Tenants in common

Vibgirl

My father and friend had property as tenants in common.  My father died 17 years ago leaving his friend to live in the house for the remainder of her life.  My fathers share of the house was left to myself and brother as stated in his Will and on the land registry.  The friend died 2019  and I have only just found this out.  The executor who dealt with my late fathers estate has died.  Do I need a solicitor to deal as the friends family are not returning my calls and I am concerned I will not be able to get my fathers share of his house.  Any help would be appreciated.

getmore4less

If the house has the legal owners as friend and you two then you(with sibling) are now the sole legal owners of the property.

You can have the other person removed  you need their death certificate.

What has happened to the property as how you proceed from here will depend on that.

Keep_pedalling

First thing to do is establish who the executor of her estate is. Probate should have been granted by now, so check the probate registry to find out if it has been done, and if it has you need to contact the executor to find out what is going on.

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

I would also check the land registry, there should be a restriction on it preventing its sale. 

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

xylophone

My father died 17 years ago leaving his friend to live in the house for the remainder of her life.  My fathers share of the house was left to myself and brother as stated in his Will and on the land registry. 

What exactly did your father's will say?

Were you and your brother registered as proprietors at the Land Registry?

Have you searched the Probate records in respect of the friend?

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Have you  recently checked the Land Registry?

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

getmore4less

Keep_pedalling said:

First thing to do is establish who the executor of her estate is. Probate should have been granted by now, so check the probate registry to find out if it has been done, and if it has you need to contact the executor to find out what is going on.

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

I would also check the land registry, there should be a restriction on it preventing its sale. 

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Standard Form A restrictions do not prevent sales by legal owners.

Land_Registry

Vibgirl said:

My father and friend had property as tenants in common.  My father died 17 years ago leaving his friend to live in the house for the remainder of her life.  My fathers share of the house was left to myself and brother as stated in his Will and on the land registry.  The friend died 2019  and I have only just found this out.  The executor who dealt with my late fathers estate has died.  Do I need a solicitor to deal as the friends family are not returning my calls and I am concerned I will not be able to get my fathers share of his house.  Any help would be appreciated.

If you are getting no response then a solicitor’s advice and assistance would be a way forward. But as others’s have posted there’s some work you can do yourself includ8ng checking for probate for her 
It reads as if you are already aware of what’s registered so understand the legal ownership passed to her but your father’s beneficial share is still relevant. 

Just need to confirm legal position and what your options are. The friends family are likely to do the same 

Vibgirl

Thankyou for all your helpful comments.  I'm new so not sure if I'm in the right place to reply to you Xylophone with the answers to your questions, but will put here anyway in the hope you get them.  1. My fathers Will said "I give all my share and interest in equity in the property xxx to the said (friend) for her life and after her death the same shall fall into and form part of my residue estate and be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Clause 3 of this my Will".  Then Clause 3 states "I give and bequeath all the residue of my estate into such of my children (names) as such  be living at the date of my death and if both shall then be living as tenants in common".  2. The land registry shows as Registered owners (friend) and my late dads exeutor/TRUSTEE.  So the land registry was changed when my father died.  Also on the land registry, item B. PROPRIETORSHIP REGISTER item 3 Restriction states"that the disposition is in accordance with the terms of the Will of (Dads name).  
3.  I cannot find probate or Will for friend who died in 2019 on the website so perhaps the friends family has not bothered to get grant of probate.
Do you think I need to get a solicitor to deal as I think the friends family and my late dads executor (who is brother in law of the friend who passed away and so is relative of friends family) is perhaps illegally keeping this house?
Many thanks for any advice

xylophone

 2. The land registry shows as Registered owners (friend) and my late dads exeutor/TRUSTEE.  So the land registry was changed when my father died.  Also on the land registry, item B. PROPRIETORSHIP REGISTER item 3 Restriction states"that the disposition is in accordance with the terms of the Will of (Dads name).  

The executor who dealt with my late fathers estate has died.  

Are you saying the the Land Registry currently stands as above even though both registered proprietors have died?

Vibgirl

I only have a copy of the land registry from after my late father died.  It shows registered owners as (friend) and (dads executor). Shall I ask for a new one now that the friend died in 2019?  The one I have is dated 2012.

xylophone

Shall I ask for a new one now that the friend died in 2019?  

Check here - you can download a copy of the register.

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Vibgirl

Just got the up to date copy of the land registry and the deceased is still showing as registered owner along with my late fathers executor.  So perhaps the family have just left it like that and not bothered to change it when she died in 2019.  Is that legal?