Deeds of Consent

[elainejo50]

We have just remortgaged and because our son is now 18 we have to get him to sign it. This is okay by us but the question I would like to ask is my brother in law who is 54 still lives at home with my mother in law. The house is fully paid up so there is no mortgage but when she dies although she has made a will does a Deed of Consent cause problems in as much as my brother in law have the right to either stay put and refuse to move or sell the house

[garythecat]

he may very well have acquired some rights as any tenant would especially if he makes a rent payment and/or contributes to the household expenses/repairs and maintenance. As there is no mortgage there can be no valid Deed of Consent. When your mother-in-law passes you may need to take legal advice if your brother-in-law is resistent to sell the property to liquidate the Estate.

[dannydingbat]

No, the consent is purely so that the rights of the lenders are not compromised by someone who had a prior interest in the premises. Comes from a case back in the 1980s involving a banks which could not throw a wife out of the house when the husband did not pay the mortgage. So they got existing people, who were not owners but lived there, to sign away their rights before they lent money. It only applies to when loans are requested and granted, not houses where there are no loans. There are other laws which affect that.

[dot.hawkes]

I have just today got my two sons to sign a deed of consent to me remortgaging, it is a witnessed signature that means if i at a future date, have a problem with the mortgage, they have signed to say they are aware i took it out but if it is a problem later they understand they have no legal right to stay in the house if it were to be repossessed.

[Eve]

In practical terms, if he has accrued a beneficial interest in the property (in trusts of land law) the issue would be that, depending on how the house was dealt with in the will, there may be problems of selling the property. On a standard residential sale any occupiers have to be declared with their ages (usually on the Seller's Property Information Form). If there is an occupier over 17 who may have accrued any rights they will need to sign the contract for sale to relinquish their right to stay there and confirming that the property can be sold with vacant possession. If he won't it will probably make it very difficult to sort out and sell.

A beneficial interest can be obtained by a number of factors such as occupation and contributions and can result in entitlement to some sale proceeds.

If the home is his ordinary place of residence and he is entitled to a share of the estate, he may have the right to acquire his mother's interest in the shared home. The share in the estate may be reduced by the value of the home or he may have to pay money to the estate if there is a difference.

This is getting into trusts law which i won't go into. There are certain circumstances where beneficial rights can be overreached (depending on the circumstances) and the property can be sold but he could be entitled to a certain amount of the sales proceeds. There is so much more to it though and it's difificult to summarise as there are so may things it's dependant on and I don't know the full details.

I should also say that it is possible he could try and challenge the will under the inheritance Act provisions. It depends on the circumstances as to whether he coudl be successful.

It may be an idea to go and have a chat at your local Citizen's Advice Bureau or a free legal surgery at a law firm.

Hope this helps :)