PROPERTY LAW
CUTTING THE APRON STRINGS
MY mother and I jointly own a house. She lives upstairs and I live in the flat downstairs, but we don’t get on. I want to sell or let my flat, but she refuses. What can I do? IN normal circumstances you can end a joint tenancy of a property by simply writing a letter saying “the property we own jointly will from now on be held in equal shares”. The difficulty is that you jointly own the whole house, which may not divide into two equal halves. If it’s impossible to reach agreement with your mother you may have to get a court order, either to separate the ownership of the flats or to sell the whole house. You will need to see a solicitor.
WALL INTRUDING
THE retaining wall between our property and next door’s is leaning badly into my drive. There is no mention of the wall in either of our deeds; am I right in saying it is my neighbours’ responsibility since it is a retaining wall for their garden? I have offered to clear the old wall, remove the old hedge and take away the soil in order to build a new wall. IF the wall isn’t mentioned in the deeds and it clearly runs along the boundary line mentioned in the deeds, then it will be jointly owned and any decisions about it should be made jointly. This includes a decision whether to rebuild it or knock it down. Any work should be undertaken, therefore, at equal joint expense with your neighbours. However, the fact that it is leaning into your property and could fall into your property would technically amount to a trespass. You could have a claim for damages against your neighbour if the wall were to fall over. Clearly it is sensible to act before that happens, and if your neighbour is uncooperative, you can always ask a surveyor to either arbitrate or mediate between the two of you as to what should be done and who should be responsible for the expense.
NEXT OF KIN
MY daughter and her husband have been divorced for five years and neither has remarried. They have two children. Are the children the next of kin of each parent? YES. Even if, as commonly happens, the parents made wills while they were married leaving their property to each other and never got round to writing new ones, divorce would make that part of their wills invalid. However both parents should rewrite their wills to make sure the children are provided for as intended. If either parent were to remarry the new spouse would of course become next of kin and any wills become invalid. A new will should be made in contemplation of or after the new marriage to protect the children.
MANX DEEDS
I’M told I am to receive my uncle’s house, which is in the Isle of Man, when he dies. However he had a fire in which his title deeds were destroyed. What will be the legal implications of this when I eventually have to go to the Isle of Man to deal with it? UNFORTUNATELY the Isle of Man is outside our jurisdiction and therefore we cannot advise as to what the legal implications would be. We would suggest that you contact the government on the Isle of Man for details of their Land Registry and whether the property is registered. Alternatively, contact a solicitor who can practise in the Isle of Man.
»»Call Bromleys Solicitors LLP on 0161 330 6821 or visit www.bromleys. co.uk If you have any legal questions, write to Property Law, MEN Media, Mitchell Henry House, Hollinwood Avenue, Chadderton OL9 8EF, or email mail@ lawQs.co.uk