Probate and property

sashley90

Hello,

I was wondering your thoughts on this situation. My dad recently passed away, both myself and my brother were named as executors. Most of his estate is fairly easy to deal with, the only thing that will be difficult to sort will be a property he owned as tennants in common with his ex wife (my mum). She is currently in prison serving a 6 year sentence.
Obviously in his will he wants to pass his half to be divided between his 4 children, I'm the eldest at 25 and the youngest is 14, but we have decided that we dont want to accept this. The house is in negative equity and would also tie us to our mum which none of us want. The tennants have recently given their months notice and will be moving out at the end of june, so in a way thats solved the problem of having to deal with the tennants, this just means the payments will now fall into arrears. I have advised the tennants that i will pass on my mothers solicitors details to them for them to chase up getting their deposit back.

Basically, if we refuse the portion of the house my dad wanted to give to us, does it all go to my mum and become her problem to deal with? I'll notify the lender of his passing but i dont want to take on the responsibility of dealtion with the handing back of the keys when really its for the owner to do ie: my mum?

Any thoughts on where I stand on this?

Thanks for any thoughts x

Mojisola

Anyone over 18 can refuse their inheritance but you can't do it on behalf of a minor.

sashley90

Obviously being a minor, they're not able to pay the costs so where would we stand on that?

Keep_pedalling

If the house is in negative equity, surely there is nothing to inherit.

Mojisola

Is the money owed on the house more than the cash available in the estate? If so, I think the estate should be treated as insolvent.

I hope someone who has experience of this will be able to confirm/deny.

G6JNS

sashley90 wrote: »

Hello,

I was wondering your thoughts on this situation. My dad recently passed away, both myself and my brother were named as executors. Most of his estate is fairly easy to deal with, the only thing that will be difficult to sort will be a property he owned as tennants in common with his ex wife (my mum). She is currently in prison serving a 6 year sentence.
Obviously in his will he wants to pass his half to be divided between his 4 children, I'm the eldest at 25 and the youngest is 14, but we have decided that we dont want to accept this. The house is in negative equity and would also tie us to our mum which none of us want. The tennants have recently given their months notice and will be moving out at the end of june, so in a way thats solved the problem of having to deal with the tennants, this just means the payments will now fall into arrears. I have advised the tennants that i will pass on my mothers solicitors details to them for them to chase up getting their deposit back.

Basically, if we refuse the portion of the house my dad wanted to give to us, does it all go to my mum and become her problem to deal with? I'll notify the lender of his passing but i dont want to take on the responsibility of dealtion with the handing back of the keys when really its for the owner to do ie: my mum?

Any thoughts on where I stand on this?

Thanks for any thoughts x

It sounds as if the estate is insolvent in which case there is nothing to inherit. If so you should leave well alone and let the mortgage company deal with it.

getmore4less

More detail of the estate and will needed.

If not insolvent it will not be a walk away.

Keep_pedalling

It is likely that the mortgage would be covered by an insurance policy, and if that is the case and the
OP's mother blocks a sale of the house then this could be very messy.

sashley90

Thanks for your thoughts! Yes i thought with it being in negative equity that theres nothing to inherit, its only after all debts are paid and if anything is left it'd be divided between the four of us. Sorry if certain details of the post were a bit vague.
It was agreed with my mum that we were just to notify the lender of the situation and hand the keys back but i doubt its as easy as that. It may sound callous but im just resentful of the fact that i will have to clean up the mess of all of this when it's not my property and just what my options are for her to deal with it via her solicitor.

G6JNS

sashley90 wrote: »

Thanks for your thoughts! Yes i thought with it being in negative equity that theres nothing to inherit, its only after all debts are paid and if anything is left it'd be divided between the four of us. Sorry if certain details of the post were a bit vague.
It was agreed with my mum that we were just to notify the lender of the situation and hand the keys back but i doubt its as easy as that. It may sound callous but im just resentful of the fact that i will have to clean up the mess of all of this when it's not my property and just what my options are for her to deal with it via her solicitor.

I don't think you need to deal with her solicitor. If, as I suspect, the estate is insolvent then you should do nothing. As for a funeral if there is no money then the hospital is responsible for arranging and paying for a basic funeral/ cremation. You have no liability to pay.

getmore4less

where was he and the kids living?