Advice Desperately Needed re: Inherited Property

Comedy_Dave_2

Hi All,

Sorry to offload this but I am struggling knowing where to go, and I can't afford to outlay for legal advice. I am hoping there is someone here in the know.

My Mum passed away in Nov 2007. She had a property that was mortgage free and was passed onto me and my brother and sister. 3 way split. My Brother is on benefits and lives in a rural area, my Mum's property is close to the town centre and he decided that he was going to spend time between the both. My sister does, and has always wanted the property sold as soon as possible. My brother has been very awkward towards my sister, and I have managed to be in the middle, mainly in order to find a resolution. My brother for a while had ideas about buying the property, and had the intention of doing so. There was a statement in the will giving him x amount of time to buy the property at market value should he wish. He was insistent about doing so, but never had a job, and never secured a mortgage. The time he had, had since expired.

He contined to use and abuse the property over a pariod of time. Random 'tat' including scrap and car parts appeared there and the decor of the house has been damaged. He has also carried out minor alterations, damaged the kitchen, most of tha applicances no longer work (fridge, washing machine, boiler broken etc), carpets damaged, wallpaper etc. He has even placed locks on 2 of the bedrooms. I have taken photographs of this which has to be seen to believed.

The house was valued somewhere between 125-140K. With the damage caused and depreciating value it is probably worth around 100k. I had expressed an interest in selling my property and buying Mum's, but my Brother has made it so awkward, and I think the only option is to sell it to whoever and cut mine, and my sisters losses. I find this really sad. My Mum was ill for a period but always did her best to look after the house, and now it looks awful.

I finally managed to evict my brother (with a bit of help from the Council Benefits Investigation Team) from the property and it has been uninhabited since Nov/Dec 08. My Brother always seems to return to the property during the day, but why I dont know. However, there is still a lot of junk in the property which is my brothers and whilst I have been putting pressure on him to shift it, he has moved very slowly in doing so. My sister made efforts to clear some scrap, he reported her for theft. I've offered to pay for a skip and he has declined it. The place as it is is practically unsellable, and I doubt my brouther really wants to sell it to be honest.

I have my own property and my ingoings match my outgoings. I am now being hassled by the Council to pay Council Tax on the property! I have contacted various people including Legal Services Direct, with very little success. I cannot afford to pay a solicitor outright, just as I cannot afford to pay Council Tax on a 2nd property! I have rang the Council twice about this, and am still waiting for a call for them to offer assistance. Apparently they are 2 weeks behind for whatever reason, but that is of no help to me.

What I want to do is legally take control of the property with my sister in order to dispose of it as we see fit. In addition I feel that my brother should be at least equally liable, if not totally liable for the fees incurred. I also want to be able to shift his crap from the property without the threat of legal action for theft. I am hoping to get Estate Agents in again, knowing that they will value the property low, and my brother will refuse to sell at the prices they value, even though he owns only 33%. He says he will do the property up, but will have to rely on me to pay the costs... Like I can afford that one! An even bigger fear is that he may move back in even though I have confiscated the gas and electric cards.

I would appreciate any advice possible, as I am at wits end. I have tried to mediate, but accept that is now impossible and will need to use a solicitor. I am going to incur Council Tax bills that I cannot afford. I don't actually know what a solicitor is going to be able to do for me, or my sister. It has left me feeling anger, and to some extent hatred towards my brother for the pain he is causing when you just want to get on with your life.

Apologies for any spelling mistakes, this is a bit of a keyboard bashing rant! Any replies/advice are seriously appreciated.

Catti

Who has been appointed as the Executor(s) of the Will?

Comedy_Dave_2

All 3 of us.

Catti

Have you obtained probate either together of one or more of you?

Comedy_Dave_2

Probate was obtained together. The process was instigated by me appointing a Solicitor to act for all 3 of us which we all signed the forms to. The property has been split 3 ways but is still registered with my Mum as owner on the land registry. This is because my hope was to sell the property asap and not incur needless costs...

mlz1413

Surely council tax should be paid by all 3 of you with any amounts not made either being taken out of the 33% share or awarded to the person who paid on completion (obviously a long way off)

Can you change the locks to stop your brother getting in?

I don't know the law on this but can you go to court and get the exector changed? hopefully your solicitor can advise on such issues.

I feel very sorry for you having to deal with this, it is always a shame when families fall out, but in your case particuarlly sad when one sibling is ruining things for all.

Comedy_Dave_2

The irony is that 50% of the property was mine, given to me by my Father who seperated from my Mum. As my Mum paid the whole mortgage, I felt that I had no right to the property, and signed it over to my Mum. My Mum passed away a couple of months later. So, if I was greedy I probably could have been laughing...

Comedy_Dave_2

I contacted Legal Services Direct, an advice line. They have given me details of a local solicitor who may offer free 30 minute appointments. I have rang them, but am still waiting for a phone call.

RAS

Do you have a valuation for the house prior to the damage done by DB?

I think you starting point is to get Db removed as an executir and then you can move on.

Has he any idea that he has reduced the value of his own portion of the estate, as well as yours?

pinkshoes

I think you need to sit down with your sister, and work out a plan of action.

1. Get the house valued in its current state

2. Change the locks, and stop your brother moving back in.

3. When the house is valued, write to your brother with the potential selling price, and how much he will end up with after all costs have been paid. Perhaps when it's written on paper that he can have £30k, then he might agree???

4. Also make clear that he needs to move his car bits by <insert date>, otherwise you will consider it as unwanted rubbish and dispose of it.

5. Point out that in theory you should deduct the damage he caused from his share of the property sale (approximately £10k???), but if he agrees to the sale of the house and clears his carp up, you will overlook this.

botchjob

Gosh, how grim and sad. From what you say there doesn’t sound like there is any chance of resolving this amiciably with your brother and that you’re going to have to some how find the money for a solicitor who knows what they’re doing. It’s possible they may agree to defer the bulk of their fees until the sale of the house, so it may be more affordable than you think. And unless you want this hanging over you even longer than it has done already, a quick sale at auction might be an idea, even though you’ll take an inevitable hit on the value.