uncle died and left a will

caris

My fathers twin brother died in hospital in April, he had left a will, and he also had his own house, (was previously parents house, only house the family ever lived in, so no outstanding mortgage). My uncles next door neighbour had previously offered my uncle the full market value of the house and said it would be a cash sale, but my uncles solicitor told him to refuse, the house has now been empty since he passed away, but all of his belongings are still in there, the solicitor has said nothing can be removed and the house is still not up for sale yet. My father is worried about the fact that no-one is living there, that it may get ransacked or squatters move in.

The will has still not been read.

What should the solicitor be doing and how long should it be before the house goes up for sale?

Hope someone can give us some advise, as my father does not know what should happen next and what the timescales are for getting things sorted,

Justie

why has the will not been read if he died in April? It's in everyone's interests to get probate sorted as soon as possible.

patchwork_cat

In this country there is no such thing as a reading of the will. Have the executors applied for probate?

WestonDave

There is a nice TV caricature that everyone crowds into the solicitors office and he reads out who gets what. Its fiction and doesn't happen!

The will names certain people as executors - this may be relatives, friends or a firm of solicitors (or a combination). Its the executors job to apply to the Probate registry for a grant of probate which in turn authorises them to start collecting in and disposing of assets. For an April death it doesn't strike me as overly delayed to not yet be at a point where it is legally possible to put the house up for sale and start clearing the contents. The problem is that in order to apply for probate you have to establish all the assets and liabilities of the estate. That in itself takes a bit of time waiting for banks etc to respond. The Probate Registry then takes a short time and so on.

In terms of future actions once Probate is granted the executor/solicitor then send a copy to all the banks etc to release the funds they hold, inheritance tax if any is paid along with any other outstanding amounts (funeral account etc) and at that point the estate is distributed in accordance with the will. If you are entitled to anything from it you'll get a letter enclosing a cheque.

Once Probate has been granted the will becomes a public document and you can get a copy from the Probate Registry (probably a fee involved) if you want to see what is in it.

In terms of the house - insurance should be being maintained on it - some solicitors have provision within their own insurance to cover houses in their care during probate although they will usually try to ensure that the original insurance is maintained until its either sold or transferred.

Apologies if some of that is a bit basic but hopefully it will help you understand why the process can take some time, and where abouts in it you probably are.