Environmental vandal (mother in law rant)

[spandit]

About 4 years ago I planted a hawthorn hedge along our field up to the gate, to stop people coming up the drive and going in. We've since put gates in further down the drive and my mother in law, who unfortunately lives with us, is complaining the hedge ruins her view (of another hedge). She is adamant that it will be grubbed up (I've managed to delay it until the winter but she's frantic to get rid of it, out of spite, largely). I've even checked with the council as I'd read that hedges bordering fields were protected but sadly they don't have a problem with it being removed. Just makes me so effing angry that my hard work and expense are going to be destroyed so she can look at more of the field than she can already see.

 

 

I won't even post pictures of what she's done to the garden (we bought the house off a florist and it was stunning, now it looks as if ISIS have paid a visit) and I've lost count of the number of mature shrubs she's hacked down.

 

Just having a rant. Sorry.

 

[eggsarascal]

I'll try my best not upset someone else with my straight talking.... Have you, or your wife had this house gifted to you by your MiL in the hope that she will live long enough to avoid the tax?

[nepia]

16 minutes ago, Mark J said:

Tell her that if she knacks your hedge you'll be morally obliged to throw her out.

Or that you'll hack the plastics by the same amount she hacks the hedge.

[Mark J]

Get her one of these:

[spandit]

17 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

I'll try my best not upset someone else with my straight talking.... Have you, or your wife had this house gifted to you by your MiL in the hope that she will live long enough to avoid the tax?

Not exactly. Due to my father-in-law's ill health, we sold our respective houses and bought this one together. Due to a slight c*ck up in the conveyancing process, they're not listed on the deeds despite having put in 30% of the money. My wife thus owns 65% and I own 35% (despite paying £90 a day to live there... :o). This doesn't exempt them (or her, as my father in law died suddenly last year at the age of 62) from inheritance tax due to the GROB rules (gift with reservation of benefit) but because the initial investment (£250K) doesn't accrue interest, it stays below the threshold and is thus taxed at 0%, so effectively it is tax free. If she had retained a legal 30% stake in the property, then due to the rise in house prices since we bought it, her estate would be over the threshold and we would be liable for inheritance tax when she dies.

 

Unfortunately, just after my father-in-law died, she got an inheritance from someone else so now has loads of cash which she is spending like water on stuff to make my life miserable.

 

The best analogy I have found, which holds up pretty well, is thus:

 

Imagine I were to gift you the car of your choice. Let's say you fancied an Aston Martin DBS. It is yours. You can have whatever colour you like and whatever interior you like. It's sat on your drive right now, gleaming bodywork just catching the last of the sunshine. Gorgeous. Your friends must be very jealous.

 

There must be a catch, right? There is, but it's only minor, I assure you...

 

The car has a constant smell of dogshit. Sometimes it's almost imperceptible, sometimes it's overpowering but most importantly you can't forget that it is there. You might try to use the car to pull someone you find desirable, but as soon as they get in, they'll start sniffing and want to get out again. You might find that you want rid of the car and thus advertise it for sale, but who would buy a car that has a constant smell of dogshit? Costs a lot to upkeep, this car, and I never said I'd contribute towards that. You're stuck with it now, sunshine. Enjoy.

[spandit]

6 minutes ago, Mark J said:

Get her one of these:

Is that from Anne Summers?

[Mark J]

1 minute ago, spandit said:

Is that from Anne Summers?

Whey it looks like it'd fit up a massive ....

[spandit]

2 minutes ago, Mark J said:

Whey it looks like it'd fit up a massive ....

Reading that in a Geordie accent

[spandit]

13 minutes ago, nepia said:

Or that you'll hack the plastics by the same amount she hacks the hedge.

Wilderness is absolute anathema to her. She likes things twee and formal. Before she got going the garden looked like a Monet painting. It now looks like a Bovis home.

[Mark J]

2 minutes ago, Bunzena said:

Get a mate that can keep a straight face to put on a suit and a HiVis and arrive at the house with a clipboard.  Tell the MiL he's from the council.

 

Get him to 'tut' and suck on his teeth whilst exclaiming there's an HPO on the Hedge.  Damaging it comes with a hefty fine.

 

He's sorry - but nothing doing.

 

It'll cost you a few beers.  If the MiL finds out - just be as angry about being conned as she was.

Yup, there's undoubtebly great crested newts living amongst the bats in there.

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Mark J

[spandit]

That is a good idea, but she'd do it anyway and I'd face the brunt of the planning department - it's happened before. She feels entitled to do what she wants because she's widowed