Brother not contributing financially now wants to force sale three years on

Keep_pedalling

Now you know that the estate is very small and you already own the house the only reason you need a solicitor is to carry out the convalescing on the house. You don’t need probate.  If possible I would use the same solicitor and they can deduct their fees from the proceeds before passing on the proceeds which will make sure all legal costs are split evenly.

Your capital gains are only £3k above your annual exemption so once selling costs are taken into account there will be little if anything to pay. 

Your parents almost certainly did this as an attempt to avoid care costs, but all it has done is caused confusion and unnecessary expense.

xylophone

to carry out the convalescing on the house.

Conveyancing?

It would seem that the value of your parents' estates was well below the IHT threshold.

It seems that there is only £7000 in cash to administer.

You and your brother will almost certainly be able to arrange for this to be paid to you without seeking probate.

It seems that the CGT will also be modest.

Best for you and your brother to get the property on the market as soon as possible and be relieved from the responsibility?

charliemuppet

Thanks Xylophone, Keep pedalling,I take this onboard and agree the house must be sold,but I cannot afford at this point to do even that if he continues to withhold financial equality as he has done so far ,I will be luck if I can even cover the utility bills
Charlie

xylophone

but I cannot afford at this point to do even that if he continues to withhold financial equality as he has done so far ,

Hang on a minute. You and your brother own a mortgage free property.

Your brother wants to sell it and so do you.

There is £7000 of cash which as executors of your father's will you can request from the bank(s).

At the least you are owed half of this.

Once sold, you and he have a right to share the sale proceeds.

You might show the bills you have paid to the conveyancing solicitor and negotiate a deduction from your brother's share.

charliemuppet

No Xylophone, 7k,given a prevailing wind ,worth of personal effects/belongings following an inventotory,their bank accounts contained a little under 2k,the funeral alone came to nearly £8k,it was a double funeral and my mother was held by the coroner for nearly four weeks,during which time my father became gravely ill due to his leukaemia and died 5 weeks after my mother,the shortfall for the funeral was made up from my own savings
Thanks
Charlie

Flugelhorn

charliemuppet said:

Thanks Xylophone, Keep pedalling,I take this onboard and agree the house must be sold,but I cannot afford at this point to do even that if he continues to withhold financial equality as he has done so far ,I will be luck if I can even cover the utility bills
Charlie

I think you can't afford  NOT to sell the house, and if he agrees then you need to get on with it. When it comes to uitility bills, what are you looking at - they shouldn't be too high if the house is empty and the sooner you sell, the sooner you can claim back the costs

lees80

Surely the bills on an empty house of that value would be minimal? Council tax, insurance, minimal utilities?
Hopefully you have kept a detailed list of your costs to date. Discuss claiming your brothers half of the unpaid costs from his share of the estate with your solicitor. You are both responsible for the bills, he cannot just expect you to cover it without recompense. 

xylophone

And also discuss the common decency of sharing half what you paid for your parents' funeral.

charliemuppet

I totally agree,that's pretty much a given,having said that I have/had a duty to maintain its upkeep as per my responsibility as a co executor(or so I was to believe)
Just because though the house is empty doesn't mean everything is powered off and there's no drain whatsoever,the property's central heating and hot water runs on fuel oil,boiler,security alarms and lights require electricity,water rates,insurance ect,i have to keep the heating ticking over to avoid damp issues ,burst pipes ect I also have to consider now that council tax is and always was payable and always has been apparently,despite it being empty,they were informed early days that it was indeed empty upon the death of my father and and placed a hold upon the council tax and flagged it under dispute awaiting probate,but clearly recent Discovery's nagate that and they need informing and will of course require due payment
Charlie

xylophone

Of course as the property did not belong to your parents, it was not part of their estates except in so far as there could have been a liability to IHT.
Your brother as co-owner should certainly bear his share of the costs - I would press this point with the conveyancing solicitor.
 With regard to the Council, you will need to put your case.  It might be thought rather strange that in your capacity as co executor  (and thinking that your parents owned the property) you didn't check the Land Registry just to see whether there were any charges or restrictions.
Incidentally, does the register show you and your brother as joint tenants or is there anything to indicate tenants-in- common?