Partners father died and left all worldly goods to her and her sister in a will. Including a property. The will specifically states that the mother is to have no rights to anything. Mother and father have long been separated (around 12 years) mother lives with her current partner and left the family home - which is the property being left in the will and was the father's home. The mother has not lived at the property for 12 years and has not contributed to the mortgage at any time, before or after - it is pretty much paid off. There is however around a $16,000 or so overdraft that still exists in the fathers name. The parents unfortunately never officially divorced.
However in the 6 months or so since the fathers death the mother has treated the home as though she has full rights to it - cleaning it out and selling anything she sees as valuable with no consultation from her daughters - the ones who are supposed to be inheriting. She is also trying to persuade them that it is in their best interest to transfer the property entirely to her name, which I don't think is right. I have my reasons to very much distrust the mother and even if I wasn't with my partner I would hate to see her further screwed over by her.
The mother is claiming to them that the property still has her name on it. They have seen no proof of this thus far, is there an easy way for us to check? The death was sudden and they are only now coming to terms and strong enough to start questioning. Up until now the mother has very much strong-armed and controlled everything. She has already managed to claim his entire life-insurance by persuading them that he owed it to her...My worry is now the girls will get hoodwinked again and fall for the reasons the mother keeps giving for transferring the property entirely to her name (funnily enough those "reasons" keep changing) and they will completely lose out. The girls would like to sell the property as her sister has a small baby and both could really do with the help. Both are in 20s.
What are their legal rights? My basic understanding of Australian law is that they are entitled to 50/50 each with no inclusion of the mother. Am I right? Even if the mothers name is on the house? (I suspect this is a lie, but could be wrong). Any advice would be gratefully received.
However in the 6 months or so since the fathers death the mother has treated the home as though she has full rights to it - cleaning it out and selling anything she sees as valuable with no consultation from her daughters - the ones who are supposed to be inheriting. She is also trying to persuade them that it is in their best interest to transfer the property entirely to her name, which I don't think is right. I have my reasons to very much distrust the mother and even if I wasn't with my partner I would hate to see her further screwed over by her.
The mother is claiming to them that the property still has her name on it. They have seen no proof of this thus far, is there an easy way for us to check? The death was sudden and they are only now coming to terms and strong enough to start questioning. Up until now the mother has very much strong-armed and controlled everything. She has already managed to claim his entire life-insurance by persuading them that he owed it to her...My worry is now the girls will get hoodwinked again and fall for the reasons the mother keeps giving for transferring the property entirely to her name (funnily enough those "reasons" keep changing) and they will completely lose out. The girls would like to sell the property as her sister has a small baby and both could really do with the help. Both are in 20s.
What are their legal rights? My basic understanding of Australian law is that they are entitled to 50/50 each with no inclusion of the mother. Am I right? Even if the mothers name is on the house? (I suspect this is a lie, but could be wrong). Any advice would be gratefully received.
