I inherited my father's mortgaged property - am I a first time buyer?

Sketty24

My father passed away a few years ago. I'm 28 and still lived at home when he died, but in his will, the house came to me still mortgaged.

Am I eligible for the Help To Buy ISA? I've been paying the mortgage in dad's name since in order to keep any bailiffs off my back but I want to own the house in my own name. I've never had a mortgage before, but I've been led to believe because I now technically 'own' a property, I don't get any of these benefits?

Thanks for any advance. This is an area I know so little about and frustratingly have no family alive to help me through it.

Torry_Quine

You shouldn't have continued paying in his name but contacted the lender and told them that her died. You would then be assessed for a mortgage in your name.

G_M

As above.

a) I assumeProbate was granted and the estate wound up?

b) Was the property Title transferred ino your name? If so, the mortgage lnder must have been informed. if not, why not?

c) Who was the executer of the will?

d) Clearly you own a property (even though the Executer seems to have grossly failed in their legal responsibility to transfer the property into your name - I hope YOU were not executer........?!) so are not eligible for Help To Buy.

Why would you think you should be? It is designed to help people own their homes. You already own your home (despite the legal failures....)

davidmcn

Sketty24 wrote: »

I now technically 'own' a property

There's nothing technical about it - you own a property.

LabRatty

Hi Sketty,
Is it possible that your father had life insurance? Most mortgage lenders require it, and the mortgage would then be cleared. Can the Executor help clarify?
All the best,
LR

AnotherJoe

Sketty24 wrote: »

My father passed away a few years ago. I'm 28 and still lived at home when he died, but in his will, the house came to me still mortgaged.

No, it didn't :eek: Seems that someone (you?) messed this up big time. The mortgage should have been paid off either by selling the house, by you getting a mortgage, by claiming on dads life insurance, if he had any. DO you still ahve copies of his paperwork knocking around? Or maybe the mortgage co will know.

You should go and see a solicitor and get them to unravel this mess. You need to do a whole bunch of things, no point screwing it up twice, get it done right.

G_M

AnotherJoe wrote: »

No, it didn't :eek: Seems that someone (you?) messed this up big time. The mortgage should have been paid off either by selling the house, by you getting a mortgage, by claiming on dads life insurance, if he had any. DO you still ahve copies of his paperwork knocking around? Or maybe the mortgage co will know.

You should go and see a solicitor and get them to unravel this mess. You need to do a whole bunch of things, no point screwing it up twice, get it done right.

AnotherJoe is right.

As part of winding up the Estate (dad's financial affairs), the ExecutOR of the will should pay off all debts.

The mortgage is a debt. It should have been paid off. To add to AnotherJoe's list, another possible way to pay off the mortgage would have been from other assets of the estate (eg if dad had savings or investments, or perhaps by selling dad's yacht if he had one).

getmore4less

LabRatty wrote: »

Hi Sketty,
Is it possible that your father had life insurance? Most mortgage lenders require it, and the mortgage would then be cleared. Can the Executor help clarify?
All the best,
LR

Life insurance has not been a requirement on mortgages for years.

alexadams88

You should be paying by your own not your dad's name. I think you need to contact the lender and talk about this.

getmore4less

Someone needs to administer the estate.

Sketty24

I'm the executor of the will (there's nobody else alive in my family as I said.) and I have a solicitor who has sorted out the will and probate. I don't want to sell the house as it's the only connection I have left to my parents.

As the estate is still in the process of being finalised with a compensation claim, the mortgage company said rather than selling, I could keep paying the mortgage til dad's estate was finalised so the debt doesn't run any higher. This is still ongoing with my solicitor. When the estate is financially settled, I intend to get it transferred into my name, using the money to help lower the debt.