Mother In Law Taking Us To Court Over Money In House

[stefan120]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help. My father in law passed away 11 years ago and left his share in his property to his wife. Me and her daughter decided to step in a help out. She also has a son who decided not to get involved. After two years of living in her house and our own house 3 days at a time we decided together to sell her house and take out a mortgage and put it all together to live together. Therefore, to make things easier the mother gifted us the money as a deposit for the mortgage. We have lived together for 9 years now. The mother has recently moved to Turkey (which is her place of birth) and as she and us are struggling financially we decided to sell the house and use the money to support her and for us to move abroad for a year (to save money) then return to buy a property again (big enough to accommodate the mum should she return). She is just over 60 and for the last 9 years we have been supporting her. Now because we are selling and we have freed up the money the brother and his wife have got involved and have now manipulated/blackmailed (with grandchildren) the mum to threaten us with court demanding the whole amount back. Their case would be that she wasn't in the right mind when she signed the money over. Please can anyone advise as this will potentially leave me and my family homeless and with a comparatively small amount of money. It seems that money is thicker than blood :(Thanks for reading.

[dannyk13]

You need to consult a solicitor.

[DTCwordfan]

Yep a solicitor and soonest.

[stefan120]

Unfortunately cash is tight and we just at the moment of exchanging contracts on the sale.

[dannyk13]

You need a solicitor to represent you otherwise you may finish up with no cash at all if your Mother- in- law wins her case.

[stefan120]

Yeah. We will have too. But she has only mentioned it as a threat at this point. We are not entirely sure if she will go with it. Will see what help we can get. Thanks for your replies.

[stefan120]

After all it effects 4 grandchildren.

[dannyk13]

In that case there is no urgency to contact a solicitor.Wait until you hear something definite.

[Islay]

My initial thoughts are get your ducks in a row - make sure you have all your paperwork sorted of how much you put in, how much of the mortgage you have paid etc etc

[stefan120]

Yeah I'm collating everything. The mother in law wrote a letter to the solicitor when she sold her property saying she was gifting the money. They wrote back confirming it and that when the current property is sold the profis will go to us. She has had total understanding of this.

[stefan120]

We even re-mortgaged at one point and gave the brother £10,000 which he and his wife were supposed to use to clear their debts but they blew it. Then we had to deal with their bailiffs.

[stefan120]

Only three weeks ago the mother in law was in agreement with our plan. But all of a sudden it changed.

[Peter Pedant]

I think you can rely on the documents signed by your mother

when it is mentioned you should certainly tell her or your brother so

You could also try - if it was likely to be successful to plead that ten years ago she was not capable of signing over the money but now she is able to rbing a case - then everyone would do it

the law here is straightforward they have to prvoe their case
you are under no obligation to disprove it

[Peter Pedant]

yes I see
you are coming into money from the sale of the house
and your brother in law is making a grab for part of your share

wait and see - if she wished to preserve her share in the joint property it would have been very straightforward to do so at the time
English Law is particularly flexible for this ( equitable share)

[stefan120]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the brother in law is in financial hard times as so is the mother in laws family in turkey so they are pressuring her to do this as they want a piece of the pie. The house is in both me and wife's name.

We have offered to support the mother in Turkey financially and have offered the brother in law £40,000 but they are still not happy.

One question is once if they decide to approach the solicitor could they freeze our assets until it's resolved?

Thanks

[atalanta]

Do please try the nearest Citizens advice bureau.

[Peter Pedant]

// One question is once if they decide to approach the solicitor could they freeze our assets until it's resolved? //

definitely not usual in English civil cases

If he is financial difficulties, is your brother in law likely to instruct ( and waste more money on ) lawyers

freezing orders are here
http://uk.practicallaw.com/6-205-5417
and from what they say - I think it is unlikely - he has to have a good case and give assurances about damages....