Missed the deadline for Claims on deceased's Estate

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  • We were only given a week to clear my Aunt's council flat after she died. We were given an additional week by paying the rent but after that it was OUT - non negotiable.

    Perhaps that's why the solicitor had it cleared so fast, was it LA property? They're not very forgiving, they want the property back for re-letting asap & don't wait for probate.
    A week should be plenty of time to assess the value of the contents and get them removed. The Council were being very heavy handed in asking for an extra week's rent to allow this to be done.
  • mrscmd
    mrscmd Posts: 26 Forumite
    We were only given a week to clear my Aunt's council flat after she died. We were given an additional week by paying the rent but after that it was OUT - non negotiable.

    Perhaps that's why the solicitor had it cleared so fast, was it LA property? They're not very forgiving, they want the property back for re-letting asap & don't wait for probate.



    No, my aunts (2 maiden sisters who always lived together) bought their properties. I do know the elder sister was in a care home, whilst the younger one died at home. Maybe the property was to fund the fees?


    I will possibly know more when the copy will etc. gets to me.
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882
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    mrscmd wrote: »
    No, my aunts (2 maiden sisters who always lived together) bought their properties. I do know the elder sister was in a care home, whilst the younger one died at home. Maybe the property was to fund the fees?


    I will possibly know more when the copy will etc. gets to me.

    The will may not tell you anything useful if the other sister still is still alive if not you may need her estate details as well.
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,271
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    edited 15 October 2016 at 12:18PM
    mrscmd wrote: »
    No, my aunts (2 maiden sisters who always lived together) bought their properties. I do know the elder sister was in a care home, whilst the younger one died at home. Maybe the property was to fund the fees?
    Your statement knocks a hole in your original assertion that
    I am the closest living relative
    At the time of death if the other sister was still alive (as you seem to be saying), then she is/was the closest living relative and ATM you have no info on her current state
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
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    In short, you'd have a claim, if there's anything to claim - and so you should contact them. They should've easily found you though and been in touch, but maybe you're in a file on somebody's desk with the heading "Get round to these next month".

    Get in touch, see what they say, you've nothing to lose - indeed, probably more to gain than being contacted/'found' by an heirhunting firm.

    If there's just £200 to her name left over .... then an heirhunter would never have come looking for you.
  • mrscmd
    mrscmd Posts: 26 Forumite
    Sorry if I have confused... both sisters (my aunts) have died. The older one was in a care home last year and died last year - the younger sister is the one who has died at her own home.


    I explained in my email(and further in a telephone conversation) to the probate solicitor that I am the closest living relative of the two aunts and that I had no idea they had both died - I am not overly happy with the short reply and very dismissive person on the line, who clearly had no time for me.


    Their property is not yet on the market - but it is the personal stuff that annoys me - all gone in a twinkling - and they took long enough to do the probate, I have done two probates myself so I know what it involves.. maybe the solicitors creamed off anything that was left.. this is why I am waiting for my aunt's will - if the cat home got the lot, I am delighted. But I doubt the cats wanted the photographs...
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882
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    You will probably need the details of both estates.
  • They all come out of the woodwork where money is involved
    Owing on CC £00.00 :j

    It's like shooting nerds in a barrel
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
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    Re photographs/papers etc - I think it's worth your while trying again, maybe in writing, as somebody will have taken those and put them in a file most likely "in case" anybody turned up.

    As for her stuff, that'll have most likely been auctioned off when cleared... you could at least get them to declare who did the clearance and speak with that firm to find out what happened to all the bits and bobs.

    It's all a bit hit and miss, but, say, if the house were cleared by a local firm, the owner might've even known of her - and it might've been a local sale - and you might even be able to find out that "Dealer ABC up the road bought a lot of the stuff" and then you go to his shop and he can say "Yes, I bought this and that ....."

    I have, I'm afraid to say, also seen such photos/personal notebooks etc spread out on the ground on a blanket at a local car boot sale, where somebody'd obviously bought a "box of random photos and personal notebooks of no particular note" - that was really bizarre...
  • mrscmd
    mrscmd Posts: 26 Forumite
    You will probably need the details of both estates.



    There is no will listed on the Gov.UK will list for the elder sister who died at the beginning of last year - so I presume, as the house would have been jointly owned, the younger sister simply had whatever there was between them.


    Only the younger sister's will has been listed. As I think possible, maybe the care home fees were to come out of the estate once both sisters were gone - they were both in their 90's.


    I do not know where I stand with no attempt to contact any relatives - I understood this was part of the executor's job?


    Once I have the will and can see (hopefully) what my aunt's instructions were - and perhaps interestingly what date the will was made - then I will know what ammo I have before I go back to the solicitors and ask who cleared the house and why they made no effort to find relatives.


    I got the impression the house was cleared some time ago, which would have been before the grant - I always waited 6 months before doing anything major with the estates I dealt with, just in case.
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