Legal advice on inheritance and ownership

Questioner

My ex-partner has passed away, we have a jointly owned home (we were not married and no cohabitation contract), there was no will and there are three minor children as heirs. 1 child of ours together and 2 from a previous marriage. Now there are life insurance policies that have been released which are my right and therefore I have a claim on the heirs. I would like to return to the jointly owned home and the mortgage provider has already agreed that I will take over the mortgage. Do the heirs now have to agree now that I want to return to the home? This is because they are now half owners of the home due to the death of their father. Usufruct, being allocated the home? Should there be an official document or because I have a claim on the children not?

Lawyer

I do not understand your argument that as a result of death risk insurance policies released in your favour, you have acquired a claim on the heirs of your deceased (ex) partner. Perhaps you mean that you have used the insurance payment to pay off part of your and your deceased ex-partner's mortgage debt? You were joint owners of the home with your deceased (ex) partner and now you are (I assume 50%) joint owners of the home with the three (minor) heirs of your deceased partner. Assuming that you are not an heir of your deceased partner, you can, if necessary, request the court to allocate half of the home that belongs to the heirs, of course under the obligation to take over the mortgage on the home. I do not understand from your question who is the legal representative of the 2 minors who are not your children. You would be wise to first consult with this. Perhaps this will lead to a solution, so that 'rights' can be avoided.

Questioner

I am indeed 50% owner of the house and not an heir, I am the legal representative of our child and the mother of the other heirs is the legal representative for those two children. There were two pledged policies that were paid off on the mortgage and there is an unpledged policy that is my right, I am also going to pay off part of that unpledged policy on the mortgage. Now, according to the notary, a claim has arisen from me on the children because I was a beneficiary on two policies and I paid off a large part of the mortgage from 'my own resources'. I am in contact with the other legal representative because we need to settle the estate together, but unfortunately no response to my request to take over the mortgage. To what extent can they possibly stipulate to put the house up for sale?

Lawyer

I do not understand your argument that as a result of death risk insurance policies released in your favour, you have acquired a claim on the heirs of your deceased (ex) partner. Perhaps you mean that you have used the insurance payment to pay off part of your and your deceased ex-partner's mortgage debt? You were joint owners of the home with your deceased (ex) partner and now you are (I assume 50%) joint owners of the home with the three (minor) heirs of your deceased partner. Assuming that you are not an heir of your deceased partner, you can, if necessary, request the court to allocate half of the home that belongs to the heirs, of course under the obligation to take over the mortgage on the home. I do not understand from your question who is the legal representative of the 2 minors who are not your children. You would be wise to first consult with this. Perhaps this will lead to a solution, so that 'rights' can be avoided. Because minors are heirs, the estate will have to be settled under benefit of inventory. This also means that the heirs cannot be forced to pay the debts of the deceased from their own assets. This could be a reason why the other children (at least their legal representative) are not prepared to take on the mortgage (debt). If you, as 50% owner, want to acquire full ownership of the property, then the chance that the judge will grant you this is of course great, now that one sixth also belongs to your minor child and therefore only 2/6th to the other minors. You will then probably have to be prepared to take on the entire remaining mortgage debt, because the minors cannot be forced to contribute more to the payment of the debts of the estate than their share in the assets of the estate is worth.