Happy new year to everyone.
T died leaving a will made in 1992. Clause 4 “I give my freehold property at no 8 xxx drive unto my Trustees UPON TRUST to permit my sister in law O and her husband W to remain in occupation of such property rent free for their respective lifetimes the said O and W keeping the property insured and in good repair and condition and paying and discharging all outgoing leviable in respect thereof and from and after the death of the survivor of the said O and W TO HOLD such property or the proceeds of sale thereof as part of my residuary estate…”
W died a while ago. O is alive but in a care home and unlikely to return to property. Following the threads of much earlier posts with similar themes, we would be interest to know:-
(i) Has the trust come to an end? We assume not as it is a right to occupy and theoretically she could return to live there
(ii) if O is not paying the insurance and outgoings, does that constitute some form of repudiatory breach of the terms and thereby an implied termination of the trust enabling the trustees to terminate the right to occupy?
(iii) If the right to occupy is terminated, does that constitute a PET/reportable IHT event on termination of a life interest (we are debating whether this is an IIP as no right to receive income of property sold, but is an IPDI?)
From a pragmatic point of view the trustees are considering writing to her suggesting that the trust is terminated if she is unlikely to return to occupy the property and if she is not to continue paying the outgoings.
Many thanks.
Michael McCabe
Redgate Wills and Probate Linited