Left The House In My Late Mum's Will But My Sisters Refuse To Sell It-HELP!

getmore4less

What the OP is failing to grasp is this can take a long time even her own solicitor has told her this.

The two executors can drag this out for ages as they are agreeing.

each time the pressure being put on(paid for by OP) looks like going to court they just do another step and the delay starts again.

Delay application for probate.
Delay marketing property.
Market property at a high values and deter any potential buyers.

That should get them into 2017.

If the occupying sis went for a claim under the 1975 act would the OP even find out?

FreeBear

getmore4less wrote: »

The two executors can drag this out for ages as they are agreeing.

each time the pressure being put on(paid for by OP) looks like going to court they just do another step and the delay starts again.

Delay application for probate.
Delay marketing property.
Market property at a high values and deter any potential buyers.

If the occupying sis went for a claim under the 1975 act would the OP even find out?

If the value of the estate falls under the IHT threshold, they could delay in applying for probate for as long as they like. Even if an IHT400 is required, they could still delay and cough up any HMRC fines from existing funds.

The sis would certainly have a valid claim under the inheritance act and there is case law to support her case. Only the executors would need to know if a claim had been filed and they would be under no obligation to discuss it with the beneficiaries.

The OP needs to sit back and wait until probate has been granted and then have a serious think about his options. Yes, there are No-Win-No-Fee solicitors that would consider taking on a case, BUT they will want an indemnity insurance policy to be taken out - This will typically cost around 50% of the expected legal bill and would not be reclaimable from the opposing side. Budget around £20,000 to remove an executor or to force a sale of the house (more if you lose and have to pay legal costs of the other side).

If the executors really wanted to drag this out, it could be twenty years or more before it is finally sorted. Family had problems with grandfather's estate when he died back in the early 70's. Due to errant executors, negligent solicitors, and some very dubious dealings, it wasn't sorted until quite recently. You don't even want to know what the final legal bill came to :eek:

System

What some of the Freebear and Getmore 4Less here are saying here is nonsense.
I take it that most of the posters here are not lawyers.


I think you are completely lost here.

Probate has already been granted.
It was granted by the High Court on 29th December 2015.

I want to sell the house but my 2 sisters don't.

The Sister 1 who is single and has no children does not want to move out of mums house.

Sister 2 is married and lives in her own house and does not want to live in the house but does not want to sell my mothers house because sister 2 says she wants to carry on living there.


I want to sell the house. As a beneficiary I have a right to receive the estate and as Probate has already been granted the estate is already mine and my 2 sisters now.

The only way my sister can stay in the house is if she buys her way out. That is she would have to pay me my third of my share from the house.
Which is £144k which my sisters haven't got.
So the house will have to be sold.

My Solicitor cannot give me an exact time as to when the house will be sold. Nobody can. But he said I should expect to receive the money from my mums estate the latest by the first anniversary of my mums death.
As she died in November 2015 that should be the end of this year.

If my sisters refuse to sell the house or deal with the property in a reasonable amount of time, they can be taken to court and forced to do it.

That's what my solicitor and other legal advisers I have seen have told me.

System

getmore4less wrote: »

What the OP is failing to grasp is this can take a long time even her own solicitor has told her this.

The two executors can drag this out for ages as they are agreeing.

each time the pressure being put on(paid for by OP) looks like going to court they just do another step and the delay starts again.

Delay application for probate.
Delay marketing property.
Market property at a high values and deter any potential buyers.

That should get them into 2017.

If the occupying sis went for a claim under the 1975 act would the OP even find out?

Yes my sisters could contest the will. There is information about this here on the Government website:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/63

But to do that my sister would have to take me to court and she would not get Legal Aid so she would have to do it private and pay for her lawyer and court costs herself.
And I don't think that either sister has the money to do that.

And even if she did it is unlikely that she would win and she would have to pay back all of the court costs if she lost.
Not many people would want to take that risk.

What will the sister live off now that Mum is no longer here? She will need to find money for food, utilities, council tax etc. In a short time, the sister may decide she needs the money locked up in Mum's estate, that is, the 25K. She won't get that until the house is sold, I presume?
The sister needs to be realistic about how she will live now.

Probate has already been granted by the High Court on 29th December 2015.
My sister can apply for her 25k of mums money now if she wants to. So she could use the 25k to rent a flat and put down a deposit with a private landlord. That would tide her over until she gets a job.

System

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I agree that you are coming at this in a rush, and not seeing things clearly, which I appreciate may be difficult if you have mental health problems.

You said:

So you are entitled to a third of Mum's estate. And Mum's estate has had a value put on it, so you have a rough idea what you are entitled to.

One thing which hasn't been mentioned is that if one of your sisters is currently living in the house, and is in no hurry to leave, then she could be asked to pay a market rent to be shared between you and your other sister.

Would having an ongoing source of income be acceptable to you?

Also are you able to get some additional support for your MH needs? I don't know what your relationship with your mum was like, but you may need to work through some grief, and may need help understanding your sisters' point of view. I don't know what's available, I don't know what would help, but I'm thinking maybe an advocate to help you through the legal issues, maybe grief counselling, maybe both.

I did have a CMHT Social Worker but I was discharged from the CMHT back to my GP a year ago. Though I still am in contact with my EX-CMHT Social Worker who I phone from time to time.

But she does does not know anything about the law of Wills And Probate because the CMHT don't deal with that.
Neither do the Advocacy.

I have a Solicitor which I was advised to go to from both the Advocacy and the CAB.

Yes the MH services can provide emotional or moral support but they cannot deal with my case regarding my mothers will and selling of the house. Only a solicitor can do that and help me with any legal potential problems.

My Solicitor is the one who is advocating for me on my behalf. He is writing and talking to my sisters Solicitors.
But my sisters Solicitors have now told my Solicitor that their role was limited to helping my sisters the executors apply for probate but they are not ready to sell the house..

So my solicitor has written to my sisters solicitors again to find out of they still acting on behalf of my sisters or involved in helping my sisters sell the house.

If my sisters no longer have a solicitor and are dealing with the house themselves without a solicitor.
Then he will write to my sisters direct and tell them their obligations as executors.

If my sisters do not co-operate and they do not put the house up for sale them. My solicitor will take legal action against them.
My sisters will be taken to court and the Judge can order my sister to sell unless my sister buys her way out.

And the Judge can also remove my sisters as executors and appoint me or someone else in their place.

getmore4less

What the laywers have told you, you might get it this year if the sisters pull their fingers out and get on with it

What they won't commit to is how long it will take to get them to cooperate if you start legal procceedings.

Ask them when you can start court action if executors do have not have the house on the market.

System

getmore4less wrote: »

What the laywers have told you, you might get it this year if the sisters pull their fingers out and get on with it

What they won't commit to is how long it will take to get them to cooperate if you start legal procceedings.

Ask them when you can start court action if executors do have not have the house on the market.

My solicitor says that I cannot take my sisters to court at this point in time because it has only been 5 weeks since Probate was granted.

And I have got to give my sister time to get the house on the market.

He advised 3 to 6 months.

If after that time my sister have still not done anything about it then we can take court action.

But we cannot do it now because it is too early time. and we have got to give my sisters a chance to get the house up for sale first.

My Solicitor is now trying to find out if my sisters are still using their solicitors to deal with the sale of the house or if they are dealing with it themselves without a solicitor.
And he has written to my sisters solicitors and is awaiting a response from them.

If my sisters are dealing with the sale of the house themselves without a solicitor or they are no longer using the same solicitors who helped them get Probate.
He will then write to my sisters explaining to them their legal obligations as executors of the will.

If my sister continue to ignore things and do not put the house up for sale then we will take them to court. But that would only be if my sisters do not put the house up for sale within the time my Solicitor said.

At the moment it is still early days so we don't know if or not it will come to that. But it could do and if it does we may have to take my sisters to court.
That's what I have been told by my solicitor.

fairy_lights

annbarbs wrote: »

My solicitor says that I cannot take my sisters to court at this point in time because it has only been 5 weeks since Probate was granted.

And I have got to give my sister time to get the house on the market.

He advised 3 to 6 months.

So your solicitor has told you that you need to wait. So wait. 5 weeks is nothing really, your sisters may be clearing the house out now in preparation to put it on the market, but you don't know if you don't have any contact with them.
Why do you need the money is such a rush? Is it really going to cause you any hardship if your sister stays in the house a bit longer while sorting things out?

System

fairy_lights wrote: »

So your solicitor has told you that you need to wait. So wait. 5 weeks is nothing really, your sisters may be clearing the house out now in preparation to put it on the market, but you don't know if you don't have any contact with them.
Why do you need the money is such a rush? Is it really going to cause you any hardship if your sister stays in the house a bit longer while sorting things out?

No it won't.

My solicitor say that my sister can still put the house up for sale now and carry on living in the house until it is sold.

So if she put the house up for sale now,she can stay there until someone buys it. Which could be a few months as nobody is going to actually buy the house and move in overnight.

Then when the buyer moves in she will have to move of course.

But she doesn't have to move out while the house is up for sale only after it is sold.

That gives her time to look for somewhere else.
So there is no excuse for my sister not to put the house on the market now.

I am not asking my sister to vacate the property now.
She can stay there until the house is actually sold.
But I do expect them to start procedure for selling the house now, since they know that they have to.

If my sisters do not want to sell the house their only other option is for them to buy their way out my Solicitor said.
Otherwise the house has to be sold and that is that.

RAS

annbarbs wrote: »

No it won't.

My solicitor say that my sister can still put the house up for sale now and carry on living in the house until it is sold.

Since you have not seen the house in years, you do not know whether any time is needed to sort out the house. You would be surprised at how much difference a good gutting and tidy up has on the value (about 25-30K in our case).

Whilst we are on the subject of money, what would have happened if your sister had not given up her job to look after mum?

Mum would have been in a care home, I guess. Do you appreciate how much they cost? We paid £30K per year a decade ago so it would be more now. The saving would have paid for a year or two but after that the house would have been sold.

So by giving up her job, your sister has saved anything up to £180,000 that is now in the estate that would have gone on care fees. So you are going to be £60K richer than you would have been if she kept working.

Try to be grateful?