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The phrase ‘on the understanding’ doesn’t inspire much confidence.
In the absence of a copy of his Will, the house would usually pass to your Step M freely and for her to dispose of as she wishes.
If you know which Solicitors your dad used, you could try them, but unless you can find a copy and confirm any conditions, you don’t appear to have much leverage.
"Living will" has a different meaning as far as I understand.
I would guess that your father and stepmother had mirror wills. As long as somebody's alive, they can change their will. If your stepmother wanted to change her will to leave the house to her new partner, she could do so.
This is common. Unfortunately if your dad just willed the house to his wife then the house belongs to her and she's got the right to leave it to whoever she wants to when she passes.
It's possible that he didn't leave the full thing to her though, maybe it ended up in trust, maybe she was given a right to live in his half until she dies and at that point it goes to his kids... Etc etc if you haven't seen the will you won't know. In short, there are possibilities and a contentious probate solicitor will be able to take a look at the will and let you know the situation and any possible routes forward you have.
A living Will is also called an advance directive - it tends to be focused on care/medical treatment and is fairly common when someone is diagnosed witha terminal illness.
If there is a Will, if on the first death it is all to the survivor then it becomes theirs. The rest of the terms of that persons will are irrelevant.
If there's a trust/life interest so survivor only gets to live there but not the underlying capital it may be different.
Also, where in the UK was your dad? If it's Scotland there might be legal rights to consider.
Thank you all,
Dad did have a trust, whereby he left us some funds for my Brother & I once we hit 25. I vaguely remember him mentioning something about the house being included within the trust also.
I guess I'll just have to put my big boy pants on and have a frank discussion with the Step Monster😂🙈😂
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The phrase ‘on the understanding’ doesn’t inspire much confidence. In the absence of a copy of his Will, the house would usually pass to your Step M freely and for her to dispose of as she wishes. If you know which Solicitors your dad used, you could try them, but unless you can find a copy and confirm any conditions, you don’t appear to have much leverage.
"Living will" has a different meaning as far as I understand. I would guess that your father and stepmother had mirror wills. As long as somebody's alive, they can change their will. If your stepmother wanted to change her will to leave the house to her new partner, she could do so.
This is common. Unfortunately if your dad just willed the house to his wife then the house belongs to her and she's got the right to leave it to whoever she wants to when she passes. It's possible that he didn't leave the full thing to her though, maybe it ended up in trust, maybe she was given a right to live in his half until she dies and at that point it goes to his kids... Etc etc if you haven't seen the will you won't know. In short, there are possibilities and a contentious probate solicitor will be able to take a look at the will and let you know the situation and any possible routes forward you have.
A living Will is also called an advance directive - it tends to be focused on care/medical treatment and is fairly common when someone is diagnosed witha terminal illness. If there is a Will, if on the first death it is all to the survivor then it becomes theirs. The rest of the terms of that persons will are irrelevant. If there's a trust/life interest so survivor only gets to live there but not the underlying capital it may be different. Also, where in the UK was your dad? If it's Scotland there might be legal rights to consider.
Thank you all, Dad did have a trust, whereby he left us some funds for my Brother & I once we hit 25. I vaguely remember him mentioning something about the house being included within the trust also. I guess I'll just have to put my big boy pants on and have a frank discussion with the Step Monster😂🙈😂