Sons grandfather passed away

dawnyp72 · 30 September 2017 at 1:19PM

We found out yesterday that my sons paternal grandfather had passed away 18 months ago. My sons dad passed away 3 years ago and was an only child. As far as I know the only other living relatives he has are newphews and nieces who he wasn’t particularly close to, so unless he left a will stating otherwise, my sons stand to inherit.
I discovered that the house he owned was sold at auction just over a week ago.
How do I find out if he left a will or if it went to probate? and if it did would they have tried to find my sons?
We only found out he had died when we went to his house and spoke to a neighbour. It wouldn’t have been difficult to find my sons but nobody has contacted them.

Margot123 · 30 September 2017 at 1:35PM

First port of call is to download a title register for the property from The Land Registry website. It costs £3. It will give you details of the current owner of the title (even if deceased) and price paid. As it takes about 6 months to update, this should show who owned it prior to the death and auction.

Yorkshireman99 · 30 September 2017 at 1:54PM

In the meantime ask the agent who the solicitor is. The house is unlikely to have been sold without probate unless it was owned jointly.

dawnyp72 · 30 September 2017 at 2:02PM

If it had gone to probate would they not have searched for my sons. Would it be possible for another relative do deny any knowledge of my sons.

PasturesNew · 30 September 2017 at 2:05PM

Anything is possible with probate. How findable are you to, say, a solicitor tasked with sorting the estate out? Were you married?

If, say, you were living together and the boy's birth was registered with the father's name, it'd be harder to know he existed unless you really went looking/knowing there was a child out there somewhere. If you were married it'd be easier to have found you/child.

You need to find out who is doing the probate.... and take it from there.

Keep_pedalling · 30 September 2017 at 2:07PM

If he died intestate with so few living relatives it is unlikely his house would have been disposed of in 18 months, as there would have been no one to apply for letters of administration.

Check out the probate records from the following link.

https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/searching-for-probate-records

Margot123 · 30 September 2017 at 2:23PM

Yes, indeed search the probate records. You may find that Grandad didn't actual own the house he lived in. He may have rented it long-term and not told anyone. There are many scenarios that need to be considered before your sons start spending the inheritance in their own minds.

dawnyp72 · 30 September 2017 at 2:37PM

Thanks for your replies. I wasn’t married to their dad and we separated years ago but they always had a relationship with him and the rest of his family knew they existed. Surely they would check birth and death records (or would they?)
My sons are both under 18 so I’m assuming any inheritance would have to be held in trust anyway.

dawnyp72 · 30 September 2017 at 3:02PM

I have just done the land registry search and it has already been changed to the new owner.

getmore4less · 30 September 2017 at 3:23PM

you will need to track down if and who administered any estate

Probate records(as above),

the list
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/unclaimed-estates-list

a section 27notice.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

You then have the contacts you already know, EA, new owners etc.

konark · 30 September 2017 at 5:48PM

dawnyp72 wrote: »

I have just done the land registry search and it has already been changed to the new owner.

That's very fast work if the auction was just over a week ago. Sold at auction is only exchange of contracts, you have usually 30 days to complete and than LR take a while to update records.

Sons grandfather passed away

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