Probate delay

Jasonk

Hi, can anyone advise me please?
My mum passed away over a year ago and named our family solicitor and my sister (who lived with my mum) as executors.
We modernised the house and put it on the market for a rather higher price than I thought it was worth, but my sister Janice insisted. Obviously with prices falling as they have it needs to be reduced again, we have done so once already, to be realistic about getting a sale. Janice refuses to do this, a. because she can't afford to buy elsewhere nearby and b. because she says there is no rush it will sell eventually.
I approached the solicitor who said he wasn't prepared to influence my sister and that if I was unhappy I should see another solicitor and get them to complain about him!
I have debts of my own with interest mounting and my mum had a large equity loan on the property which they have already said is in default now and is also accumulating interest. My sister pays no rent while she stays in the house and I'm at a loss of what to do.
Any ideas on where I stand or what I should do?
Thanks Jason.

Linton

I think the solicitor was giving you helpful advice when he said you should consult another solicitor and complain about him. If the family solicitor thinks you may have a good case he is in a very difficult position. You are not his client and he wont want to put himself in the middle of a family quarrel.

So you have a choice, either come to an agreement with your sister or prepare to go to the courts using another solicitor.. In a way you are fortunate in the family solicitor being an executor as you can put legal pressure on him rather than your sister.

Keep_pedalling

I think your sister is taking you for a mug. She has a nice modernised house to live in and is not interested in it selling, hence the overpricing.

Presumably you agreed to the modernisation which was a big mistake, otherwise it should not have gone ahead. Your sister is the problem, and you do need to take legal advice on how to proceed. She should be paying rent as well.

MovingForwards

Instruct your own lawyer, make sure they deal with contentious probate.

LinBWales

When you say "my mum had a large equity loan on the property which they have already said is in default now and is also accumulating interest." Do you mean an equity release mortgage? If so, my mum had one and the Lender (Saffron) told us that if the flat had not sold within one year of her death, the terms of the loan meant that they would take possesion of the flat and organise the sale, but that this would incur additional charges, which would be taken out of any money left over once the loan had been paid off.



My brother was also living in the flat without paying any rent, and the company would have evicted him once they took possession. This actually helped me persuade him that we needed to take a reasonable offer which wasn't as much as he said he wanted.

Brynsam

What should you do? Take the advice of the solicitor and get your own independent legal advice. Relying on comments here, based on limited information and without sight of any of the relevant documents, won't solve your problem.

Keep_pedalling

I missed the bit about ER. If nothing is done then this will resolve itself when the ER company reposes the property.

getmore4less

Unless the will gave her right you have just as much right to live there

Move in


Who has paid to do the place up?

Could be a nice CGT bill to deal with.

relaxtwotribes

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

I missed the bit about ER. If nothing is done then this will resolve itself when the ER company reposes the property.

I have no particular knowledge of how ER lenders operate, but is there not here a situation in which the company, whilst gaining the right to repossess due to default occurring does not actually proceed to repossess? They have a nice loan gaining compound interest and if the loan was taken out some years ago, then it is likely to be at a rate higher than current rates, thus creating an incentive to leave the loan in place. All subject to the size of the loan relative to the property value, of course.