My mother left her house equally to me and my sister and we are doing it up to sell. I am now worried my sister and her two children will just move in and live rent free which means I effectively lose my inhertence. Can this happen? And if yes what can I do.

If its legally in both your names you have an option of forcing a partition sale if that happened... one or more reluctant co-owners could not prevent it.

Another thing, is you can calculate a fair market value for rental. Check with local realtors. You then tell your sister, she need to pay fair rent if she wants to live in the property. She pays the rent to the estate, who returns half the value to her.

Who is the executor of the estate?

The house was left in trust to both of us. We were both named as executors of the will but as she was declared bankrupt. I became sole executor . The solvency agency has put a clause with deeds so that on sale the creditors will be paid. The house was inherited by my sister and I during the bankruptcy.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

... Who is the executor of the estate?

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We don't need a name here: is it OP, sister, or someone else?

The post is not clear in the status of the probate estate. Has a probate petition been filed with the court? Was the property distributed to the devisees (persons named to inherit in the will)?

Smoothy's answer, I think, assumes that the probate estate has been distributed. If the property is still "in probate", it "belongs to" the estate and the sister would not, technically, have the right to move in. The executor could evict her if she did.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

We don't need a name here: is it OP, sister, or someone else?

The post is not clear in the status of the probate estate. Has a probate petition been filed with the court? Was the property distributed to the devisees (persons named to inherit in the will)?

Smoothy's answer, I think, assumes that the probate estate has been distributed. If the property is still "in probate", it "belongs to" the estate and the sister would not, technically, have the right to move in. The executor could evict her if she did.

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Yes I assumed it had been through probate.

The probate has finished and only delt with the will. It was at this point the bankruptcy was flagged up by the solicitor who was dealing with probate .The house was left in trust to my sister and I. My sister is totally untrustworthy!

So the sister was involved in a bankruptcy? Is that why the house was pl;aced in a trust to protect it? If so, who is the trustee?

But the bottom line is you can force a sale or require she pay rent to the trust.

I do apologise not very good at explaining.
Probate finished.
The house came out of trust on my mothers death.
My sister and I now jointly own the house.
I am doing up the house up ( funding) to sell, and the proceeds are to be split 50/50 on sale.
The house is to be put on market and shall return to my home , my worry is that when I am gone she will move in and live rent free as she is in rented property at the moment.

Evidently some threads have been merged, since Post # 4 was not there when I had posted #5.

We have two other difficulties in accurately advising you:

• You appear to be in the UK. I am not a British lawyer, but rather an American one, so while I can guess at some things, the terminology and procedure are going to be very different.
• You are mixing your terminology, UK-American differences aside. A trust is one thing, a probate estate is another.

But whether the property is owned by a trust or a probate estate, I suspect the answer will be the same: your sister cannot take over the property without the consent of the person in charge of whatever entity owns it: be that a trust or a probate estate.

On the other hand, if as you write in your last post it is owned in common by you and your sister, she can occupy it rent free. You will have to sue her for partition. I suspect this will be the same in the UK as it is in the US.

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Originally Posted by Deana Clark

... the bankruptcy was flagged up by the solicitor who was dealing with probate ...

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You mean the solicitior who was handling the probate case discovered that your mother had filed for bankruptcy protection? I am unsure why you mentioned this. Apparently this bankruptcy doesn't affect the issue of ownership of the house, right? If so, it's what we call a "red herring": something that tends to needlessly confuse things.

Thank you for your help, it has given me a better understanding of my legal position.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

You mean the solicitior who was handling the probate case discovered that your mother had filed for bankruptcy protection? I am unsure why you mentioned this. Apparently this bankruptcy doesn't affect the issue of ownership of the house, right? If so, it's what we call a "red herring": something that tends to needlessly confuse things.

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The sister (co-owner) of the home is the one that had claimed Bankruptcy. The judge from the bankruptcy made a claim against the home on behalf of the creditors. Previously the home was held in trust by the parent of the siblings.

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

The sister (co-owner) of the home is the one that had claimed Bankrupcy. The judge from the bankrupcy made a claim against the home on behalf of the creditors. Previously the home was held in trust by the parent of the siblings.

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That information must be in another thread. Apparently the bankruptcy creditors' claim failed. In any event, I doubt whether it would effect the sister's right to occupy the premises.