Sort of dispute over house, is it still ok to sell the house and buy another?

lovebug_rita

A friend of mine lived with his parents all his life as he and his wife cared for his parents. He has several siblings who all moved out of the family home and made their own homes with finacial help from the parents. Anyway to cut a very long story short. parents died 20 years or so apart. The father who died most recently discussed his estate with his sons and took steps to have his son and DIL as joint tenants (i think thats right, where all own property equally and it passes over upon death outright). Anyway, been about 7 years since the father has been dead but the rest of the siblings are now trying to dispute the house saying it was done under duress (despite the paperwork being in place for 12 before the father died of organ failure).
q1) do the other siblings have any case if everything was done lawfully and over periods of years prior to the death of the father. bearing in mind the father has now been dead about 7 years ?
q2) the house is not involved in any legal proceedings at the moment, are they free to sell and move like they want to as it's been so long that they have lived there and the area is not the nicest place in the world.

your advise would really be appreciated by my friends.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

The time for dispute was seven years ago, when the siblings found out they weren't going to inherit the property. Shouldn't think the siblings have a leg to stand on. An hour with a solicitor should give all the advice and information they need and certainly worth it for your friends peace of mind.

Ian_W

This isn't legal advice and as they're thinking about selling they should think about getting a solicitor to advise at this stage so they know they're in the clear. If they don't want the expense then a call or visit to the local CAB may well be able to provide them with some reassurance.

My thoughts would be:
1. You don't say whether or not the father left a will or died intestate but in either case I believe someone would have been granted probate by the courts. Wills and other documents can be challenged but generally only where duress or lack of sound mind at the time they were made or altered can be shown. 19yrs after the event is a long time to prove such a thing and, in any case, most legal processes come with time limitations to start action so I don't think the courts would look favourably on a challenge, unless for example new evidence had recently come to light. If the only reason this is being brought up now is because they're selling the house I would be extremely surprised if it wasn't time barred.
2. If they go to the Land Registry WEBSITE for a small charge [£2 springs to mind] they can download details of the entry there. If they are shown as the only owners with no cautions or charges, other than perhaps a mortgage if they have one, then they can sell the property as they have clear title. It may be possible for the relatives to try and get a court to stop the sale but due to the time since the death of the father, as above, I would think it's unlikely to work.

Hope that helps.

lovebug_rita

Thanks Ian. I understand that the father died intestate as, as far as he was concerned he had already taken the necessary steps to distribute his estate in the UK. He did leave alot of wealth in another country but I am unsure of what and also believe that the other siblings have already somehow taken control over this and put it into their names. The only real concern my friends have is that they are distaught over this family fued over house they had no interest in. As for the deeds, they automatically passed into my friends name and also they have more recent deeds just with their names in joint as they were required to update their paperwork. I believe that they have sought a little advice via CAB before when the siblings threatened action before but all that has come out so far has been idle threats to try to establish duress and for them to willingly sign the house over in other siblings names. Obviously this will not happen willingly. I think I will advice them to seek more legal advice and if they are told it is fine to sell with no repercussions then fingers crossed that is what they will do. Thank you for your advice everyone.. hopefully this year it will get sorted either way. It is ridiculous that it has been going on for so long.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Whether duress was used or not, which may be impossible to prove 7 years after death and unlikely to be found as no allegations have been made during that time, it would appear your friends own the property and have a right to dispose of it.
I think one of the duties of a conveyancing solicitor is to ensure that those selling a property are legally entitled to do so, so I imagine all this will be sorted out as part of any sale removing any need to seek advice from CAB.

Ian_W

No lovebug, with the further info you've posted I agree entirely with Dora, it's their property they can sell. The mumping and grumping from the family is just that, if they were going to do anything to contest the situation they would, and more importantly would have had to, long ago.
Don't tell them to get more legal advice, tell them instead to stop worrying about their family and taking their gripes and idle threats so seriously, if their names are on the deeds they are entitled to sell the house so they should get on and do it.

lovebug_rita

Thank you so much for their advice, I will speak to them soon and hope they are more reassured with ur helpful comments. thanks.