It is often asked whether it is possible and indeed how to include a right of occupation in a Will. Reasons for considering this may include for instance where you have an adult child or elderly parent still living and occupying your home either on a temporary or permanent basis at the date of death.
This may be in your house as a whole or you may have the benefit of an annex or self contained extension to your property.
Sometimes, you may wish simply to give your 'occupier' a period of time following your death, either to raise sufficient funds to buy any other potential beneficiaries out; or simply to find another place to live. This may be particularly true in the context of an adult child who returned home/ never left, yet you then also have other adult children who you would want to benefit from your property/ estate.
In this instance you would need to consider such factors as:
how long do you wish their right of occupation to last;
who will pay for any repair/ insurance/ other utilities;
if there is a mortgage on the mortgage and may still be at date of death, how will that be dealt with; do you need to consider linked life insurance to redeem that in full on death;
what rights and abilities to enter/ inspect the house do you wish the other siblings to have where this is relevant;
who will be responsible for any legal fees on the sale/ transfer/ purchase by one or more of the children?
Where the situation is different and you may wish to give a right of occupation for instance to an elderly relative, then again the above factors do need to be considered, but this can then be complicated further where you would also wish to appoint them to be Guardian for any minor children (not yet reached the age of 18) you may have at the date of death. In that instance, again the feasibility of them staying in the house needs to be considered carefully particularly in terms of their affordability and ability to do so.
It is not so straightforward as to give someone a simply right of occupation. Whether this is conditional/ unconditional/ how this may be received/ challenged by others and also whether it is possible in practical terms all need to be explored very carefully.
Additional legal advice will always be needed in such instances and our legal team at Bequeathed can refer you to one of our partner law firms for this where that is appropriate.