Future Inheritance - Deals

Can heirs make an agreement among themselves about what will be done with property they will inherit?

My widowed mother received the apartment in which she lives as a gift from my own sister , she was terminally ill, before her death . My mother has given me , her son, and only surviving child, the apartment as a lifetime gift and it is now registered in my name. However, my sister's daughter claims that she has rights in it. Does she?

As a rule according to the Inheritance Law of 1965 a gift made to a recipient after the death of the donor is only valid if it is made by way of a will. However, it is possible for a donor to give a gift during his/her lifetime on condition that the property does not pass to the recipient after the death of the donor.

Accordingly, if the apartment was given to a mother by her deceased daughter before the latter's death and was registered in the mother's name, then it belonged to the mother. The mother was then entitled to give it to her son as a lifetime gift , in which case it would become his property upon registration in his name at the Lands Registry . In such circumstances, the deceased's daughter – ie the son's neice is wrong, and has no rights in the apartment.