Money can be a curse

Me too gracesmum.

You're such a wag, Frank!

What has that GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

Hi Ana

I was just trying to prove a point to gracesmum.
Would you have just let half of a £500,000 house go plus the money you spent on it without a fight?.

Frank

Frank, you didn't need to fight. There was no contest. Let it go!

Sorry, Ana that was addressed to Frank not you.
Frank you have not proved anything other than a total obsession with one particular theme - the question did not and does not arise and all I can ascertain is that it it YOU that is unable to let the subject go. What you have to gain by resurrecting it on a daily basis is quite beyond me.

Ana

I did not have a fight. Dad split with his ex.
Its just the fact she tried to claim the property 3 years later was stupid.

Frank

And clearly unforgettable
Move on!

gracesmum

You said ''But surely the people who matter are the couple in question. I do not think adult children have any call on property unless their parents so wish it. For heaven's sake - what does growing up mean if it doesn't entail standing on your own 2 feet?''.

I was just illustrating that the children could have a claim on the property and this could cause a problem for a potential marriage.

Frank

Could we solve this problem with a pre Nuptial agreement or don't they have those?Wouldnt that be legally binding? it would state my spouse has no right to the family home,she has her own money and support.

Enviousamerican

A pre Nuptial agreement is possible.
A problem could arise if say a women sells her house and goes to live in a house belonging to a man say jointly owned with 1 of the offspring.
If say the marriage lasts 15 years and the man dies houses could have risen drastically in price during that time and she may not be able to buy another house even if she had invested all her house money.
Another way round it is an agreement could be made where the children would inherit all of the house on the proviso the woman is allowed to live in it for the rest of her life.
Again problems could arise if say the woman wants to get married again and bring a new possibly younger man in to the house.
I don't think many offspring would agree to let him stay in the house if say the woman pre deceases him.
Obviously my father could have not got married and bought a woman in to the house as I half owned it and was living in it.

Frank

Enviousamerican Pre-nuptial agreements have no legal standing in the UK, although they are beginning to be taken into account in some divorce cases.

Round and round we go. HUNTERF I think your father would have had every right to remarry and bring his wife, the person you have referred to as a woman, into his own home, even though you owned half of it. Clearly, your unwillingness to embrace such a possibility may explain much and would certainly have made life very uncomfortable for him and for her.

absent

What happened was as I said my mother left half the house to me so legally it was not his total home after Mum passed away.
Dad wanted me to return and my house in London was sold, we kept the best furniture, my daughters had some of the furniture and the surplus was given to a charity.
If Dad had re married I would have probably been forced in to a position of having to get another home and having to buy new furniture etc.
Also I had spent £50,000 on repairs / improvements to what was then our jointly owned home and another £20,000 when the woman was there.
Obviously if Dad had wanted me to go I would have been claiming my half share of the house, the £70,000 money spent on improvements etc and possibly compensation for the furniture.
In any case I had a legal right to live in the house and the position would have indeed been very uncomfortable.
Dad could have gone and lived in her house which was worth about £180,000.
I never asked what the position was re the ownership.
It may possibly have been half owned by her sons.

Frank

In summery wills are a minefield and as I have said you can not cater for every possible eventuality.

Frank

You know, it really was his 'total' home, frank, because he didn't have any other. His not 'owning' it outright is irrelevant to his living there for the rest of his life if he chose to, and to bringing his friends into it. Similarly, you could have brought a friend to live with you. In neither case would the friend have any automatic right to the house.

Bags That was what I trying to explain, but it's banging the head against a brick wall again. I am very tired of hearing about that house and those wills. I think I shall just give it all a wide berth every time it crops up again in the future – which I have absolutely no doubt it will ad nauseum.

Yes, it's sad, isn't it? Poor Frank.

Bags

As absent said if he had bought a wife in to the house things may have been very uncomfortable had she lived there.
In theory Dad could have willed his half of the house to the new wife but again there could have been problems if Dad passed away and she was living in the house.
In any case further problems re the ownership could have happened.
The land certificates states the house could not be sold, transferred, or any charge given over it without the consent of all owners. I don't know what would have happened if Dad had willed his half to her as I would have not given the consent for the transfer.
Possibly the matter would have finished up in court.

Frank

The main thing is the woman left when Dad said I was not leaving and she got no title to the property.
I did have months of hassle from people who thought she should have had the house but as I have said this has mainly frizzled out and the woman is now dead.

Frank

If she is dead and you now own the whole house, why do you keep banging on about it, frank? Take up a new hobby.

Bags

I bring this up as a result of other people's posts to warn them of possible complications.

Frank

Frank Consider everyone sufficiently warned!

Oldgreymare

I think the present members of Gransnet are.
New members will however arrive and may want advice and I am sure there will be existing Gransnetters who have not looked at my posts.
Unfortunately I don't think people take interest in things like care home fees or wills until they are affected by them.

Frank

Frank, do you have any other topics of conversation? What do you talk about with your grandchildren? I hope you can be humourous sometimes, but I have seen no evidence on here. Do you understand any of the amusing banter which goes on around your posts? If you have a sense of humour perhaps you could demonstrate it by joining in sometimes!
I look forward to hearing about the new baby with no mention of money. I hope all goes well.