#471118
Postby zico » January 7th, 2022, 1:16 pm
Thanks for all the responses so far. Just to provide some extra background and context, the lady (& son) put her house up for sale without first consulting my father or me, then subsequently persuading my father that this all made perfect sense because they were happy to give him a verbal promise to move out within a month (and her son also verbally confirmed to my father he would take her into his house) - and my father thinks this is fine, and that's what would happen.
I expressed my concerns privately to him about putting trust in verbal agreements (and showing him proof her son put the house on the market months before the date they had told him) but he reiterated his intention is that I would be his sole inheritor (as stated in his will) and he assures me I have absolutely nothing to worry about, because everybody will stick to their verbal agreements. He said he has no intention of marrying the lady. (He also said (and believes) that even if he did, that would make no difference to me - but a marriage automatically nullifies a will, in the eyes of the law.)
My father is considerably more frail than her, but puts himself at risk looking after her, so it's very likely that she will outlive him, probably by several years. He's told me their relationship is for company, not romance, and it certainly seems that way from what I've seen.
Thinking of worst-case scenarios, my concern is that her family would change the locks as soon as possible (though it's technically illegal), and then I wouldn't be able to even gain access to the home, and any court orders simply wouldn't be executed due to the age of the lady. I think my next step may be to ask him to write down his wishes, so I at least have something non-verbal and recent. (A few months ago, during a discussion with him, I wrote down his views, and asked him to sign them, which he did, but it would be far better for him to write them. I doubt he'd agree to writing a valid legally witnessed document - he thinks there's no need to do anything, because everyone will stick to verbal agreements.)
In an ideal (normal) world, the lady would have retained her home, so she could simply move back to it if my father died first. She's obviously entitled to sell her house if she wants, but in a normal situation, the future implications would have been discussed amongst all parties concerned, and an acceptable solution agreed should my father die first. None of this happened.
