Charge on Property

MobileSaver

00ec25 wrote: »

in the worst case that can result in personal liability.

Without wanting to labour the point too much, in the worst cases executors get sent to prison for failing in their duties to properly administer the estate.

In the OP's case the ex left almost 20 years ago so the children must be at least in their 20s if not their 30s so it sounds unusual that they've not left home yet or not planning to in the near future. Perhaps they have and everyone was "keeping quiet" to protect the family home but if the children are now executors then that has opened a whole new can of worms - the children need urgent legal advice.

silvercar

If OP is still reading, it may be worth posting on the Deaths, funerals & wills board that can be found here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

davidmcn

MobileSaver wrote: »

If that is the case then your children could become personally liable for the £50,000 due to the estate (i.e. the creditors in this case) from the sale of your home.

...if they fail to collect it when it actually becomes due, that is.

MobileSaver

MobileSaver wrote: »

your children could become personally liable for the £50,000

davidmcn wrote: »

...if they fail to collect it when it actually becomes due, that is.

It's not quite as clear-cut as that; in this particular case the executors have already falsely told the creditors that the estate has no assets.

The executors apparently live in the same family home as the deceased did pre-divorce so it's not believable or even sensible to suggest they didn't become aware of the charge on the property in the estate's favour.

Of course, much of this is speculation as we do not know the exact wording of the charge or the amount of the estate's debt or if there was a will; all these things make a difference and reinforce that the OP's children urgently need legal advice.

davidmcn

MobileSaver wrote: »

It's not quite as clear-cut as that; in this particular case the executors have already falsely told the creditors that the estate has no assets.

Depends exactly what they said - certainly no liquid assets and no certainty about if or when there'll be funds from the OP's house. In any event, they can correct that misstatement without causing any less to the creditors.

The executors apparently live in the same family home as the deceased did pre-divorce so it's not believable or even sensible to suggest they didn't become aware of the charge on the property in the estate's favour.

Living in the house doesn't mean they'd be aware of the charge. No particular reason why the children would know about it, or even for executors to start looking at title deeds of properties not owned by the deceased for such charges. But I presume no argument that they do now know about it.

getmore4less

Just notifying won't be sufficient but is does look like they may have made the mistake of saying they were acting as executor which could take them into intermeddling.

Trying to keep the charge hidden would be very unwise.

Lay executors get a bit of leeway when they make mistakes through ignorance but mistakes need to rectified.

xylophone

If OP is still reading, it may be worth posting on the Deaths, funerals & wills board that can be found here:

The OP is aware of this forum and posted on it before she started this thread.

See post 12 above - when I posted in 3, I had not really taken in the OP's name - it was just by chance that I clicked on "other posts" and realised that she had already posted about the will, the naming of her sons as executors and the "insolvency".

In her post on the DFW board, she made no mention at all of the charge on the former marital home (just as in her first post above she made no mention of the will etc)- presumably she had not mentioned it to her sons or they would have checked the position before writing to the creditors?

AdrianC

As well as an executor thread in the deaths forum...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6058155/resigning-as-executor

There's this from early 2014 - one son was 27 at the time, so is 32/33 now.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4910249/should-my-son-be-earning-more

I can't help wondering if the OP perhaps ought to give her sons a bit more freedom to get on with their lives - it appears from just this limited snapshot that there's some micromanaging going on. Perhaps this is why they lack confidence?

xylophone

one son was 27 at the time, so is 32/33 now.

Perhaps the OP has a son older than the deceased's two boys who are said to be in their twenties.

spidercrab

Hello again. I know I said I wouldn’t post again but feel I should clear up a few things because it sounds like a few people are trying to make me sound like I’m trying to manipulate this situation. First of all I did post last week regarding my children possibly relinquishing their role as executors. When their dad passed away and they discovered they were nominated they and I thought it was be straight forward as he had no assets. Initially I never even thought about the charge on our house being considered his asset as I naively thought that when he died, the asset would pass to his children. Obviously I was very wrong and I have an appointment with a solicitor this week with my sons to try and sort it out. My sons have accepted that they will have to carry out executor stuff and we will have to get advice on that too. The legal bills will have to be paid for by us. My ex was in perpetual debt and we feel that he was unfair in nominating our sons to sort out the problems. To those people commenting on why my sons are still at home when they are well into their twenties are a bit out of order. They are both saving like mad to try and get a place of their own but unfortunately we live in an extremely expensive part of the country and house prices are extortionate but hopefully in the next few years they will be on their way. It’s a fact that children are living at home for longer these days because of house prices. I feel I have been judged quite harshly by some people on here when all I wanted was some friendly advice. Thanks anyway.