Distressing problem with local Council after mother's death

back_against_the_wall

My mother sadly died in March 2010. Up to December 2008 we had been living in a terrace house owned by my mother. My father died in 2002 and I am an only child so there were just the 2 of us. I had to give up work 10 years ago for health reasons and later on to look after my elderly mother. I am now 58 and my only income is a small pension from the Civil Service.
The local Council, Salford, decided to "regenerate" the area where we used to live and served a Compulsory Purchase Order on our home. Under the Council's "relocation assistance" policy they were obliged to provide financial assistance to my mother to assist us to move as a family to what we were led to believe would be a new family home.
The financial package amounted to £35,000, this to be added to the consideration paid by the Council for our former home, amounting to about £64,500, all to go towards the purchase of a new home in a local area strictly defined by the Council.
Given the CPO, we had no choice other than to move and eventually moved in December 2008 to a new leasehold flat just down the road. Unfortunately, my mother, aged 83 at the time of the move, never settled down and the move so badly affected her mental and physical health that just over a year after we moved she sadly died.
As if this was not bad enough the Council then said that my mother's death counted as a "disposal" of the new home we had only just been forced to move to and the finance of £35,000 advanced to my mother was now repayable by me.
I was dumbfounded by this claim, as I do not have £35,000 and I have no means of obtaining a 3rd party mortgage for this sum.
We were led to believe by Council Officers that the only condition attaching to the finance of £35,000 was that, if the property was sold within 10 years of our moving, it would be repayable on a pro rata basis. It was never explained to us at the time that if my mother died within the 10 year period I would become liable to repay the balance remaining which, as she died after only one year of our moving, amounts to almost the full £35,000.
I am contesting the Council's claim on a number of grounds as follows:
(1) That I was not a party to any agreement between the Council and my mother and, therefore, I cannot be held liable personally for any claim or default arising therefrom. Legally, the agreement has nothing to do with me and I certainly signed no contract or other legally binding agreement to pay Salford Council a penny and they therefore have no claim against me personally for the sum they are claiming of £35,000.
(2) That no "disposal" of the property has in fact occurred and the death of my mother does not count as a "disposal" in any legal sense or definition, which requires an actual sale or change in title to the property, neither of which has occurred, and therefore nothing has occurred to trigger any claim by Salford Council for repayment of finances, so long as title to the property remains in my mother's name and now, following her death, with her Estate.
(3) That a legally binding Lease agreement exists between my mother (now her Estate) as the lesseee, and Salford Council, as the lessor, under which the lease to the property is granted to the lessee for a period of 125 years and there are no provisions in the Lease by which the lessor might try to "repossess" the property or the Lease before the end of the Lease period except in the case of a claim by the lessor under Section 146, any such claim and any subsequent claim for "forfeiture" of the Lease to be decided by the Court and no "repossession" action available to the lessor before the decision of the Court.
I feel very bitter towards Salford Council for forcing my mother to move from the home she had lived in most of her married life which undoubtedly contributed to the decline in her health and a death at an earlier age than might have otherwise been expected if she had just been left alone to live out her days in the home she loved. Now, they are potentially trying to make the situation even worse by threatening me, her only son, with eviction, from the new home we had been forced to move to against our wishes and which we were led to believe by the Council was being provided as a new family home for the rest of our lives.
There is a great deal more to this story than I have the space to go into but I have given what I believe to be an accurate gist above and welcome any advice or comments on the legal issues.

loubel

I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm not familiar with the usual terms of compensation for a CPO, but from what you've said it sounds like the council have a financial charge against the property; in which case your mum's PRs should deal with this as part of administering her estate.

Are you your mum's PR? You say that the flat is still in your mum's name so has her estate been left unadministered? Did you inherit the flat (by Will or intestacy)?

Presumably your mum took legal advice at the time (my understanding is that the Council would have paid for this) so perhaps there is some paperwork somewhere explaining the terms of the compensation.

Either way, I think your best bet would be to gather together all the paperwork and get some legal advice yourself on the agreement between your mum and the council and whether her death triggers repayment like they say it does and go from there.

Caroline_a

This is a really sad story, but I think you need to be talking to solicitors really, rather than asking questions of laypeople on a web forum. I wish you luck with it, hope it all works out for you.

daska

Who dealt with your mother's estate? If she left a Will then the Executor should have ensured that all debts and liabilities were paid before disposing of the residual estate to the beneficiaries. You need to speak with this person to get evidence that they correctly handled the transfer of the property to you. If there was a formal loan I would have expected it to have been registered against the property so that any transfer would bring it to light.

Did she leave a Will? If not did you apply for Letters of Administration and either appoint a Solicitor or do the paperwork yourself?

Unfortunately, if the estate isn't large enough to cover all the funeral costs, debts and liabilities out of cash or sale of moveable items then any property does have to be sold to realise the money.

You really need to take professional advice.

Fire_Fox

You need to read whatever your mother signed with the council and take legal advice.

pearl123

I've got to agree with the other poster - a really sad story.
I hope you get some good help in sorting this out succesfully. Sounds like you need a solicitors but would it be also poping into the CAB first?

back_against_the_wall

My mother did not make a Will but I am her only next of kin so I am the only person with any claim to her Estate. I am living in the flat, which is the only asset of the Estate. We moved to the flat together. I have nowhere else to go and it would be a nightmare to have to move again so soon. I paid for the funeral out of my savings. I am my mother's PR but I have not yet applied for Probate as this would certainly entail a change in title to the property. The Council does have a charge on the property but it has not been properly established that her death of itself triggers any claim for repayment of the finance. The only advice we got at the time came from the Council. I cannot afford a solicitor and the only alternative is the CAB who I will approach depending on what action the Council decides to take. The Council have been guilty of appalling delay in this matter. 16 months elapsed between an interview I had in March 2011 with their representative, at which some proposals were suggested, and their suddenly re-opening the matter early last month as if the interval had never happened. Thanks for your advice anyway.

hardpressed

Have you thought of contacting your MP? It's a terrible situation for you to be in

back_against_the_wall

Yes I have written to my MP, Graham Stringer, with a full account of the situation I am in through no fault of my own. He has expressed his concern and is taking up my case with Salford Council. I am not sure exactly what he can do but any help and support is welcome.