Debt after death

Mands

Alassia wrote: »

For me, this is the crux of the matter and why I worry that, if I do nothing, it will only get worse.

Alassia,

Is the house in joint names? If so your husband has an estate and Laiki will probably want the debt repaid from that.

Is there a will and does it leave everything to you? If so you must be using a lawyer.

If there's no will his half of the estate will be distributed under the rules of forced heirship. Do you understand how that will impact you?

Do you have the means to pay the lawyers bill? They must charge a minimum of 5% of the value of the estate. If the house is worth 170k€ and you are listed as equal partners on the deeds then that will be around 4k€ (170k * 50% * 5%).

Are there any organisations that you or your husband belong(ed) to who might be able to help? UKCA, SSAFA, ABF, Lions perhaps?

Mands

Anthorn

opinions4u wrote: »

You are of course correct. Although the Scots and Northern Irish have virtually identical laws to England and Wales in this matter.


Many of them were pretty serious and significant errors on your part.

But certain matters can be handled prior to the issue of probate or letters of administration.

the most significant here being the laws of Cyprus.

But the charging of interest wouldn't be.

We don't know either way. But in the UK it will be "joint and several" in 99% of cases. In Cyprus? No idea.

The property remains at risk if a mortgage is in arrears.

It isn't. It didn't even mention Cyprus.

I have a feeling I'm being trolled here but I'll reply one last time:

We are supposed to be commenting on the OP (Opening Post) and not embarking on Pedantry which you appear to be doing. Every one of your statements raises questions such as "Like what", "in what circumstances", "what do you mean by that" and "where is your evidence" all of which are most likely irrelevant to the OP anyway!

What you appear to be failing to grasp is that the arbitrary, pure application of law without deviation is extremely rare. If that were the case (pun intended) we wouldn't need courts of law. You need to look up the word, "reasonable".

Yes it's in Cyprus but I did advise getting a lawyer which I assume would be Cypriot or at least would have a good knowledge of Cypriot law.

Lastly, where did I say I was quoting English law or even commenting on Engish law? As I've exhaustively pointed out, I was commenting on the likely outcome in the case of the OP and the information supplied by the OP.

Alassia

Mands wrote: »

Alassia,

Is the house in joint names? If so your husband has an estate and Laiki will probably want the debt repaid from that.

Is there a will and does it leave everything to you? If so you must be using a lawyer.

If there's no will his half of the estate will be distributed under the rules of forced heirship. Do you understand how that will impact you?

Do you have the means to pay the lawyers bill? They must charge a minimum of 5% of the value of the estate. If the house is worth 170k€ and you are listed as equal partners on the deeds then that will be around 4k€ (170k * 50% * 5%).

Are there any organisations that you or your husband belong(ed) to who might be able to help? UKCA, SSAFA, ABF, Lions perhaps?

Mands

Thanks, Mands. It's complicated because the bank's surveyor made a mistake when he visited the property initially to assess it for mortgage purposes.There are two village houses, on two plots.Although he assessed the entire property, his report specified one plot, which has two rooms only, and the bank gave us back the title deeds to the rest (the main house) when we completed. Those deeds are in my name. Half of the two roomed cottage is what constitutes my husband's estate now - and the bank hold the deeds for this.

It was a big mistake on the part of the bank but we have never told them about their error and have paid each month, because that seemed fair to us. They don't realise that they only have a quarter of the property in my husbands name. Do you think I should tell them?

There was no will. I know a little bit about heirship here in Cyprus but I am very close to my husband's family, who are brilliant, and they have no intention of making any claim.

The minimum fee, set by the law society is 8,000 euros!

It's going to be a long, hard road I think. I just don't know if I'm up to it!

zerog

Alassia wrote: »

... They don't realise that they only have a quarter of the property in my husbands name. Do you think I should tell them?

No, I think I speak for everyone else here when I say: I think you need to get a lawyer in Cyprus and stop posting here!