House Sale, Brethren says house is HIS.

makeyourdaddyproud

Hello All,

Father recently passed away, and burial paid for my half-brother, no problems there. But he is saying I have no rights over the 270k house. I have a feeling my dad is still on the deeds but I am not sure. He left no will, and it would ostensibly seem his portion would be divided up between his 4 children (me oldest).

They have refused to entertain the idea of selling the property and I have lodged a caveat with the Probate Office. Is there nothing more I can do?

When he died, I suspect he may have leveraged a portion of his estate to pay bills but because my half-brother who still lives at the house, refuses to let me see his paperwork, I am unable to see or determine what his estate looks like.

The loan charge against the house is about 87k, thats all I know.

I feel like to rolling over and letting my half brother deal with and claim the estate at the expense of me and my sister (born in the 60's, he born in the 80's).

What to do?

Regards

makeyourdaddyproud

He still lives at the house, and not having access to paperwork, it would seem a lost cause. It's not that I need the money (we are well off), but principles are paramount, and it would be a travesty to his memory for me to forgive and forget.

BitterAndTwisted

Apply for probate before your half-brother does and then administer the estate according to the law.

There are very serious consequences for not administering a dead person's estate correctly. Your half-brother can't just decide what happens to the house or the proceeds of it.

If he's already applied for probate a nice, polite solicitor's letter reminding him of his legal duties might make him think twice.

makeyourdaddyproud

Thanks for your reply.

The thing is, there is not incentive for him to get probate. The mortgage is small, and there isn't a cheaper residential alternative.

On the subject of Probate, I cannot be sure if my dad's estate will materialise an inheritance for me and my sister, who is suffering from depression.

I could, like you say, appy for Probate - since i'm the oldest, but I would prefer not to do that as I don't really know what the outcome will be if there are hidden charges on his portion outstanding.

I guess I am looking for way to to become involved in any future sale of the property (elected or by force), since I have registered a caveat with the PO.

Taking on Probate would mean kicking him out of the house and dealing with the (unknown) circumstances of his estate.

I would go on to say that my father was not estate-savvy, prefering to ignore so long as he can remain housed there.

Regards

BitterAndTwisted

If you are fearful of not being treated fairly and legally where the balance of your father's estate is concerned then I suggest that you apply for probate yourself and administer the estate yourself. Even with a charge of £87k against a property with an estimated £270k of value there is likely to be a substantial sum to be shared between the three of you.

If your half-brother cannot afford to buy you and your sibling's interest in the property from you both then it must be sold. It's not a matter of choice and it's not a matter of kicking him out of the house either, he may inherit what could be considered a pretty decent sum. If none of that is palatable to you, then just gift him your share and be done with it.

You might post your enquiry on the "Deaths, Funerals and Probate" part of the forum where you could get advice from more experienced posters.

vanoonoo

my condolences

I cant offer fully sound advice but I think you can do a land/registry search and see who currently has the property title against their name and I believe that is not an expensive process.

once you know for sure, seek advice thru CAB rather than anecdotally as each case is different and what has worked in one case may not be valid in another.

always best to deal in facts.

good luck with whatever you chose to do, it is likely to be an emotionally difficult time.

bossymoo

Sorry to hear about your dad. Perhaps your brother is worried he'll lose his home. Needless to say, has anyone applied for letters of administration? Since he died intestate, someone will need to take charge of valuing the estate and any debts. and apply for probate.
If you can't sort this out between you then solicitors end up involved and costing a whole lot more.
Best of luck.

And if you don't have a will yourself, make one!

blossomhill_2

Hi OP - sorry to hear of your loss. Some good advice already given, I hope you can act on it at what must be a difficult time for you

We had this, with one relative living in the house when parent of 3 died - the brothers let it lie for a few years until one hit hard times and they asked the one living-in to buy them out - by that time he had sold all the furniture and they lost out on the value of the antique furniture that had been part of the estate

So as a minimum the estate needs to be valued asap, inc the house. CAB is your best starting point

It does seem possible from the way you have worded your op that dad may have given up some of his interest in the house, (you mention "his portion", or did they buy it between them?) to your HB. If this turns out to be the case, this should be looked into to make sure he didn't do this under duress, as HB sounds a bit of a dominant character. And if the bills he paid were household bills then HB would have been liable for a % of these.

When the estate is divided up, this would be after any expenses such as the funeral that HB has initially paid for

theoretica

It will be important not if your father was on the deeds, but if your half brother was, and if they were tenants in common or joint tenants. If they were 'joint tenants' then the house does pass to the survivor on the deeds. If they were tenants in common each owned a certain proportion and as your father died without a will his portion would follow the intestacy rules.

Pink.

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your father.

We now have a Deaths, Funerals & Probate board where you should get more advice so I've moved your thread over there.

Pink

Fire_Fox

If nobody applies for probate and there is a loan (?mortgage) against the property there is a risk of the place being repossessed which means none of you will see anything much. You have been advised to apply for probate yourself which is the most logical course of action, and no it doesn't mean 'kicking him out of the house', depends if there is a will or what the other beneficiaries want to do. No idea what this means "the outcome will be if there are hidden charges on his portion outstanding."