Does anyone know where I would stand?

Tinseltoes

Tinseltoes

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 September 2009
Messages
2,599
Location
South Wales
Visit site
Ok,I use a field been there on and off since 1976 till 1989 and from 2005 -now.
Where would I stand if the man who owns the field dies? House/field would be sold and money sent to relatives overseas.
There is NO contract he has £20.00 cash in hand every month,nothings written down.,
Could I claim aquatters rights or claim the field?
Just wondering incase something happens as you never know!! Big worry!!!
 
Ermm if the field has to be sold for the estate I would suggest you find another livery / field. I'm not sure if this was your intention but your post sounds as if you are not planning to move but obtain the field for yourself through some sort of adverse way of owning it.
 
No Ive been there for years on and off and Ive asked him to sell it too me but he wont.
Just wondered if I would be aloowed to stay on there if anything should happen.
 
I suppose the relatives will approach you and either give you notice or a new agreement, I can't see how you could stay if they wanted the field back tbh. You don't have a contract confirming the arrangements with the owner or proof of payment or anything other than verbal discussions.

I would wait until your hear from the beneficiaries tbh it maybe they are happy to carry on as before and you may be worrying unnecessarily.
 
The relatives dont live in the UK.The solicitor would be the one to do the dealings!!
Could be years away.Im just wondering what could happen.
He doesnt have proof of payment either lol
Im not going to worry about it as it could be years away yet!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ok,I use a field been there on and off since 1976 till 1989 and from 2005 -now.
Where would I stand if the man who owns the field dies? House/field would be sold and money sent to relatives overseas.
There is NO contract he has £20.00 cash in hand every month,nothings written down.,
Could I claim aquatters rights or claim the field?
Just wondering incase something happens as you never know!! Big worry!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

But you said, if he dies, so if he's not dead, why don't you try to get an agreement sorted out?
 
i don't think you would have any right to the field or to stay there at all.
perhaps get a contract in place just to say how much you pay each month, how much notice both sides must give etc?
 
[ QUOTE ]
He wont do that.He told me not to tell the council I pay him grazing. Hmmmmm lol

[/ QUOTE ]


Might they not have noticed the horse?
confused.gif
 
Oh sorry for some reason I assumed he was on death's door. In that case speak to him now to sort this out with a proper contract stating what happens if he passes away. Not sure how you'll introduce the subject though, think i'd just ask for things on a more formal setting and see what he says.
 
Whats it got to do with the council though ? Is it actually his field, he's not subletting it to you on the QT is he ?
 
TBH I don't think you'd have any claim. Particularly as you have no official proof of 'tenancy' - no contract, no receipts and no written promise.

Best you could do, is write a letter to him declaring your wish to purchase the field at any time in the future that it might become available for sale (DONT mention him dying, of course). Say you just wanted to let him know in advance what your feelings were. Then it's up to him what he does. Either he tells his solicitor and/or executors about it, or he bins it.

Be on the safe side though, and have another option available should the worse happen and you dont get to purchase the land.
 
He makes me coffee every morning when I go up there.So hes nice enough but doesnt commit himself to anything.He knows I want to buy the field.
Hes FAR from deaths door lol
 
I think I'd find myself a plan B and then announce I was moving unless I got a piece of paper.

Why has this suddenly occurred to you? Is he on his last legs? What I mean is, what if he moves house, for example, or, if he is elderly, gets put into a home?
Or a family member moves in to look after him and wants you gone?
What I'm driving at is, is his death the only thing you feel would leave you with a problem, and why do you think he might die.
Blimey this is an awful converstation!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
He makes me coffee every morning when I go up there.So hes nice enough but doesnt commit himself to anything.He knows I want to buy the field.
Hes FAR from deaths door lol

[/ QUOTE ]

poohbear are you sure there are not OTHER MEANS
wink.gif
by which you could obtain your field ?!
blush.gif
shocked.gif
 
He is about 70 lol He has no family here in the UK.He wont move.It could be that eventually whoever moved there would let me stay but you never know.
No point in worrying!!
 
If you are paying rent for the field then you aren't a squatter. So squatters rights don't apply. In anyevent squatters in the UK have to be there for 12 years solid iirc.
 
What would happen if theres no proof that Ive ever payed him cash in hand.He doesnt keep a record or write things down.No contracts nothing????

He told me that really he should write it down but he never does .
What a predicament!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
He makes me coffee every morning when I go up there.So hes nice enough but doesnt commit himself to anything.He knows I want to buy the field.
Hes FAR from deaths door lol

[/ QUOTE ]

My best friend was in the same boat as you. Rented a small holding from a local farmer for 7 years. Great mates the two of them became (NO not like that
blush.gif
), but there was no contract or written proof - all payments were cash in hand. He died on Boxing Day 2 years ago from a freak accident. Totally out of the blue and tragedy for everyone he knew. My friend had to wait 18 months on tender hooks, for his estate to be sorted out. In that time she sold all her horses except a couple of oldies and fully expected to be given notice to leave at the end of it all. Thankfully her plot was eventually bequeathed to one of the family members she already knew and who knew of the arrangement she'd had for so many years. She's been lucky. She's been told she can remain where she is for the foreseeable furture and the rental price has remained the same (although she now 'goes through the books').

It's nice that you've got a good friendly relationship with your 'landlord'. Keep it that way, and as you say - as he already knows you want to buy the field, maybe you'll be lucky too.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you are paying rent for the field then you aren't a squatter. So squatters rights don't apply. In anyevent squatters in the UK have to be there for 12 years solid iirc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tell that to a farmer near us! They rented a field which went with a private bungalow; owners of bungalow wanted to sell so gave them notice to quit; they refused. 20 years later, they are still paying a peppercorn rent for the field but the bungalow had to be sold much cheaper than it should have been although the owner refuses to do any upkeep of field while they are still there. Nobody has been able to shift them and I thank my lucky stars that we insisted on a formal agreement with move off dates included, drawn up by Wright Manley for the fields here when my father in law died that they wanted to rent which they were very cross about signing but we knew what had happened before so weren't taking any chances with them!
 
Well, he clearly has no interest in selling you the field now, so that's off the table.
And when he dies, the estate including said field will be sold off by the solicitor for the foreign relatives. So the only thing I'd say you can do is wait for the event to occur, and then see if the relatives have any interest in selling it to you since its now theirs.
if not, its tough bananas I'm afraid.
I don't see any clever loop holes for you.
 
I am in a similar position. My field was owned by a lady who died, leaving it all to her sister. However, due to this thieving government, the Inheritance tax was so high she was told the land would have to be sold. There were also vulture nephews hanging around, from a sibling who had already died. I even moved off the land in preparation, as I couldn't face the uncertainty. A few months later I moved back on (hated livery too much!), but it wasn't until about September last year (at least a year after the sister died) that the land was 'safe'. So, I'm playing the waiting game, too.

However, the remaining sister is also very old and I am under no illusions that her nephews will want to keep the nice ponies in the field, if she dies (she also will not sell the land). They just want their cut of the money and nothing will be seen of them again (just like the last time). OP, like me, you need to have a contingency plan in place. Either save for the event that the relatives might be interested in selling, or have an emergency field lined up/keep an eye on livery prices.
 
hmmm - we have a tenant on our field, who doesn't pay rent, and I think we can't just kick him off (not that we want to anyway!!) because he's been using it for a long time (some sort of tenants rights...but maybe not a legal thing, may just be because land use is a big issue in the local area). We're quite happy just to let him carry on using the field anyway so it's never been an issue
smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top