Wording in will

solataire

Hello, hope someone can help

A friend has been left house contents "as he may select " in will .house is left to another sibling He takes the meaning that it means he takes all contents from house , is this the case ? , further in will it says all the rest and residue of my estate is divided between the oher children .

Jim_Hodge

You need to quote more than "as he may select". The pertinent piece of the sentence is that before your quoted section.

solataire

Thanks for your reply , the wording is ' i give devise and bequeth to my son such of the contents of my dwelling house as he may select

Jim_Hodge

All the contents, should he want them, then.

solataire

Thank you

Peregrinus

He can take none, some or all of the contents, as he wishes. Whatever he doesn't take will form part of the residue of the estate and will go to the two other children.

"Contents of the house" includes the furniture, appliances, household effects, etc, but it doesn't include fixtures and fittings — light fittings, built-in kitchen, bathroom fittings, fitted carpets, that kind of thing. They're part of the house and go to whoever gets the house.

solataire

Thanks for your reply , he hadn't considered that the residue would be divided to the other 2 siblings once he had taken what he wanted , he has already decided to take out all contents even though he doesnt have adequate storage or even want the contents except for some sentimental trinkets and artwork, so I ll show him this and advise him to contact his solicitor if he wants clarity on it , as she would explain things and clear up any confusion.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122194137#Comment_122194137

He can arrange for the contents to go straight to auction, save those he wishes to keep. No need to store them or hand a gift to his siblings.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122194137#Comment_122194137

Sounds like one big happy family. OP's 'friend' is going to exercise his right to empty the house, even though he has no storage space and doesn't want most of the stuff.

Unless he's thinking of ripping apart the kitchen or bathroom, he doesn't need to clarify anything with the solicitor. It says in the will that he can take whatever he wants - 'as he may select'.

solataire

Ok my friend has his own ideas of contents , he s removed everything over past week including freezer from a shed , integrated electrical items from kitchen , curtains , other family wont be back to house for another few weeks , so they are unaware .

FishOnABike

I think integrated apliances would be considered fixtures and fittings rather than contents.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122214966#Comment_122214966

He's pushing his luck taking fixtures and fittings and leaving himself open to a legal challenge.

solataire

Does contents include intregated oven fridge etc ?

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122215412#Comment_122215412

If they're integrated I think they would be considered fixtures and fittings rather than contents.

HazeDoll

Sounds like a great guy, clearing out the house while the rest of the family is away. What point is he trying to make?

If you're his friend, OP, you should advise him to stop and think about what he's doing. Just because the will or law allows it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

coylemj

Taking the curtains is a bit extreme. I know he said he didn't want most of the stuff but seriously - curtains? And I'd agree with the suggestions that integrated appliances are fixtures and fittings. Because you typically have to pay a professional to install them - doesn't that make them fixtures and fittings like carpets and doors?

As I said earlier, sounds like one big happy family.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122215611#Comment_122215611

Carpets, curtains and integrated appliances are not part of the structure, unlike doors.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218455#Comment_122218455

The house wouldn't collapse and would not suffer any weathering if the internal doors were removed so it's probably a bit of a stretch to say that they are part of the 'structure'.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218708#Comment_122218708

By the same measure, he could also remove non-load bearing partition walls or attic insulation if that was the case.

He'd probably have been better off doing a deal with the other beneficiaries for a flat price to leave all the stuff intact.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218708#Comment_122218708

Doors, skirting boards, floor boards and the like are intended to be permanent and are fixed so as to become part of the structure. The wiring and sockets are fixed and intended to be part of the structure. The fact that the house won't fall down if any of them are removed is irrelevant.

Oscar_Madison

it sounds like there’s no love list there between the siblings that’s for sure - no doubt because the other sibling got the house and he only got the contents

In fairness stripping the house bare of non-fixtures and fittings is probably saving the other sibling time effort and money - likely new owners will gut the place assuming it’s old and dated and start again so a nice clean canvas

Peregrinus

Fixtures are, as the name suggests, fixed to the structure of the property. The definitely include doors, skirtings, doorknobs and other door furniture, light fittings, etc. Fitted carpets and other floor coverings fixed to the floor are fixtures, but rugs are not. A fitted kitchen is a fixture, as are the appliances integrated into it. Paint or wallpaper that you apply to the walls are fixtures; pictures and mirrors that you hang on the walls are not. The test is not whether you can remove the item without compromising the structure of the property but whether you can remove the item without compromising the value of the property.

Fittings are not fixed, but are fitted specifically to the property. Curtains are an obvious example — curtains are fittings but the curtain rods, from which the curtains hang, are fixtures.

Both fixtures and fittings are considered to form part of the property and are not generally included in "contents".

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218720#Comment_122218720

If it was suggested to him, he probably would. Why stop at curtains and the integrated appliances when he could also rip out the attic insulation? Even though he admits (1) he doesn't want most of the stuff and (2) he has nowhere to store them.

This is less and less about exercising legal rights and more about sticking it to the siblings.

Woodcutting

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122219265#Comment_122219265

Always a pleasure to read your posts. Cool, calm, considered focused on legal aspects without giving advice. No bitching, insults or emotional judgmental responses. If I were in court I would want someone like you representing me.

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122219003#Comment_122219003

"Structure" has a particular meaning when it comes to buildings. You are using a different one that everyone else in the world doesn't use.

A structural item is something that if you remove it, there is a likelihood that something will fall down, e.g. if I remove the front wall of a house, the upper floors and roof are likely to sag, if not collapse outright.* From your list: doors, skirting boards, wiring and sockets are not structural. Floor boards are, as are foundations, many walls, columns, beams, floors and roofs. Partitions are a particular type of wall that isn't structural - they can be removed without affecting the structural integrity of the building.

Now, yes, you can refer to a the whole of a building as "a structure", but that is not what is being discussed.

* Aside: under the building regulations, any one structural item should be removable without causing collapse.

Peregrinus

If you construct it, it's a structure; that's literally what the word means.

But in the context of land law, the word "structure" isn't much used. "Land" includes anything built on, fixed to or planted in the land, so if you buy e.g. a farm the ownership of the farmhouse, the milking parlour, the fencing, the gates, the trees, the hedges, the growing crops etc is automatically included; they are all embraced in the term "land". And the building includes the fixtures and fittings; it is irrelevant whether they are "structural" or not.

JVince

Don't forget to take the light bulbs - yep, I've seen that level of pettiness

Flinty997

He's doing the others a favour. Very hard to get rid a house contents no one wants it. Even charities rarely take it. Normally you might have to pay someone to clear a house.

CramCycle

Lot of hardship for no reward. When you get that petty, you have become the bad guy. If the siblings are smart they will thank him for removing everything and leave him away in his fantasy land that he has gotten one up on them. Only really a cost to them if they planned to move in or rent.

Eggs For Dinner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122324269#Comment_122324269

When I bought my house, the seller left every lightshade but took every bulb

Claw Hammer

A structure is a constructed building. It is a legal concept not an engineering concept. Fixtures are intended to become part of the structure for example ceramic floor tiles. Other items are fittings which do not become part of the structure. Something can be part of the structure without itself being a structural element. A house won't fall down is a bath is removed but it is intended when it is installed to be part of the structure.

Victor

"A structure is a constructed building." - not quite. For example, dams, bridges and radio masts are structures, but generally aren't considered buildings, largely because they have no useable internal spaces.

Claw Hammer

t

Again you are using engineering concepts in a legal discussion. A bridge is built. A dam is built. They generally don't have contents in the same way as structures such as houses or offices etc. The key issue in this discussion is as to whether any particular object can be classified as part of the structure and is not removable or whether it is an element of the contents or not. Cleiling slabs are intended to be part of the structure although they do not have any structural significance.
At one extreme a vendor who does not remove the contents may be deemed to fail to give vacant possession and on the other hand a vendor who takes away items may be failing to complete their sale in not delivering what they had contracted.
In times past it was typical for carpets and curtains to be included in a sale but the sales contract did not mention them.
The reason for that was that the building societies deducted a notional sum from the price of the house and would only advance 90% of the price of the house minus the notional value of the carpets and curtains on the basis that their security was on the property itself and they couldn't take the value of the contents into account.