Do not be confused by a will that gifts you a park home without the right to occupy it. The Leasehold Advisory Service’s Anna Tomasik and Richard Hand examine the rules surrounding inheritance…

At LEASE Park Homes, we get a lot of enquires about repair and maintenance issues on fully residential parks in England and Wales. Sometimes it is not always clear who is responsible. This article aims to clarify the legal position and help residents and site owners to resolve any disputes.

In this article we will look at the rules surrounding inheritance of a park home as highlighted by the recent case of Barrs Residential & Leisure Ltd v Pleass Thomson & Co (Executors of the estate of the late Colin Hearne) [2020] UKUT 114 (LC).

Introduction
For a park home owner, their relatives and indeed friends, it is essential to understand that the rules of inheritance differ from those applying to a bricks and mortar home.

When a park-home owner has passed away, the provisions of the deceased’s will or the rules of intestacy apply to the actual park home.

However, the right to live in the home and benefit from the pitch agreement (or “written statement”) depends on who was living in the home at the time of the owner’s death and their family connection.

Those inheriting the home and pitch agreement will be bound by the agreement (for example obligations to repair or pay the pitch fee) but may not always have the right to occupy.
Thus it is possible to inherit a park home but not always have the right to live in it!

Inheritance rules
Where the park home owner dies at a time when occupying the mobile home as their only or main residence, the agreement will be binding on the husband or wife or civil partner provided that they were living with the park home owner at the time of death.In the event that there is no husband, wife or civil partner living with the person, the agreement would be binding upon any family member* living with the person at the time of death.If there is no member of family residing with the park home owner at the time of death, the agreement would be binding upon any family member entitled to the mobile home by virtue of the will or under the laws of intestacy.

In the event of a person inheriting the property under the terms of the will or intestacy rules, the consent of the site owner is required to take up residence, otherwise the home would have to be sold.

Who qualifies as a family member*?
Family member is defined under section 5(3) MHA 1983 as amended by Civil Partnership Act 2004, schedule 27, paragraphs 87 & 88):

A person is a member of another’s family within the meaning of this Act if he is his spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece; treating
any relationship by marriage or civil partnership as a relationship by blood, any relationship of the half blood as a relationship of the whole blood and the stepchild of any person as his child; and

an illegitimate person as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father; or if they live together as husband and wife or as if they were civil partners.

 

INFO POINT

LEASE provides free advice on residential park home matters. If you have any questions regarding the information in this article, contact LEASE on 020 7832 2525 or email: info@lease-advice.org. The LEASE park homes website https://parkhomes.lease-advice.org/ also carries guidance and reports of Tribunal decisions, which you may find of use.

Read the full story in the August 2020 issue of Park Home & Holiday Caravan