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

 

This means it is possible to inherit a park home but not always have the right to live in it.

 

The relevant law is contained in section 3 of the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (MHA 1983) as amended by the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

 

If you inherit a park home you do not have to pay a commission to the site owner. The payment of a commission is only required when a park home is sold.

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PART 1 - Inheriting a park home

Inheritance rules

 

In this guide

• Background

• Inheritance rules

  • If no family member lived with the park home owner

  • Does the benefit of the pitch agreement always pass to the person inheriting the park home?

• Example: a couple living in a park home

• Example: a single person living in a park home

• Difference between inheritance and gifting a park home

 

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.

 

Who qualifies as a family member?

A 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:

1. 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

2. 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."

 

If no family member lived with the park home owner

If there is no member of family living 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.

 

Does the benefit of the pitch agreement always pass to the person inheriting the park home?

Tribunal decisions have confirmed that there is a difference between a mobile home (personal chattel) and a pitch agreement (a contract).

A person may be the owner of a mobile home but not have the benefits, rights, and obligations under the agreement. The mobile home and the pitch agreement must be treated separately. The agreement and the home do not transfer automatically together when one is assigned outside the provisions of section 3 of the Mobile Homes Act 1983.

If the home is assigned outside of the Act, without the pitch agreement also being assigned, the new owner cannot sell the home with the benefit of the agreement to a third party.

A person who is assigned ownership of the park home other than a partner or family member living with the deceased, can be bound by the pitch agreement but does not acquire an automatic right to occupy. This would need to be granted by the site owner.

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PART 2 - Inheriting a park home

Example A : a couple living in a park home

 

In this guide

• Background

• Inheritance rules

• Example: a couple living in a park home

  • Who will inherit the written statement?

  • If James was not married at the time of his death, will Joan still inherit the written statement?

• Example: a single person living in a park home

• Difference between inheritance and gifting a park home

 

James and Joan are married and live in a park home. James has died and left the park home to Joan in his will.

Who will inherit the written statement?

Joan will inherit the written statement (and as a result the right to live in the park home) as she was married and living with James at the time of his death. That inheritance of the park home means that Joan is now responsible for the obligations in the written statement such as maintaining the park home and payment of the pitch fee.

In the above scenario Joan will inherit the written statement as a result of section 3 of the Mobile Homes Act 1983 which states that a widow or widower, or civil partner, living with the deceased in the park home at the time of death will inherit the written statement.

If James was not married at the time of his death, will Joan still inherit the written statement?

Joan may still be entitled to inherit the written statement even if she was not married to James at the time of his death. This is because she could be classed as a ‘member of the deceased’s family’ (as per section 5 of the Act) if she was living with James as ‘husband and wife’ prior to his death.

If they were cohabiting as opposed to merely living together as friends, this will be sufficient to enable Joan to inherit the written statement.

A number of other relatives may also qualify as a ‘member of the deceased’s family’ (as per section 5 of the Act). They include parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. Please note that any relation by marriage or of half-blood counts as a full relation as well as stepchildren and an ‘illegitimate person’.

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Example B: a single person living in a park home

 

In this guide

• Background

• Inheritance rules

• Example: a couple living in a park home

• Example: a single person living in a park home

  • Who will inherit Michael’s written statement?

  • What happens if Michael did not make a will?

  • Will Michael’s park home have to be sold?

• Difference between inheritance and gifting a park home

 

Michael, a person living alone in a mobile home, has died. He has made a will leaving all his estate to his brother.

Who will inherit Michael’s written statement?

As Michael was living alone, his brother will be bound by the terms of the written statement as he will inherit the park home under the terms of the will (as per section 3(b) of the Act). However, as explained below, Michael’s brother has no express right to live in the park home.

What happens if Michael did not make a will?

If he did not make a will, the rules of intestacy apply. These are a fixed set of rules which set out an order of priority to determine who will inherit the estate. The relative who will be entitled to inherit will depend upon their relationship with Michael and whether closer relatives have survived. For example, if Michael had no children, his siblings may inherit the estate and they would be bound by the written statement.

Will Michael’s park home have to be sold?

The beneficiary inheriting the home may want to move into the park home as opposed to selling it. In which case, they will need to obtain the site owner’s consent to do so, even if they meet the requirements of the site rules.

Alternatively if the beneficiary does not wish to live in the park home or if consent to live in the park home is refused, the beneficiary has the right to sell the park home or even to terminate the written statement and to physically remove the park home from the pitch.

If it was decided by the beneficiary in this example that Michael’s home was to be sold, then during the period between the death of Michael and the sale of the home, the beneficiary will be bound by the terms of the written statement (for example they will be required to pay the pitch fee).

The site owner will be unable to terminate the written statement during this time on the basis that the park home is not occupied as a main or only residence.

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Difference between inheritance and gifting a park home

 

In this guide

• Background

• Inheritance rules

• Example: a couple living in a park home

• Example: a single person living in a park home

• Difference between inheritance and gifting a park home

 

Inheritance arises upon the death of an owner of a park home with the benefit of a written statement. The park home may be left to a beneficiary under the terms of the will. The beneficiary does not have to be a relative and may include a friend. If there is no will, the intestacy rules will apply and a relative will inherit the written statement.

Gifting of a park home occurs during the lifetime of the occupier and may only be made to a relative if they are proposing to live in the park home.

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Gifting a park home to a family member

Background

 

In this guide

• Background

• The process for gifting a park home to a family member in England

• The process for receiving a gift of a park home in England

 

The Mobile Homes Act 1983 enables a park home owner to assign their agreement with the site owner to a member of their family. This is defined in the Mobile Homes Act 1983 and includes spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild and brother or sister.

The changes introduced by the Mobile Homes Act 2013 to the process whereby a park home in England can be gifted to a family member mirror those for the sale of a park home. This means that the site owner is not required to approve the gift and any inconsistent provision in the agreement or site rules will not be enforceable.

Please note that until changes are made to the law in Wales, the consent of the site owner will be required for a gift of a park home to a family member there.

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The process for gifting a park home to a family member in England

 

In this guide

• Background

• The process for gifting a park home to a family member in England

  • What documentation should be provided to the family member?

  • Informing the site owner

  • Assignment

  • Notice of assignment

• The process for receiving a gift of a park home in England

 

What documentation should be provided to the family member?

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The first stage is to provide the family member to whom you are gifting the park home a copy of the agreement, site rules, evidence of the charges payable for utilities and any survey of the park home as for a normal sale (although there is no requirement to serve a notice to proposed occupier).

Informing the site owner

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The next stage is only necessary where you acquired your park home before 26 May 2013. In other cases you can proceed to the completion of the assignment notice set out below.

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You will need to complete and send to the site owner a notice of proposed gift form informing them of the family member to whom the home is to be gifted and how you are related to him or her together with supporting documentary evidence. Such evidence includes birth, adoption and civil partnership or marriage certificates.

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You will also need to confirm to the site owner that you have provided the family member with a copy of site rules and that they have understood and are able to comply with them.

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Where there are site rules concerning the age of the occupant you will need to provide information to confirm that the family member is able to comply with any rules about the age of the occupant, the keeping of pets and the parking of vehicles. (The proposed occupier must also ensure that they comply with any other site rules which apply to the site.)

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If you as the family member gifting the park home have not been informed by the site owner within 21 days of the service of the notice of proposed gift form that the site owner has applied to a tribunal for a refusal order, any such application has been dismissed or you have already been informed that there is no objection then you can proceed to the next stage.

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Please note that this stage will not be necessary where the home is acquired after 26 May 2013.

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Assignment

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You will then have to transfer the pitch agreement (this is called the assignment) to the proposed occupier. Both of you will need to complete and sign an assignment form. You must also ensure that you provide the family member you are gifting the home to with a forwarding address.

Notice of assignment

Once you have completed the assignment, you have no further role to play in the gifting process. You must however inform the new occupier that they must complete a notice of assignment which they must send to the site owner within 7 days of the assignment.

No commission will be payable on the gift of a park home to a family member.

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Gifting a park home to a family member

The process for receiving a gift of a park home in England

 

In this guide

• Background

• The process for gifting a park home to a family member in England

• The process for receiving a gift of a park home in England

  • What documentation should you receive?

  • Informing the site owner

  • Assignment

  • Notice of assignment

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What documentation should you receive?

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You should receive a copy of the agreement, site rules, evidence of the charges payable for utilities and any survey of the park home as for a normal sale (although there is no requirement for the current occupier to provide you with the Buyer’s Information Form).

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Informing the site owner

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Where the current occupier (the family member gifting the home to you) acquired the park home before 26 May 2013, they will need to complete and send a notice of proposed gift to the site owner providing details of how you are related to him or her, together with supporting documentary evidence such as a birth or marriage certificate.

Where there are site rules concerning the age of the occupant, the keeping of pets and the parking of vehicles, the person making the gift will need to provide information to the site owner confirming that you are able to comply with these rules.

The family member gifting the park home can then proceed with the assignment provided that they have not been informed by the site owner within 21 days of the service of the notice of proposed gift that an application has been made to a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a refusal order, or if they have already been informed that there is no objection to the proposed gift.

Please note that this stage will not be necessary where the home is acquired after 26 May 2013.

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Assignment

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The family member gifting the home will have to transfer the pitch agreement (this is called the assignment) to you. Both of you will need to complete and sign an assignment form. You must also ensure that your family member gifting the home to you provides you with a forwarding address.

Notice of assignment

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The final stage is for you to complete a notice of assignment which you as the new owner must send to the site owner within 7 days of the assignment.

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No commission will be payable on the gift of a park home to a family member.

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