Ex died and has apparently had a lodger in our jointly owned house

getmore4less

BobQ wrote: »

And your point is what?

I was merely pointing out that while the house ownership (if held jointly) becomes the property of the survivor (ie outside estate administration) whereas the deceased personal property pass to the family.

The children are of course grieving but it is not the children who are posting on this forum.

OP is(most probably) responsible for the children, they are the family that the property passes too, the only thing missing is the ages and if minors it will be the OP that will be dealing with the personal property.

BobQ

getmore4less wrote: »

OP is(most probably) responsible for the children, they are the family that the property passes too, the only thing missing is the ages and if minors it will be the OP that will be dealing with the personal property.

I never said otherwise but there may be others (OP has not specified).

You are of course assuming the OP (on behalf of her children) wants any of the estate and that the estate it is of sufficient value to warrant the hassle administering it. She has a choice.

OP has no choice about the house as it is jointly owned and passes to her outside of the intestate estate. She has no choice over whether to deal with the mortgage debt as it is her debt

BobQ

Jvic28 wrote: »

I don't think it's unlikely they took out a 100% mortgage really. Many people did. And even if there was a deposit, it could well have been eaten into by the arrears. Also, the property could well have dropped in value, as many have, so it could be very likely the mortgage is more than the the value of the property. I know mine is and I haven't got any arrears.

Fair enough it could be a 100% mortgage. If so would the provider not want the endowment assigned to them? I know they no longer do this on a routine basis, but in 1999 for a 100% loan?

To have decreased in value it would need to have been totally neglected.

Jvic28

BobQ wrote: »

Fair enough it could be a 100% mortgage. If so would the provider not want the endowment assigned to them? I know they no longer do this on a routine basis, but in 1999 for a 100% loan?

To have decreased in value it would need to have been totally neglected.

Fair comment,I didn't spot it was purchased in 99. Although as he appears to have been an unsavory character and the lodger a potential druggie who knows, it could well be quite neglected. :-/

J20BABY

Thank you for the replies. Also, sorry for the late update, I have been quite ill with flu so struggling.

With regards to his 'estate', I can't imagine he has anything, and if he does, I'm sure his parents will ensure my daughter has access to what she is entitled when she is old enough for me to not get my gold digging hands on it

So..I visited with my dad, and after a while eventually managed to locate the lodger/friend/druggy and persuade him to let me get a key cut.

He could not provide me with a copy of a tenancy agreement although insisted that one does exist..he changed his story a few times, one being that ex did not even live there and he is a 'tenant'. He also had a mate who was basically telling me I have no rights blah blah.

The house is in a really bad state, so bad that i don't think it would bring enough to cover the debt if I did go down the repossession route and it going to auction. It had very little in the way of possessions inside, nothing of value anyway..it looked like a doss house if I'm honest.

The druggy and his mate suggested I sign the house over to exes parents-which I would be happy to do if possible, I don't want anything to do with it..so we went round and they said they would be happy with that. They think it is worth more than is is and has a few thousand pound equity in it, they are deluded in my opinion but I said for them to look into it and get back to me.

So..I'm no further than I was really except I know that whatever I do, it will be greeted with hostility and I know the house is in an awful state

I have had to put it to the back of my mind for a few days whilst I dealt with being ill and my grieving angry daughter and I go away for a few days tomorrow, so I m going to have to get back to dealing with it when we get back next week.

I appreciate all the replies.

Rooibos

Please see my posts above OP - it's not the ex's parents place to deal with the estate. Under Intestacy rules it's your ex's child/children if he wasn't married. If they are under 18 then it's you as their parent, not his parents. Might there be pensions or a car or death in service payments? (In my case ex had a pension still in my name- you never know!) Please don't be brow beaten by your ex's family. Difficult,I know, under the circumstances and with your history. Good luck x

DandelionPatrol

J20BABY wrote: »

.... The druggy and his mate suggested I sign the house over to exes parents-which I would be happy to do if possible, I don't want anything to do with it..so we went round and they said they would be happy with that. They think it is worth more than is is and has a few thousand pound equity in it, they are deluded in my opinion but I said for them to look into it and get back to me.

If you can get it signed over to them, then that is probably the best way forward. But I fear it will be a non-starter, because his parents will probably need to take out their own mortgage.

The lender is going to get suspicious, because on the death of the ex, they will expect the endowment [that was cashed in] to pay off the mortgage. So I doubt that they will be up for transfer of equity.

Something to watch out for, however, is the possibility that the endowment has been kept on and an attempt to swindle you out of the house.

J20BABY

I guess he may have had a pension from when we were together and he was working. No car or anything else. He may have had a drug stash somewhere but that's most likely long gone!
The endownment was definitely cashed in unfortunately as I have contacted the company.
I

BobQ

Rooibos wrote: »

Please see my posts above OP - it's not the ex's parents place to deal with the estate. Under Intestacy rules it's your ex's child/children if he wasn't married. If they are under 18 then it's you as their parent, not his parents. Might there be pensions or a car or death in service payments? (In my case ex had a pension still in my name- you never know!) Please don't be brow beaten by your ex's family. Difficult,I know, under the circumstances and with your history. Good luck x

This is misleading. I assume by 'place' you mean some sort of moral obligation. But nobody is required to deal with a deceased person's estate under a Will or under Intestacy rules. If the OP wants to take that role (of estate administrator) on behalf of his children she can do so (and would have precedence over the parents as you say) but the OP is not required to do this. The OP has said that the estate is probably worthless so why would she take this on?.

Even if there is some value in the estate, whoever takes on the administration of the estate is obliged to pay the net proceeds to the children when they are 18, if there are any.

It the OP's choice on this aspect and given the other issues she is dealing with the hassle is not something she needs to adopt.

BobQ

J20BABY wrote: »

I guess he may have had a pension from when we were together and he was working. No car or anything else. He may have had a drug stash somewhere but that's most likely long gone!
The endownment was definitely cashed in unfortunately as I have contacted the company.
I

Was the endowment not in joint names too. I presume not as I cannot see how he could have sold it without your agreement.