info needed on land/building agreement

[zagie]

Looking for some info on a situation im in, the land currently occupied by me and family for the last 65years give or take has some dispute over it right now. the land dosent have a registered deed but someone name on the land, the person was deceased for more that 65years now so searches revealed there was no will. the problem is my father passed away recently and left a will (which already probate)for the house he built on the land and the land or should i say his entitlement to the land to equally be shared between 5 of us, so the land measures about 6500sf and after the 5 of us did documentation on how we splitting the land. so the agreement is this........i built my house on the back or behind the front house (without planning approval since we have no deed, but i did construct to the small building code of T&T) so the piece of land i am occupying was signed over to me and i signed over my part of the estate to everyone else, the thing is that my material does pass trough the front piece of land and also thats the only way to access the back piece of the land from the road, my family and i living in the house since last year around this time, now it is the agreement we signed was for the passageway/corridor that i use to pass to access my land must be maintained by everyone one of us on the agreement and also no changes to said shared system should be made unless we all agree. So now they in the front house dont want me to pass there anymore and said they going to carry me to court for passing there, but my question is if u sign an agreement saying other wise how can they do that, my only concern is the TCPA that none of us on the land have, i need to know what can happen, could i loose access to my home or loose my house all together, bear in mind this is a 3 bedroom 2 toilet 2 baths 2 storey living room, den, dining kitchen, so is not no small house, cause i paying plenty loan for this house , need info please...... sorry for all the reading

[The_Honourable]

OP, is it two separate pieces of land (a front and a back piece) with 2 different owners? or is it one piece of land owned by the deceased that you and the family separated into two pieces: front and back?

The land must have a registered conveyance deed or a registered RPO/RPA deed. Do you mean the last deed states the name of the deceased? Meaning the deed was dated on or before 1953?

One owner? Or Joint Tenant or Tenants in Common with another person?

Any written agreement exists with the deceased to build on the land?

It's good that you check for wills but did you also check for letters of administration? You can apply for a persons estate without a will once you are properly identified as the legal next of kin. Sometimes the estate is granted to the legal personal representative of the deceased but they don't have the funds to execute on the probate. You have to get the death certificate of the deceased, make a photo copy of it, and let your attorney attach it to a Form C - Probate Registry. The Registry will then check to see if anyone applied for the estate either via a will or letters of administration. If you are lucky, google the deceased name, you might get a result pointing to the Trinidad & Tobago Gazette.

Was this agreement for the right of way drawn up by a lawyer? That agreement can be ruled null and void since the land is NOT you or your family own.

OP, as you and the family are not owners of the land, you are at a disadvantage big time. If after all your searches you see no legal personal representatives of the land coming forward, apply for adverse possession which your father should have done years ago.

[zagie]

its one plot, measuring approximately 6500sf and it would have been splitted in to 2 by us due to my house being on the back piece, and there is one owner however we did searched for wills, deeds, death certificate u name it and nothing on this land, just a name on the land taxes which we continue to pay, the agreement we did after my father passed away (and his will to split everything he owned into five was probated and proven) is to give me the piece of land i am on and in return i would give the remainder of my estate to them which would be like the shares in the house etc...my concern is that my family in the front piece of the land where i have to pass to access my house now wanna say dont pass tru their land after signing an agreement saying other wise, and it wasnt a right of way agreement drawn up by a lawyer, every thing was done mutually among the five of us , so if this reaches to court could i lose my home cause none of us build with approvals and it would be unfair for me to lose mine
main issue here is do i have a case with the provisions of the corridor/passageway tru their land to reach my house in the agreement or will the court say i built illegally and stop me from passing tru their land to enter my premesis

[The_Honourable]

You will not lose your house just so because there is a process for T&C to follow for removal of owner and demolition of structure... but does any of the houses especially the front one have a "chattel deed"? When your father's estate was probated, did all the children's name ended up on that deed? When the agreement was done and executed, was your name removed from that deed?

If no deed, which most likely not as T&C have to be involved, you're in a bind. Since there is no ownership of the land to tell you if you have a right of way or not, is best you go to an attorney for guidance. You may have to get that right of way via some court order.

[zagie]

no chattel deed, since his death the only thing we did together was get the property surveyed, but haven't received the report yet, the probate from the court stated that his last will and testament have been proven and his last will stated that all that he owned and is entitled too is to be divided between us brothers and sister equally, basically he owned the house in front cause he built it and the warden office assessed the house as his, but the land on the other hand doesn't have no registered deed nor did the owner leave it for any one, and the owner had to have died a long long time ago or not even in this country cause we aint finding nothing like a death certificate, also i was reading up on the right of way and easement and it stated that once there is no other access to a piece of land the court could grant them, but seeing that this is one piece of land and subdivided among our self could the easement or right of way apply, thats why i said the agreement stated that the shared passageway/corridor(shared by my family and i and also those up the hill) has to be maintained and no changes to it can be made unless all agree, meaning that they cant go and build on the passageway/corridor because its their land, oh by the way they wanna take me to court already so would i be able to apply for it during the hearings

[The_Honourable]

You should! I suggest you take in front first and file the issue in court. Make sure you get a good lawyer to back up your case. The question will be if that agreement will be recognized or enforced, and if the recognition of equal shares in the house stipulated in the probate will be recognized only by the court. I go to Hobsons but not sure if they will be within your budget.

You can keep us updated on this thread.

[zagie]

i dont want to believe that the probated will of my father should be an issue since the executor already disbursed the property and finances, its the fact that after disbursement with each party knowing what they own, we made a document outlining who is trading up what for what and in the out come the house that my father owned that i had 1/5th share in was given up to the others on his will so that i can get the piece of land that my house is on presently, i dont believe the issue with them is the land but the access to my land, they want me to get another access to my house and there isnt any, but my thing is all the time, there was no issue because an agreement was made where i can pass and also pass my material. That is a big issue for me because my in laws pass there, service men i work with pass there, any one coming to me pass there, and all of this was realized and highlighted prior to signing the agreement so what do they expect me to do, take a helicopter to my house now lol . When u get a chance PM me a break down of costing and procedures and also timelines thanks

[rspann]

Relax yourself. If there is no other access, they can't stop you from passing. Thats the law. The second thing is that if the agreement is invalid ,then it reverts to you having ownership in theirs. Any lawyer worth their salt would be able to sort it out.

[zagie]

Thank for all the info guys, gonna get some one to take a look at my documents, got to secure my wife and child in the event something happens to me