed out they may themselves be at the mercy or certain sources providing the required information to them and this will inevitably further delay matters. For this reason you should get the advice you require ASAP, any further delay now on your part may prove fatal to a potential claim.

With a delay in excess of 50 years, I can't see any set of circumstances allowing the OP to assert any rights in relation to his father's estate?

The only way I can see him asserting any ownership of the family land/home is via his mother's estate when she eventtually passes.

littlemac1980

Of course not, but that's not the issue.

It isn't clear whether or not he had become a joint owner of the property by virtue of the rules for distribution on intestacy, and if so, which it is at least arguable he did, when he was effectively dispossessed of the property, for the purposes of the Statute of Limitations.

Tom Young

Original Poster - Please contact FLAC - Free Legal Advice Centre.