Bit of a tricky one, help appreciated - Long!

noahsmummy

My father owned my grandparents house, when he passed away the house was passed onto his 4 children as joint owners (later to be changed to 3 children and my mother) it was put into legal documents that my grandparents would remain in the house until they died, rent free as they had been living when my father was alive. My father had owned the house many years but it was kind of forgotten about as my grandparents very much treated it like their own, did all their own maintenence etc.

Many years later my grandfather has now past away and my nanna has been living alone in the house ever since. Unfortunately we didn't see nanna as much as we liked, with a visit approximately once a month, June last year my sister was informed (off the record by a friend of hers who happened to be one of my nannas carers) that my nanna had been taken to a care home to live, my uncle hadn't let us know (my uncle is a very bitter man who resents the fact he has no financial claim on my nannas house) my mother eventually got in touch with him to be told that yes she was in a home but would be returning back to the house which was fine. Roll on 3 months and the neighbour of the house mentioned in passing that noone had been in the property since June, my mother again contacted my uncle who said she was being assessed and would be home within days. My uncle has refused to give us details of the care home so we can't even visit our nanna

Fast forward to this week and it has come to our attention that my nanna will not be returning to the house and the house has been empty coming up to a year, the garden is overgrown and a mess and the house has been trashed (my poor nanna has dementia but she was still very house proud and we believe the trashing was after she left due to the fact her bed is still freshly crisp and made as she made it and it's drawers that have been opened and left on the floor rummaged through) my uncle has also removed the fridge/freezer and washing machine from the property.

Now to get to the point, obviously we need to sort the house out, we have no tenancy agreement, no rental money has changed hands and obviously we have proof we have never resided in the property however it seems at a glance my uncle has already informed utility companies my nanna has moved out yet her bank statements and important documents are still going there, there is also an outstanding gas bill which is going up £14 per letter, 1st question - am I correct in thinking we aren't liable for these bills?

Secondly - my nannas possessions (anything of value - ornaments etc) have been removed but obviously her furniture is still there and her general things, legally how long do we need to give him to clear the property?

Thirdly - is there anything we need to do other than contact utility companies to give my uncles address?

We need to get the house sorted as soon as possible, due to my uncle being so bitter he has removed polythene from the flat porch roof to cause rain to come in and this has damaged electrics and the plastering. I am correct in believing things are different because there's no agreements in place, obviously no deposit etc? As you can imagine we are disgusted with my uncles spiteful behaviour but my nanna lived in her house for a long time and so we don't want to just get rid of her things hence giving him time to come to sort it, how long should we give is the main question?

Sorry this is so long.

pimento

What does your uncle have to do with it? Has he been your grandmother's carer?

Good_Money

Your uncle I guess has keys to the property?

I would get the locks changed and only the legally named owners should have the keys, then you can start to work out what to do next.

BitterAndTwisted

No, you are not liable for anyone else's utility bills and neither is the uncle: your granny is. The house is owned by whoever inherited it and the uncle had no right of entry and there's nothing you can do about whatever has been removed unless you have documentary evidence of theft. As you have no contact with Nanna you have no idea whether he was authorised by her to remove her things to "a place of safety".

I'd do as Good Money suggested and get round there and change the locks asap. You have a responsibility to ensure Nanna's things are stowed somewhere securely or that uncle could cause all kinds of strife for you if you decide to clear the house and dump them.

FireWyrm

God, this reminds me of a story my other half told me about the death of his grandmother. Apparently, most of the family went to the funeral, including very distant relatives, but they were all supposed to go back to the house after for the wake. Apparently, the immediate relatives pulled up outside after the funeral to find the distant relatives, complete with transit van busy helping themselves to the contents of the property. My OH said it was like watching a bunch of vultures dismantling a corpse.

princeofpounds

Is the Uncle actually in occupation? If not, you can indeed just change the locks, secure the property. The only people you have to give access to are the people on the title of the property. And your grandmother of course.

If he is in occupation, it's not quite so clear, as he might be regarded as a squatter given he did not force entry. Then you might need to go to court to get possession.

With regards to the missing valuable items, up to you whether to pursue theft charges. If you can prove the articles were there, that he took them, and that he did not have permission, then you have a strong case. But you would probably need your grandmother to participate in some way to show that she did not instruct him to do this - is that worth it? Don't know.

With regards to the utility bills, your grandmother is responsible for these, and should she not pay and then pass away, her estate will be. So it might be worth putting a system in place to sort the utilities out for her.

pimento

FireWyrm wrote: »

God, this reminds me of a story my other half told me about the death of his grandmother. Apparently, most of the family went to the funeral, including very distant relatives, but they were all supposed to go back to the house after for the wake. Apparently, the immediate relatives pulled up outside after the funeral to find the distant relatives, complete with transit van busy helping themselves to the contents of the property. My OH said it was like watching a bunch of vultures dismantling a corpse.

That's terrible. What happened when the immediate relatives saw what was happening?

FireWyrm

pimento wrote: »

That's terrible. What happened when the immediate relatives saw what was happening?

They stood by and not wanting to make a scene apparently let them do it. My sister-in-law managed to grab some Hummel figurines that were supposed to have gone to her anyway, but they were too late to save the jewellery or indeed most of the heavy furniture. Personally, I find it inconceivable and I would have been calling the police myself - but my FIL was never one to lose his temper. Since it was his fathers mother, I would have been furious if I were him.

dodger1

noahsmummy wrote: »

We need to get the house sorted as soon as possible, due to my uncle being so bitter he has removed polythene from the flat porch roof to cause rain to come in and this has damaged electrics and the plastering. I am correct in believing things are different because there's no agreements in place, obviously no deposit etc? As you can imagine we are disgusted with my uncles spiteful behaviour but my nanna lived in her house for a long time and so we don't want to just get rid of her things hence giving him time to come to sort it, how long should we give is the main question?

No agreement or deposit for what? Giving him time to sort what? It's nothing to do with him unless we haven't got all the information. As far as not knowing where your nana is, simple, go to the local police and tell them she is missing and suspect your uncle is involved. It wont take long to sort that out.

noahsmummy

Sorry I forgot to mention my nanna has severe dementia so my uncle has been in charge of all her affairs (money, bills etc) so we assumed it would be him that would be in charge of sorting her things out as she isn't capable? He's never lived in the property but has keys due to being a 'carer' we aren't bothered about the fridge or washing machine, we just don't want to dispose of my nanna's things really because they're hers it's all too complicated. I have sent him a letter basically giving him 2 weeks to sort out her things and then the locks will be changed, I suppose we just wanted confirmation we weren't doing anything illegal, would give anything to have my nanna in sound mind back in her home. Thanks for the replies.

45002

noahsmummy wrote: »

Sorry I forgot to mention my nanna has severe dementia so my uncle has been in charge of all her affairs (money, bills etc) so we assumed it would be him that would be in charge of sorting her things out as she isn't capable? He's never lived in the property but has keys due to being a 'carer' we aren't bothered about the fridge or washing machine, we just don't want to dispose of my nanna's things really because they're hers it's all too complicated. I have sent him a letter basically giving him 2 weeks to sort out her things and then the locks will be changed, I suppose we just wanted confirmation we weren't doing anything illegal, would give anything to have my nanna in sound mind back in her home. Thanks for the replies.

noahsmummy