Inherited half a house but sent no proof by executor

griffin232

Hi i wonder if anyone could help here.

Myself and my Brother inherited half of my late Grandfathers estate.

My Aunty inherited the other half.

The money in my Grandfathers accounts has been split between us but the house which makes up most of the estate is yet to be sold.

My aunty is trying to sell the house but i am concerned that i nor by brother have recieved any documents stating that we actually own half the house.

Should we not have recieved proof?

theartfullodger

Do you have a copy of the will (some proof at least..)

Have you/brother agreed to Aunty selling house, and if so in what form was the agreement to sell ?? - eg letter??

Has Probate been granted??

Who is the executor & what does he say on the matter??

Cheers


Lodger

Ian_W

My aunty is trying to sell the house but i am concerned that i nor by brother have recieved any documents stating that we actually own half the house.

As I understand it with a probate sale the house isn't transferred to the beneficiaries. So you don't own half of it. The house remains in your late Grandfather's name and the executor(s) signs the sales contract with proof probate has been granted.
The executor then distributes the proceeds of the sale to the beneficiaries.

I think the only time it would be put in your names (25% each, 50% to your aunt) is if the house wasn't sold but perhaps rented out.

Is your aunt the executor? Given that she has distributed the cash do you have any reason to distrust her about the house sale?

griffin232

My aunty is the executor so i presume that means she can sell the house for whatever price she thinks right and myself and brother have no say.

DVardysShadow

griffin232 wrote: »

My aunty is the executor so i presume that means she can sell the house for whatever price she thinks right and myself and brother have no say.

She has a legal duty, I think, to do the best for the estate, so she could not legally sell it to someone for 75% of its value and take a personal kickback which is not shared out in accord with the will. Apart from that possibility, she too will benefit from the sale, so her best interests are the smae as yours, more or less.

Ian_W

DVardysShadow wrote: »

She has a legal duty, I think, to do the best for the estate, so she could not legally sell it to someone for 75% of its value and take a personal kickback which is not shared out in accord with the will. Apart from that possibility, she too will benefit from the sale, so her best interests are the smae as yours, more or less.

I also think that's right. I think an executor is in a similar position to a trustee in that they make the decisions, but should act in the best interests of all the beneficiaries when realising the estates assets.

What's the specific problem? Do you think it's worth more than she is selling it for? Can't you speak to her about your concerns?

lili2008

Buy the title deed for £3 off the Land registry website. If you are down as joint tenants with your Aunt, that's proof you own it. Deeds should have been transferred on your Grandfather's death. There are also advantages to serving a notice of severance on your Auntie to change the tenancy status from 'joint tenants' to 'tenants in common' in that you have greater autonomy over your half but if the deeds reflect your ownership, I don't think she can sell it without your say-so anyway. BTW if you didn't know, tenant in this case means owner, not lodger and serving the notice is simply a case of writing her a letter saying so, then telling the Land Registry. No complicated expensive legal stuff.

A house owned by 3 separate people will always throw up problems and cause squabbles. I speak as one who knows!!. Are you thinking you want to sell it and are worried you won't get your share, or do you just not want to sell and it's her pushing it?

DVardysShadow

lili2008 wrote: »

Buy the title deed for £3 off the Land registry website. If you are down as joint tenants with your Aunt, that's proof you own it. Deeds should have been transferred on your Grandfather's death. There are also advantages to serving a notice of severance on your Auntie to change the tenancy status from 'joint tenants' to 'tenants in common' in that you have greater autonomy over your half but if the deeds reflect your ownership, I don't think she can sell it without your say-so anyway. BTW if you didn't know, tenant in this case means owner, not lodger and serving the notice is simply a case of writing her a letter saying so, then telling the Land Registry. No complicated expensive legal stuff.

A house owned by 3 separate people will always throw up problems and cause squabbles. I speak as one who knows!!. Are you thinking you want to sell it and are worried you won't get your share, or do you just not want to sell and it's her pushing it?

Whoa!!! Hold your horses!!! The house belongs to the estate and what we do not know for sure is whether the estate will pass the house or the proceeds of the sale of the house to the beneficiaries. This will not happen instantly.

lili2008

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Whoa!!! Hold your horses!!! The house belongs to the estate and what we do not know for sure is whether the estate will pass the house or the proceeds of the sale of the house to the beneficiaries. This will not happen instantly.

If the cash has been received I assume the rest of the estate has been distributed. Simplest thing is to get a copy of the deeds.

Ian_W

lili2008 wrote: »

If the cash has been received I assume the rest of the estate has been distributed. Simplest thing is to get a copy of the deeds.

That is quite a large assumption though, based on what's been posted to date.
At the mo' my late MIL's estate is still going through using a solicitor (terms of will) with Mrs W and her bro' as executors and only benefiaries. House was sold AFAIK without the title being assented to them, them signing sale contract as exors - if my understanding is correct.

Proceeds from sale distributed to them immediatley but bank accounts and investments have yet to be distributed. Exact opposite of OP's apparent situation but the point is the estate hasn't been distributed in full yet. Got lucky with the house sale, so unusually that money was available first.

Recent TELEGRAPH article may help OP.

Simplest thing would be to speak to the aunt I would have thought.