Deceased lived in house left in trust(?) 30 years ago -how to sell?

dunroving

A relative has recently died. She has lived in the house of her ex-husband who left it to his children and step-children 30 years ago, but left her the right to live in the house for the remainder of her life.. She (recently-deceased) therefore did not own the house.

What process is now needed to sell the house and distribute the proceeds to the beneficiaries of the 30-year-old will? One executors at the time (solicitors) are no longer in business. The other (relative) is in poor health. Who takes responsibility and has the legal right to see that the conditions of the 30-year-old will are met?

Yorkshireman99

Does the surviving executor have mental capacity? If so she can appoint a solicitor to deal with the process. If not, then an application will have to be made to the Court to appoint one.

dunroving

Yes, he has mental capacity. He has had health problems so I think family members don't want him to have to carry the burden.

Does the executor have to be a solicitor? At the moment, the only alternative family who might be willing are all beneficiaries, which (I believe?) means they can not be executors. Is that correct?

Yorkshireman99

The executor can't appoint lay people. It would be far better to appoint a professional. There are potential tax implications as well. Not a job to DIY.

Keep_pedalling

The original will should have set up a lifetime trust for the benefit of his wife. Unless the original executors are also trustees they should really have no more involvement.

Yorkshireman99

Surely the default is that the original executors are trustees unless someone else was appointed? Happy to be proved wrong.

dunroving

I just checked the 30 year old will and they are described as trustees in the will. It is an awkward one because we are trying to deal with the deceased 's estate which is tiny but she left no will, at the same time as the house issue. I guess the next step would be to try to trace the original solicitor to see if they have changed name, and speak with the other trustee. He will be at the funeral next week.

dunroving

I also just read that although she didn't own the house it will be included as an asset when calculating estate value for IHT purposes. The house is probably worth £150k tops and her estate almost definitely less than £5k. She had almost nothing except state pension and small survivors' pension from teacher's pension service.

Yorkshireman99

dunroving wrote: »

I also just read that although she didn't own the house it will be included as an asset when calculating estate value for IHT purposes. The house is probably worth £150k tops and her estate almost definitely less than £5k. She had almost nothing except state pension and small survivors' pension from teacher's pension service.

If there is no will then the laws of intestacy will apply but it does not sound as if there will be any need to apply for letters of administration. The house does not fom part of the estate since it belongs to the trust. However it is crucial the remaining trustee takes professional legal advice as to haw to get the winding up of the trust is concerened.

getmore4less

dunroving wrote: »

A relative has recently died. She has lived in the house of her ex-husband who left it to his children and step-children 30 years ago, but left her the right to live in the house for the remainder of her life.. She (recently-deceased) therefore did not own the house.

What process is now needed to sell the house and distribute the proceeds to the beneficiaries of the 30-year-old will? One executors at the time (solicitors) are no longer in business. The other (relative) is in poor health. Who takes responsibility and has the legal right to see that the conditions of the 30-year-old will are met?

You need to check the land registry to see who are the registered legal owners of the property are.

They are the ones that can sell the house.

It may not be registered, so there may be other issues to deal with depending on what was done at the time, finding the deeds will be one of those issues that will need dealing with.

securityguy

dunroving wrote: »

I also just read that although she didn't own the house it will be included as an asset when calculating estate value for IHT purposes.

That isn't right. The house was owned by the trust, and is still owned by the trust: it's not part of her estate, because it was never part of her assets. Her estate is no more liable for IHT on the house than had she been renting a council house. The trust can now be wound up, because its purpose (providing a house for the now-deceased) is over, and its assets can be distributed to the remaindermen.

There may well be (and this is why you need legal advice) a CGT liability on the part of the trust.

In any event, it doesn't matter what the IHT position is, because a house of £150K and a small amount of cash is nowhere near the threshold of IHT.