Buying a house from the deceased. How do I do it?

wilfred30

They can apply for a Compulsory Purchase Order, Empty Dwelling Management Order etc.

AdrianC

Bossypants said:

If you decide to pursue this, be prepared for a long, annoying process which may very well end up going nowhere. Sane people with a free hand don't let a valuable asset sit unused and going to ruin for 20 years if they can help it, they either use it (to live in or let out) or they sell it. The fact that neither of those things has happened suggests that there's some pretty significant block in the way, such as a family dispute or weird legal clauses, or the owner isn't mentally willing or capable of taking a decision on it, for whatever reason.

Perhaps the current owner doesn't actually know they're the current owner?

Perhaps it was left in the will of the last-known-owner to somebody who then died relatively soon after, and that person's own executors or administrators never even realised that it existed and formed part of the estate? I suspect it happens more often than you think. Elderly owner leaves to similarly elderly sibling now perhaps with dementia, will hasn't been updated for years...

There's an old chapel just up the lane from us which was heavily renovated a few decades ago by an old boy who had "heard the word" - along, allegedly, with quite a few others. It's now heading rapidly to semi-dereliction again.

Comms69

wilfred30 said:

They can apply for a Compulsory Purchase Order, Empty Dwelling Management Order etc.

Yes, but those applications are broadly to the court

Bossypants

AdrianC said:

Bossypants said:

If you decide to pursue this, be prepared for a long, annoying process which may very well end up going nowhere. Sane people with a free hand don't let a valuable asset sit unused and going to ruin for 20 years if they can help it, they either use it (to live in or let out) or they sell it. The fact that neither of those things has happened suggests that there's some pretty significant block in the way, such as a family dispute or weird legal clauses, or the owner isn't mentally willing or capable of taking a decision on it, for whatever reason.

Perhaps the current owner doesn't actually know they're the current owner?

Perhaps it was left in the will of the last-known-owner to somebody who then died relatively soon after, and that person's own executors or administrators never even realised that it existed and formed part of the estate? I suspect it happens more often than you think. Elderly owner leaves to similarly elderly sibling now perhaps with dementia, will hasn't been updated for years...

There's an old chapel just up the lane from us which was heavily renovated a few decades ago by an old boy who had "heard the word" - along, allegedly, with quite a few others. It's now heading rapidly to semi-dereliction again.

I can't really speak for the details of the example I mentioned, as I was only there for a viewing and the information came from one of the other neighbours. It certainly seemed like the owner didn't accept that he was the owner, for whatever reason.

You're right that these things do happen quite often. I posted a thread a while ago about a very unfortunate situation in my neighbour's family, where for whatever reason someone's estate wasn't properly wound up some 60 or 70 years ago. It being a very small, rural estate (just a house and personal possessions), nobody really noticed and the house was just passed informally to the people the family agreed ought to inherit it. That sort of worked for a couple of generations, but now the current inhabitant (two 'inheritances' on from the original owner) needs care and the house can't be sold because nobody knows where the deeds are or who legally owns it at this point (not registered, of course) and the cost and logistics of organising a solicitor to try to sort the mess out is beyond the capacity of the other remaining relatives, now themselves over 80. A proper mess, and meanwhile the house keeps going downhill, of no use to anyone, with it's 'owner' unable to benefit from the improved quality of life the funds from a sale would give them. Very sad all round really.

AdrianC

Bossypants said:

You're right that these things do happen quite often. I posted a thread a while ago about a very unfortunate situation in my neighbour's family, where for whatever reason someone's estate wasn't properly wound up some 60 or 70 years ago. It being a very small, rural estate (just a house and personal possessions), nobody really noticed and the house was just passed informally to the people the family agreed ought to inherit it. That sort of worked for a couple of generations, but now the current inhabitant (two 'inheritances' on from the original owner) needs care and the house can't be sold because nobody knows where the deeds are or who legally owns it at this point (not registered, of course) and the cost and logistics of organising a solicitor to try to sort the mess out is beyond the capacity of the other remaining relatives, now themselves over 80. A proper mess, and meanwhile the house keeps going downhill, of no use to anyone, with it's 'owner' unable to benefit from the improved quality of life the funds from a sale would give them. Very sad all round really.

Seems like it'd be quick and easy to claim adverse possession, all else being equal. Is there a younger, more capable family member that could organise it?

'course, if they can't prove they own it to sell it, the LA can't prove they own it to claim the assets towards their care costs...

Bossypants

Adverse possession would likely be the way to go, but the individual previously living there suffers from severe mental health issues and isn't capable of taking the necessary steps alone. There's no family close by and though there is some extended family, the only people who actually know the individual enough to want to spend the time and effort to help are very elderly. The council (who are currently funding the necessary care) are involved, they seem to be taking the lead though as with anything council related it takes the time it takes.

No doubt it will get resolved eventually somehow, as most things do, I'm just using it as an example of how apparently decent houses can be left to go to ruin for years or even decades on end.