House and inheritance

tortoiseshellcat

Hi I don't know if anyone will know the answer to these questions but I thought it's worth asking anyway...

1) My dad died intestate, the only relations left are my sister and myself, also my dad had an older sister. I have just received letters of administration but am not really sure what I need to do about his house. He owned his house outright and it was solely in his name. Do I have to sell it and then split the money between my sister and I? Do I leave the deeds in my dad's name until it is sold? Is my dad's sister entitled to anything?

2) The other thing is that I am housing association tenant and therefore should I try and sell the house as quickly as possible?

Sorry if these questions sound a bit daft but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do next.

Any advice really would be appreciated.

dawyldthing

one of the main things is to get probate granted before you put the house on the market

This may help http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029799

Have a read through this, its pretty lengthy but will keep you informed
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dwp1027.pdf

Sorry to hear about your loss though

DVardysShadow

Don't rush to put the house on the market because of your own situation. At the moment, it belongs to your father's estate and you should leave it that way until you understand the implications of transferring it to your sister and yourself or selling it or whatever. Just take your time.

Dunroamin

There are no particular implications for you as an HA tenant , but do either you or your sister claim any means tested benefits?

xylophone

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page14-1.htm
The duties of an administrator are to collect and safeguard the assets of the deceased, pay his debts and then distribute the remainder of the estate to the beneficiaries.
You will need to contact your father's banks/building societies/pension provider(s) etc. You should also advise the local council and sort out the council tax.

As you have letters of administration you should be able to deal with the sale of your father's house. A solicitor will assist with this.

Richard_Webster

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page14-1.htm
The duties of an administrator are to collect and safeguard the assets of the deceased, pay his debts and then distribute the remainder of the estate to the beneficiaries.
You will need to contact your father's banks/building societies/pension provider(s) etc. You should also advise the local council and sort out the council tax.

As you have letters of administration you should be able to deal with the sale of your father's house. A solicitor will assist with this.

Yes. Your father's sister is not entitled to anything from the estate.

If you are going to sell the house there's no point in wasting legal costs and Land Registry fees registering the administrator(s) as owner(s).

ognum

I am sorry to hear of the death of your father and understand the difficulties in getting to grips with a deceased estate.

As far as the property is concerned you can keep it in the name of your father until it is either sold or let.

The reasons to do this are the cost of doing a transfer and the council will usually differ council tax for a year until you have managed to sort out the estate which means you will have a nil rate.

When the property is sold the lawyer will do a transfer directly to the new owner as long as you provide death and probate certificates.

Good luck, winding up an estate can be a long road but take it at a steady pace, don't try to rush even though you feel you want to.

one last point have you informed the insurance provider for the house of the death of your father. It isimportant to do so as they may have requirements regarding switching off water or the need for someone to visit the house on a regular basis in order to keep the insurance valid.

tortoiseshellcat

Thank you for all your helpful replies. Yes we do have probate already (letters of administration) so am also in the process of contacting banks/building societies. No I am not on any benefits but was concerned that if I have access to a house then I might not be entitled to remain in social housing (although only half of the house would actually be mine).

I shall keep the deeds etc in my dad's name until such a time as we are able to sell the property (it will need to be emptied and some repairwork done before we can attempt to sell it.)

I will contact the council tax people also to inform them that we now have probate. I haven't found any evidence of house insurance amongst his paperwork so I'm not even sure if the buildings are insured.

Many thanks for all your help with this.

ognum

tortoiseshellcat wrote: »

Thank you for all your helpful replies. Yes we do have probate already (letters of administration) so am also in the process of contacting banks/building societies. No I am not on any benefits but was concerned that if I have access to a house then I might not be entitled to remain in social housing (although only half of the house would actually be mine).

I shall keep the deeds etc in my dad's name until such a time as we are able to sell the property (it will need to be emptied and some repairwork done before we can attempt to sell it.)

I will contact the council tax people also to inform them that we now have probate. I haven't found any evidence of house insurance amongst his paperwork so I'm not even sure if the buildings are insured.

Many thanks for all your help with this.

It would be wise to get some home insurance otherwise if there is a problem, fire, flood etc you could be left with a loss!

xylophone

Google "unoccupied property insurance" - it would be wise to deal with this as soon as possible.

BigAunty

tortoiseshellcat wrote: »

...No I am not on any benefits but was concerned that if I have access to a house then I might not be entitled to remain in social housing (although only half of the house would actually be mine).

Your tenancy is secure despite ownership of a property elsewhere that you do not occupy. Most social housing contracts stipulate the socially rented property must be lived in - if you moved out and it was no longer your primary residence, this is when you would jeopardise your tenancy - your inheritance itself does not cause a conflict.