Dad’s ex refuses to leave house
Dear Mrs Macaulay,
My father passed away on March 13, 2015. He made a new will before he died and I am the executor of his estate. He was still married to my mother and they had six children although they had been separated for many years because my father got involved with a married woman whose husband died in June 2014. This woman kept saying that my dad signed over his four-bedroom house to her and even though we asked to see this piece of paper, we never did until I sent her a letter by bailiff. As it turns out, it was a will.
To be on the safe side, I gathered an old will my father made in 1987, the will that the woman has, and the newer will my father made. I asked three lawyers’ opinions and presented all three.
The newer will is the one that has to be probated. The woman does not want to leave the property and moved in the house full time even though we told her that a new will was made.
The ongoing problem you have is that though you told the ex-girlfriend of the new and effective will, she moved into the house full time and does not want to leave.
Even though she is in effect a squatter and technically a trespasser, as your father’s ex-girlfriend, I suggest that you have your lawyer send her a detailed letter explaining the facts and consequent legal position. This must be done with special emphasis on why the will she had is of no effect because it was revoked by the one your father made after it. It must also be made clear that she was not his common-law spouse and with his newer will, she therefore has no right to be on the premises.
She should be given a specified time to move out and that if she fails to do so, legal action should be taken against her to eject her from it, and for damages if any damage was or is caused to the premises during her occupation or while she is vacating it.
The letter can also include the further fact that a claim for rental for the period of her unlawful occupation (from the time you informed her that she had no right of claim and asked her to vacate the premises to the date she actually leaves it) can also be filed if she does not move out by a specified date.
One would expect that with such a letter she would move out, but if she does not, you merely have to instruct your attorney to file the requisite claim against her for recovery of possession on behalf of the estate and any of the other claims mentioned herein considered advisable in the then current circumstances.
You must move with your probate application in order to enable the possible action to be filed in your name as executrix acting on behalf of the estate.
Do not worry. You will get her out. Just act through your attorney-at-law. It may take some time if she does not move out after receipt of the letter I have suggested, but remember that the facts and law are on the side of the estate.
Good luck.
Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver. com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5.DISCLAIMER:The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.
Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver. com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5.
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.
