Difficult Relative refusing to vacate property in probate

Awesy

Greetings all
My partner and her sister recently lost both their parents suddenly and have inherited their house. Probate has been granted but since the age off 11 her sister's son has lived in the house looked after by the grandparents, as she was unable to cope with her life. Since working age he has never contributed a single penny to his grandparents and has consistently been nothing but trouble. He's stolen money off his mother and another girl via their cashpoint cards previously leaving them with no money to feed their kids yet neither will make a complaint. My partner's sister (his mother) is manic-depressive bi-polar with alcohol and drug issues and doesn't cope with him or her life well at all leaving most of this problem resting on my partner's shoulders.
He is refusing to leave the property and has his drug-dealer mates round regularly and has generally made the place a tip. Its possible he has sold a few items from the house belonging to his late grandparents since their death although this may be difficult to prove without doing some checking with the usual disposal places, cash-converters etc.
The house is on the market for sale and people are viewing but being put off by the general state of the property due to him making it a complete mess.
The solicitor looking after the probate has said we will have to go through the eviction process and he can still challenge the will up to 6 months after probate has been granted.
Is there a way, besides offering him money which we are loathe to do, to get him out legally ? As it stands, he's basically sabotaging any chance we have of selling by being there.
Thanks in anticipation of any help

RAS

Is there a will?

If so, who is the executor and who are the beneficaries?

getmore4less

If it is a drug den get the police involved.

Also make sure he is responsible for all the bills including the council tax.

Make sure the insurance know the situation of a relaive living there it should be OK.

pmlindyloo

Awesy wrote: »

Greetings all
My partner and her sister recently lost both their parents suddenly and have inherited their house. Probate has been granted but since the age off 11 her sister's son has lived in the house looked after by the grandparents, as she was unable to cope with her life. Since working age he has never contributed a single penny to his grandparents and has consistently been nothing but trouble. He's stolen money off his mother and another girl via their cashpoint cards previously leaving them with no money to feed their kids yet neither will make a complaint. My partner's sister (his mother) is manic-depressive bi-polar with alcohol and drug issues and doesn't cope with him or her life well at all leaving most of this problem resting on my partner's shoulders.
He is refusing to leave the property and has his drug-dealer mates round regularly and has generally made the place a tip. Its possible he has sold a few items from the house belonging to his late grandparents since their death although this may be difficult to prove without doing some checking with the usual disposal places, cash-converters etc.
The house is on the market for sale and people are viewing but being put off by the general state of the property due to him making it a complete mess.
The solicitor looking after the probate has said we will have to go through the eviction process and he can still challenge the will up to 6 months after probate has been granted.
Is there a way, besides offering him money which we are loathe to do, to get him out legally ? As it stands, he's basically sabotaging any chance we have of selling by being there.
Thanks in anticipation of any help

I am presuming that no arrangements were made as regards the grandson in the will?

First of all since probate has been granted then the legal owners of the property should be seeking to evict the grandson.

Contact Shelter and ask what procedure should be used as it will depend on his 'status' - my bet is an excluded occupier.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/about_us/contact_us

I am surprised that your solicitor did not advise you to solve this problem before you put the house up for sale as the grandson can contest the will up to 6 months after probate is granted.

Also I am pretty certain that there will be problems completing the sale as there is not vacant possession.

To be absolutely honest I would be offering him a bribe/compensation to move. Despite all you say about him he will still have to find somewhere else to live.

If you do this and move out then you can get into the house and sort everything out. It is likely that this in itself will make the house sale quicker and fetch a better price than if he were there. (This would then balance out the compensation cost.

Awesy

Thanks RAS and getmore4less for the replies
The Executors are my partner and her sister and they are also the sole beneficiaries of the will. If we make him pay any bills he will have a claim to the property as he could claim it was his family home and this could delay the process and also add further expense. He is unaware of this and I would prefer it to stay that way. I think the next step will be to pull the plug on all of the services and cut everything off. The house is not a drug den as such but one of his friends is a convicted dealer and his other friends smoke weed. Not a huge issue but even so, not ideal when trying to sell a property due to the lingering smell. The insurers will not cover the property if he is in it. The solicitor has said by law it should be vacated as its in probate. The grandson is not mentioned in the will at all and has been told this by the solicitor. Its looking like we have a couple of options so far : send a notice to quit and start proceedings, and/or go there and wait for him to go out then gain access bag his stuff up and change the locks,inform the Police and wait for his return.
The grandson originally agreed he would move when it was sold but he lives like a pig and his mother is not well and easily led by him. He's already had 4k in cash left to her and used it to buy a convertible to drive round in giving it large even though he has no job. He's a leech and total waste of air to be honest. I'm expecting if we offer him a bribe he will be totally unreasonable and want some stupid amount.
I shall have a look at Shelter to get some info so thanks for that.
Update : apparently he wants £10000 or he won't leave.

Tuesday_Tenor

Are there other grandchildren?

Reason I ask is , perhaps the two sisters would find it helpful to give, out of the estate proceeds, £X000 to each grandchild. Thereby giving the problem grandchild the means to move on, but not favouring him over the others.

Look up Deed of Variation as a way of doing this as part of the estate administration. All affected beneficiaries of the will would have to agree, but if those are just the 2 sisters , then it will be simple. Though needs the solicitor to do it.

Awesy

There are 3 grandkids. Some £9000 was left to be divided as follows: £3000 each to both daughters, £1000 each grandchild which they have had. The grandson causing the trouble is 22 years old and was given not only his £1000 but his mother also gave him her £3000. He knows he has no right to stay there and has used this money to go and buy a car to pose round in. He could have used it to find accommodation but chose to play the wide-boy with his mates. He is really a total piece of excrement and has STOLEN from his grandparents both during their life and indeed, after their deaths so has no respect for anyone or anything including the Police or the Laws of this country. He thinks he is above and beyond the Law.
We have since made a non-negotiable offer to him of £6000 to vacate the property by Wednesday next week or Eviction will be commenced including the removal of all services to the house (this is an inconvenience as we need to get in there and clean up all the mess he has made before anyone can view it and will need hot water etc. ). This offer will be drawn up by the solicitor dealing and will include a clause where he will have to sign away ANY claim to the property or Estate of his deceased grandparents.
If he declines this offer then we will have to go the formal route as mentioned previously in my posts regarding lock change and property removal whilst he is out.

g6jns_2

Awesy wrote: »

There are 3 grandkids. Some £9000 was left to be divided as follows: £3000 each to both daughters, £1000 each grandchild which they have had. The grandson causing the trouble is 22 years old and was given not only his £1000 but his mother also gave him her £3000. He knows he has no right to stay there and has used this money to go and buy a car to pose round in. He could have used it to find accommodation but chose to play the wide-boy with his mates. He is really a total piece of excrement and has STOLEN from his grandparents both during their life and indeed, after their deaths so has no respect for anyone or anything including the Police or the Laws of this country. He thinks he is above and beyond the Law.
We have since made a non-negotiable offer to him of £6000 to vacate the property by Wednesday next week or Eviction will be commenced including the removal of all services to the house (this is an inconvenience as we need to get in there and clean up all the mess he has made before anyone can view it and will need hot water etc. ). This offer will be drawn up by the solicitor dealing and will include a clause where he will have to sign away ANY claim to the property or Estate of his deceased grandparents.
If he declines this offer then we will have to go the formal route as mentioned previously in my posts regarding lock change and property removal whilst he is out.

How do you know he will actually leave? It might be cheaper to get an injunction against him if he is a trespasser. Just a thought as he is effectively blackmailing you.

getmore4less

Our insurers were happy for a student child of one of us(siblings) to be the sole occupier of our inherited property, handy also to save on the council tax.

whitewing

For the past 11 years the nephew has lived in the house with his grandparents (acting as parents). Both his grandparents died suddenly and now his family want him out? What a monumental life change. (Okay, I don't agree with the drugs, but still).