Revealed: The sad inheritance saga where an 86-year-old was left homeless by his own son… and how it could happen in every family

As the first members of their family to buy property, Peter and Angela Andrews couldn’t have been prouder when they bought their three-bedroom detached house in the north of Scotland as newlyweds in 1963.

It proved the perfect family home in which to raise their daughter Sally, who was born shortly afterwards, and their son Graham, who arrived three years later. Sally and Graham enjoyed a happy childhood, and the family remained close as the siblings grew up and left home.

Angela died last year at the age of 84, leaving Peter alone in the family home. She had appointed Sally and Graham as joint executors of her estate and left the house and remaining assets in their names. There was never any doubt in Sally’s mind that she and her brother would let their father live in the house and not sell it until he died.

But even though Graham, 53, and his father had always had a very strong family bond, after the death of his mother he threw Peter, 86, out of the home where he had lived for more than 60 years.

When probate was granted five months after their mother’s death, Sally received the first of several “nasty” phone calls from Graham’s lawyers demanding their father be deported.

What followed led to a family feud that is unlikely to heal.

“We had a great childhood,” says Sally, 57, who lives just 20 minutes from the family home. ‘There was no bad parenting. My brother and I never said a bad word about our parents. I don’t know what has changed. He never gave the impression that the money was important to him. I’m still trying to get my head around it. My father was always good to my brother and his wife. It’s crazy.’

Unfortunately, because he was self-employed, Peter was not included on the title deeds of the house, which was solely in Angela’s name, even though they had bought it together. “(Mom) said something about it years ago, but I didn’t think much about it,” Sally says.

“She wanted the security of the house if anything went wrong with Dad’s work.”

However, as co-owner, Peter paid half of the mortgage every month. He thought this gave him some protection, but this turned out not to be the case.

What might have been clever financial planning by Angela decades ago left Peter vulnerable to the whims of his son, who was determined to get his share of the £270,000 house. Surprisingly, his mortgage premiums meant very little in the eyes of the law because he had to prove that he had added value to the house.

Siobhan McGuigan, partner at law firm Anderson Strathern, said: ‘You would have a very difficult case proving financial contributions. He may have a claim if he can prove that he has added value to the house, but that could cost a lot of money.’ If Angela had not left a will, Peter would have been left in a much better position and would have automatically been entitled to inherit all or part of the house. This is because inheritance rules in Scotland differ from those in other parts of the United Kingdom.

The law distinguishes between hereditary property – land and buildings – and movable property – all other assets.

If there is no will, a spouse or civil partner can claim ‘priority rights’ to everything, including a family home worth up to £473,000, and the contents of the family estate up to a value of £29,000 . They can also claim a share of the movable estate of up to £50,000 if there are children, and £89,000 if there are no children. However, if there is a will, prior rights are disregarded and the immediate family can claim ‘legal rights’ to the movable estate regardless of the will, which does not include property.

The lack of legal protection for Peter made Graham’s decision to choose money over family even more painful for Sally. ‘I know the boy I grew up with. How does he live with himself?’ she says.

Sally wanted to take the case to court, but her lawyer advised she would likely lose and have to pay thousands of pounds out of pocket. Sally then contacted the Scottish Parliament but was told her elderly parent had no safeguards.

Graham demanded that the house be put on the market immediately, leaving Peter without a house or money to buy anything new. Luckily, Sally’s son had moved out of her house a few weeks ago to live with his partner, which meant Peter could move in, but it wasn’t a permanent solution.

“My father is a very independent man, he doesn’t want to live with me,” says Sally. ‘I wanted to raise the money to buy him a house, but it was so difficult to find a suitable house because of his mobility.’

Sally, who runs a small business, would have to pay a hefty 6 percent stamp duty when buying a house for her father as it would be considered a second home, and there were complications with buying a house in Peter’s name .

At the eleventh hour, the local authority, aware of Peter’s situation, found a one-bedroom pensioner’s apartment not far from Sally.

‘Someone must have looked down on him. Everyone was so relieved after everything.”

All names have been changed

How to avoid losing your home in a family battle over an inheritance

Peter Andrews’ daughter Sally isn’t sure what she will do to help her own children, but her devastating experience highlights some problems with Scottish tax law.

First make sure that your name is on the title deeds if you jointly own your home.

You can also include a survivorship clause in your will, which automatically gives your spouse or partner the right to inherit the other’s share of the property. If you ultimately want to pass your home on to your children or other family members after the death of your spouse, make sure you include this in your will.

Siobhan McGuigan, from law firm Anderson Strathern, says she has had cases where the property was in the sole name of one spouse due to financial difficulties. But a provision in the will allowed the surviving spouse to still live there, even if it was registered in their children’s names. McGuigan says: ‘If there is an outright inheritance to children and there is no provision for the (survivors), it passes to the children and there are no legal rights attached to the property, but only to the movable property.’

These distinguishing features of Scots law only apply if the deceased was domiciled – legally resident – ​​in Scotland. So if you have a second home in Scotland but you live in England, English law applies.