No will mum dies

Treehoger1 · 12 June 2017 at 9:23PM

Hi, hope you can give me some advice.
My mum passed away 3 months ago. I am the only child and my dad has been living in the family house.
There has been no will and my dad said things were very difficult for him to sort out. I was wondering how long these things take? Family house is worth a lot of money, I understand that my dad would inherit £250k of the estate and the rest would be shared equally between us. Is this correct? And how would I find out what is the situation with the house? Reason I am asking is, that my dad had a stroke around 6 weeks ago and he cannot communicate. He is still in the hospital and they are talking about discharging him. Doctors say that he will need to go to nursing home as he needs 24hr per day care and often two people will be required to care for him. I will be trying to get NHS continuing support. I know it is difficult to obtain this funding, so I may be asked to pay for it, or for the house to be sold to cover the cost? There is no savings. How do I find out if my dad owns the house or have I got share in it?
There is no lasting power of attorney, how do I get things sorted? Have you got any advice? Thank you

Yorkshireman99 · 12 June 2017 at 9:35PM

Treehoger1 wrote: »

Hi, hope you can give me some advice.
My mum passed away 3 months ago. I am the only child and my dad has been living in the family house.
There has been no will and my dad said things were very difficult for him to sort out. I was wondering how long these things take? Family house is worth a lot of money, I understand that my dad would inherit £250k of the estate and the rest would be shared equally between us. Is this correct? And how would I find out what is the situation with the house? Reason I am asking is, that my dad had a stroke around 6 weeks ago and he cannot communicate. He is still in the hospital and they are talking about discharging him. Doctors say that he will need to go to nursing home as he needs 24hr per day care and often two people will be required to care for him. I will be trying to get NHS continuing support. I know it is difficult to obtain this funding, so I may be asked to pay for it, or for the house to be sold to cover the cost? There is no savings. How do I find out if my dad owns the house or have I got share in it?
There is no lasting power of attorney, how do I get things sorted? Have you got any advice? Thank you

If there is no will then the intestacy rules apply. This page tells you the rules

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Nursing care is paid for by the NHS. If need be the local authority pay they will put a charge on the house. You can check the ownership hrere

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

A small fee is payable.

Kynthia · 12 June 2017 at 9:48PM

Was the house owned by both as joint tenants? If so it passes to the joint owner automatically outside of any will instruction or intestacy rules.

Treehoger1 · 12 June 2017 at 9:55PM

Hi, yes they were both tenants, I am not sure what exactly it is but I think it is joint tenants. I just checked land registry and both of my parents are there as registered owners.
Thank you Yorkshireman and Kynthia.
I was going to move in to the house with my family and help my dad but now it doesn't look like he will be moving back. If the local authority puts a charge, does it mean we can still move in and pay back at some arrangement? Or will the house have to be sold?

Yorkshireman99 · 12 June 2017 at 10:02PM

Treehoger1 wrote: »

Hi, yes they were both tenants, I am not sure what exactly it is but I think it is joint tenants. I just checked land registry and both of my parents are there as registered owners.
Thank you Yorkshireman and Kynthia.
I was going to move in to the house with my family and help my dad but now it doesn't look like he will be moving back. If the local authority puts a charge, does it mean we can still move in and pay back at some arrangement? Or will the house have to be sold?

Someone will need to deal with her estate first, You need to establish if they owned it as joint tenants in common or joint tenants. Perhaps a visit to the CAB would be a good start.

McKneff · 12 June 2017 at 10:39PM

Op said in the original post that mum left no will

Kynthia · 12 June 2017 at 10:52PM

Treehoger1 wrote: »

Hi, yes they were both tenants, I am not sure what exactly it is but I think it is joint tenants. I just checked land registry and both of my parents are there as registered owners.
Thank you Yorkshireman and Kynthia.
I was going to move in to the house with my family and help my dad but now it doesn't look like he will be moving back. If the local authority puts a charge, does it mean we can still move in and pay back at some arrangement? Or will the house have to be sold?

Whoever is dealing with the estate will need to find out whether tgey were joint tenants or tenants in common as this is important. This forum can help point that person in the right direction with how to deal with the estate once someone has all the infirmation to hand. However I can imagine it's an unbelievably stressful time with your dad in hospital too.

I would imagine Age Concern would have information about going into care and how it will be funded. Try their site.

Keep_pedalling · 12 June 2017 at 11:05PM

If, as likely, they were joint tennants then your father now owns the house outright, and as your mother had no other assets of note then you do not need to apply for letters of administration.

If on the other hand they were tennants in common, he owns his share and will inherit her full share if it is below £250k otherwise £250k + 50% of the remInder. In this case you will need to apply for letters of administration.

The real dificulty you are going to have is with the lack of an LPA, because to manage his affairs you will need to apply to the courts for deputyship.

https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy/overview

Treehoger1 · 13 June 2017 at 10:16PM

Hi All,
Thank you for all your replies, lots to look at and will do. Much appreciated and will keep updated

No will mum dies

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