My mum is desperate!

Xxwkd

As far as we can make out without seeing the document (until tomorrow) he was the sole owner and therefore his daughter would be the heir. But finding her is proving difficult. As we have no idea where she is or even if she still resides in the UK. All I can find is her birth registration and then nothing. I guess it will take time. Not completely sure that the sister has informed her solicitor that there is a daughter. I think she just wants to make sure she gets her money. Which from her point of view is fair enough.

Dimey

Xxwkd wrote: »

As far as we can make out without seeing the document (until tomorrow) he was the sole owner and therefore his daughter would be the heir. But finding her is proving difficult. As we have no idea where she is or even if she still resides in the UK. All I can find is her birth registration and then nothing. I guess it will take time. Not completely sure that the sister has informed her solicitor that there is a daughter. I think she just wants to make sure she gets her money. Which from her point of view is fair enough.

OK. If the daughter is the sole beneficiary and therefore sole owner of the house then the sister surely can't do what she's doing?

Maybe you don't have to find the daughter yet. Just prove she's still alive. Check this website to see if her death has been registered: -

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/birthmarriagedeathcertificates.htm

If there is no death then she must still be alive.
That may be enough for your Mum's solicitor to get the sister's application thrown out on the grounds that the sister is not the owner of the property.

John_Pierpoint

If the sister is named in the will as the executor, she is now the legal owner BUT
the world only discovers this when she gets probate.
Then mum has 6 months in which to challenge the sister's right to throw her out destitute into the gutter.
Obviously if mum has the capital (can I take it that mum's age offers little prospects of substantial future earnings?) she can offer to buy out the sister.

All this speculation just needs a quick search of the Land Registry on line and a slightly more difficult search of the probate court. The total cost of both is less than £25, perhaps plus a few stamps or bus fares.

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa01s-eng.pdf

If you are feeling rich you can pay a solicitors office to do these simple initial tasks for you.

jewelly

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

If the sister is named in the will as the executor, she is now the legal owner BUT
the world only discovers this when she gets probate.
Then mum has 6 months in which to challenge the sister's right to throw her out destitute into the gutter.
Obviously if mum has the capital (can I take it that mum's age offers little prospects of substantial future earnings?) she can offer to buy out the sister.

All this speculation just needs a quick search of the Land Registry on line and a slightly more difficult search of the probate court. The total cost of both is less than £25, perhaps plus a few stamps or bus fares.

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa01s-eng.pdf

If you are feeling rich you can pay a solicitors office to do these simple initial tasks for you.

Post 5 says the sister already has the Letters of Administration granted by Probate.

Mojisola

jewelly wrote: »

Post 5 says the sister already has the Letters of Administration granted by Probate.

Xxwkd wrote: »

As far as we can make out without seeing the document (until tomorrow) he was the sole owner and therefore his daughter would be the heir. But finding her is proving difficult. As we have no idea where she is or even if she still resides in the UK. All I can find is her birth registration and then nothing. I guess it will take time.

Not completely sure that the sister has informed her solicitor that there is a daughter. I think she just wants to make sure she gets her money. Which from her point of view is fair enough.

This isn't "fair enough" if she has taken on the responsibility of having Letters of Administration. She has a legal duty to administer the estate according to the law - not to benefit herself personally!

I would be writing to her solicitor saying that you understand the daughter to be the heir and seeing his/her reaction.

It's up to the person handling the estate to find any heirs so, if she wants things settled, the sister will have to get busy with that.

kazwookie

I also read there is NO will

Mojisola

kazwookie wrote: »

I also read there is NO will

That's why the daughter is due to inherit - following the intestacy rules.

nom_de_plume

Until the OP can identify who exactly owns and how they own the property I suspect everything is pure speculation.

The flat was originally the father of the sister and my mums partner and was left to him, his sister and her husband in the fathers will.

Mojisola

Dimey wrote: »

If there is no death then she must still be alive.

She could be living abroad somewhere. She could have moved abroad and died there. She could have changed her name (because of marriage or just to cut ties with her past) and her death was registered under than name.

nom_de_plume

The daughter may not even figure in the equation. As John P has mentioned more than once in this thread, the exact ownership of the flat needs to be established before any speculation over who is entitled to inherit any or all of it.