Hi my late husband left his share of the apt we have in Tenerife to the four children Three of the children have waiver there inheritance to me but the fourth is wanting his share. My solicitor has sent letters but he is just ignoring them. The thing is I have a buyer for the apt but I can't sell until my son signs so I can take my late husbands name of the deeds.
does anyone know if this could be overruled by a lawyer. The people wanting the apt will only wait until May.

You have to consult a lawyer locally. This is too important to take advice from an online forum.

Hi scot47
I will have to go over to Tenerife and see my lawyer.
Many Thanks

If what can be over ruled? He owns it, you cannot sell something owned by somebody else. Is there a particular reason he wants to keep the apartment rather than have the money from the sale? I wouldn't have thought any legal system in the world could force somebody to sell a property they want to keep in this scenario.

Hi Bermudashorts
My Sons inheritance is one 16th of the apt which equates to about £6500. He doesn't mind me selling but he just won't sign the papers so I can have my late husbands name taken of the deeds. He is only doing it because he doesn't speak to any of the family.

So your husband did not leave it to the children equally? Never mind though, he is still the partial owner and as I say, can't see that any country is going to make an owner sell in this kind of situation. I think you will need to try and negotiate.

Bermudashorts
That's just it he doesn't talk to anyone and doesn't reply to solicitors letters

It's interesting but I only found out last week that UK wills can be changed AFTER death.

I don't mean contested but CHANGED!

How the h*ll can that happen?

snikpoh
Hi
I wish Spanish ones could. I will have to go over to Tenerife and see my lawyer over there more expense.

"It's interesting but I only found out last week that UK wills can be changed AFTER death."It's not quite how it looks at first glance.

You can change a person’s will after their death, as long as any beneficiaries left worse off by the changes agree. You can change a will to:

• reduce the amount of Inheritance or Capital Gains Tax payable
• provide for someone who was left out of the will
• move the deceased’s assets into a trust
• clear up any uncertainty over the will

You can also change the type of ownership from joint tenants to tenants in common if that suits you better. That way, the deceased share goes into probate and the will can be "rearranged" to avoid Spanish IHT.

rspltd and Fred James
Hi to you both
That's good to know thank you

My point is that if someone was left out of the will, they can be added even though this might be against what the deceased wanted. ... and all this without having to contest it!

In my mind this makes a mockery of ones 'last will and testament' if it can be changed willy nilly.

Not really, since the person being added is being done so at the request and agreement of the original beneficiary. The person writing the will obviously wanted the beneficiary to do as he/she pleased with that inheritance. It is essentially no different to the person taking the inheritance and giving it away save for legally having the pottential to cut out the tax man.

Ask yourself this question, did the person making the will intend the tax man to get the largest slice possible ? If the answer is yes then he should have instructed the lawyer that the will should contain a provision to make it impossible to vary the will to make it more tax efficient (it is after all the job of the person advising on the will to cover every eventuality to suit to the clients wishes, no matter how daft they may be)

How does one know - they're dead!

It is no more than an assumption.

Tax may have nothing to do with it at all either.