What happens if,

pickledonionspaceraider

Malthusian wrote: »

Could turn out to be a bad idea if the estate is insolvent, but as the deceased owned their own house, hopefully that's unlikely.

OP - how do you know they owned their own home? It's unclear whether your relationship is with the deceased or their son.

I just know

It would be unclear, as I haven't stated

pickledonionspaceraider

getmore4less wrote: »

If the house is locked then someone secured it.

How did the relative find out about the death?

How long ago?

The enquires to the Neighbours did as about pets.


The OH had a locksmith to our house, they asked no questions just opened the door and let them in.

Could call locksmith and police to ask if they have any advice on hoe to enter the property.

How local is the son or any other relative that may be interested in the estate?
(eg children of a deceased sibling of the son)

It was abut two months ago

The deceased had no relationship with neighbours

The son lives almost 200 miles away from the deceased, so any trip over there needs to be purposeful really

And once he is in, what does he have right to do? ie just search for a Will and leave?

One friend said that he could hand the whole lot over to a solicitor to deal with - and this , would be his preferred option - if that is indeed true. He really does not want to be part of any clearing out - lots of bad memories really. He would prefer to not even have to visit the place

getmore4less

Some unanswered questions.
...

No one polices these situations.

There are a lot of options

What's the rough value of the house.?

Flugelhorn

I think this is the point, no-one polices these situations - it is assumed that the relatives would take over.
If you are absolutely sure that he owned the property (check the land registry) and no other family members have a claim on it, then I would be tempted to get a locksmith to open it up and change the locks and search for a will / bank statement. If there is no will then apply for LoA.

unholyangel

Was there a funeral? Who organised it?

pickledonionspaceraider

Flugelhorn wrote: »

I think this is the point, no-one polices these situations - it is assumed that the relatives would take over.
If you are absolutely sure that he owned the property (check the land registry) and no other family members have a claim on it, then I would be tempted to get a locksmith to open it up and change the locks and search for a will / bank statement. If there is no will then apply for LoA.

Thank you. That is just the kind of info I was looking for

I know my questions may seem pretty basic, but its inexperience talking here really

These situations are really difficult to know what to do - especially if you haven't dealt with anything like this before.

The son is afraid of doing something wrong, and genuinely doesn't know what he is supposed to do.

The house is definitely owned by the deceased alone, but there is something else though

The house has an alarm system. In fact it is pretty much fort knox.

To get in to the main house there are several locked doors, and a locked exterior gate, and then an alarm. Would he also have to get in contact with the alarm company?

It sounds like the crystal maze

In reality, the son doesn't even want to go to the house. It was his childhood home and contains memories of which he does not want to think of. He doesnt want (or expect to be left) anything from the deceased and is only thinking of getting involved out of duty - and just wants the whole lot disposed of in some way

Can he hand this over to a solicitor?

elsien

He can involve a solicitor if he wishes but may have to pay any bills if the estate turns out to be insolvent.
Does he know which hospital ward the person was on - any keys may be either in the ward safe or in lost property however it may also be that there is now no way of identifying who they came in with.
If someone is admitted to hospital in an emergency then from experience no one takes responsibility for ensuring keys etc go along for the ride. So if it's a Yale lock and the door has been closed behind the last person out the keys may still be inside.
The son does not have to do anything if he doesn't want to. He can walk away. As already said, someone arranged the funeral. Does he know who that was?

Mojisola

There is no need for him to do anything.

Advise him to walk away from it and get on with his life.

Malthusian

getmore4less wrote: »

If the house is locked then someone secured it.

Probably the deceased. A lot of front doors lock automatically. There are any number of reasons why someone might die while out and about and have their keys lost while transferring them to hospital. The OP doesn't want to tell us exactly what happened.

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

And once he is in, what does he have right to do? ie just search for a Will and leave?

If he applies for letters of administration and then calls for a locksmith, and he finds a Will, he should immediately make all reasonable efforts to contact the executors, and then leave the job in their hands. If he finds no Will he will now as administrator be obliged to distribute the estate in accordance with intestacy law.

If he persuades the police or a locksmith to open the building up without having been appointed administrator, he should search for a Will, and if there is one, take a photo of the first page then leave and contact the executors as above. If there isn't one he should leave then apply for letters of administration.

This is assuming he wants the job. But the son wants closure and the OP's waters are telling them that the son is heir to the home, so unless the OP's waters also tell them that the estate is insolvent despite the property, it makes little sense to just abandon it.

One friend said that he could hand the whole lot over to a solicitor to deal with - and this , would be his preferred option - if that is indeed true.

Yep. But he needs to be appointed administrator first before he has a job to hand over to them. (Or executor if a Will turns up and it nominates the son as executor.)

pickledonionspaceraider

Mojisola wrote: »

There is no need for him to do anything.

Advise him to walk away from it and get on with his life.

Is this really do-able (and I mean that in a genuine way)?

What I mean to say is, won't someone knock on his door one day and tell him in years to come, that he is responsible for a ramshackle house, miles away?