problems with fence probate property

charb56

we are just submitting a probate application for my late brothers property. it has a long garden with a wooden fence at the bottom with creeping ivy over it and is a bit weatherbeaten.
we know for the last 3 years he had talked to the neighbour to consider replacing it but nothing got done. now she has approached us saying its urgent and dangerous(it hasn't changed at all over the last few months). she wants to take it down and look at whether the plant roots are causing it to bow over. we don't have the deeds to the property and don't know boundaries etc.
can you do anything to a property before probate anyway? we consider it non urgent

Yorkshireman99

charb56 wrote: »

we are just submitting a probate application for my late brothers property. it has a long garden with a wooden fence at the bottom with creeping ivy over it and is a bit weatherbeaten.
we know for the last 3 years he had talked to the neighbour to consider replacing it but nothing got done. now she has approached us saying its urgent and dangerous(it hasn't changed at all over the last few months). she wants to take it down and look at whether the plant roots are causing it to bow over. we don't have the deeds to the property and don't know boundaries etc.
can you do anything to a property before probate anyway? we consider it non urgent

The problem needs to be addressed as it will have to be declared to any prospective purchaser. You need to establish who owns the fences and who is reponsible for any repairs. Being pragmatic you are probably better off replacing it than ending up with a delay or loss sof sale.

Savvy_Sue

You can get a copy of the deeds from the land registry for a very modest fee, however what's shown on the deeds isn't necessarily reliable. You could ask her to check her deeds to make sure she's not responsible for it.

getmore4less

he had talked to the neighbour to consider replacing it but nothing got done. now she has approached us saying its urgent and dangerous(it hasn't changed at all over the last few months). she wants to take it down and look at whether the plant roots are causing it to bow over

She could be(is) trying it on if they expect you to pay for a new fence.

if they want one they can just build a new one on their side or you can check the boundary and allow one to be built on that(they would then own that fence)

Finding out who owns the fence will be a problem as all the deeds show is who is responsible for the boundary(which can be marked by anything like 2 posts an a bit of wire) and that does not make you responsible for a fence unless there are more specific things mentioned.


you need to be gathering the paperwork to sell the house, knowing the boundaries will be useful for that anyway.

be a few minutes job to check the posts there will be no need to take it down.
If it is generally sound post and pannels then it will not be that big a job to tidy it up.

Probably worth considering as part of the house staging, a tidy upright fence is one less thing for people to worry about.

can you do anything to a property before probate anyway?

The simple guide.

if there is a will then that gives the authority to do just about anything.

Without a will then technically the prospective administrator should limit themselves to securing the property but in practice if it is unlikely they will not be the administrator then you just get on with things(but liable if you mess up and end up not being administrator)

what to do.
you don't want this turning into a dispute so a positive dialog and a bit of time on it will be sensible,

might be worth assessing if the fence is repairable or needs replacing.

Will a temp repair to make it "safe" do for now? (ie is it falling down or not staking the bowed post will be a cheap temp repair)

consider just cutting the ivy at ground level it will then die back and be easy to remove if you want to keep the structure.

who do they/you want to pay for the job.

timescales

Do you want it fixed/looking better for the sale anyway.

it might be if they are prepared to get the job done to an agreed standard and agreed cost it may be worth just letting them get on with the job while you deal with all the other stuff.


Forgot to ask what sort of fence is it? (post&panel, close board, other?

Also do you plan to sell or keep(that would change my approach a bit)

if you want to read up more on fence ownership and boundaries , the house buying forum and the DIY forum have plenty of threads.