Probate ten years after death-complicated

P1nkert0n

Hi all,
Just looking for some advise, I’ve looked through the forum and can’t find anything similar.
My husbands mother died ten years ago leaving a house she solely owned. Her partner and daughter continued living in the house and we assumed he had applied for probate. The daughters and partners relationship deteriorated and she moved out. He continued to live in the house. Over the years the relationship between the parent and my husband and his sister has been toxic/non existent. We have since learnt that he has moved out of the house (many years ago) renting it out and it is currently being used to grow drugs... the plan was always for the partner to continue living in the house and then it to be sold and shared between my husband and disinter and the partners 3 children. Now we have learnt that probate has not be granted or even applied for we really don’t know what to do. Can we apply? Is it worth it? Would we be potentially just taking on debt?
Any advise/suggestions gratefully received. We live abroad so not sure what this adds to the equation.
Many thanks

Flugelhorn

Did mother leave a will defining her wishes?

dresdendave

P1nkert0n wrote: »

the plan was always for the partner to continue living in the house and then it to be sold and share.

Whose plan? Was this in the deceased's will or is it just what you hoped would happen?

P1nkert0n

There was no will. I guess it was just what we hoped would happen. We had absolutely no idea about probate until a few years after and then thought it had been done and things were already difficult by then.

getmore4less

Was the husbands mother married to the partner?
(or have other spouses divorced/decreased)

How many children did that mother have?
(alive or dead)

P1nkert0n

No they weren’t married. The mother had two children, the youngest being 18 at the time and the partner 3 children.

P1nkert0n

No other spouses either

Tom99

So your husband and his sister are the sole beneficiaries?
Your husband and/or his sister could apply for probate.
I think the 1st thing would be to download the title to the house and check who is the legal owner, whether there is a restriction indicating a possible deed of trust and whether any loans are secured on the property.

nom_de_plume

As above. On the face of it, with the facts given, your husband and his sister are the sole beneficiaries of their mother's estate.


This would also include any rental income from the property.


I would similarly recommend checking the title deeds via Land Registry first. It costs £3 and is quickly and easily done on line. https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/QuickEnquiryInit.do?id=p_search_link


Do you know if there is a mortgage on the property? The title deeds would show this but not any outstanding balance.


Have you checked to see if probate has been applied for? https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills


How is the relationship with the partner's children? Would your husband and his sister honour the verbal plan to share any proceeds? They could make useful allies if things get 'messy'.

Flugelhorn

If the mother owned the house, the only beneficiaries would be her children.

Suspect the partner knew this and by doing nothing was able to stay in the house - if the estate had gone to administration at the time of her death then the partner would either have been out or had to come to some agreement with the beneficiaries over being a tenant and paying rent

TonyMMM

P1nkert0n wrote: »

leaving a house she solely owned.

You really need to check that she did SOLELY own the house, and that there wasn't some sort of joint ownership put in place before she died. If there was, either as joint tenants, as or tenants in common, it would change the scenario significantly.