Late father's legal aid charge on my inherited house

steampowered

Are there any assets in your father's estate apart from the property - e.g. bank accounts or investments? If so, those should be used to pay the debt owed to the Legal Aid Agency.

If the debt is not paid, the property will remain subject to the charge. It can't be transferred to another property. You only really "own" what is left of the property after the charge has been settled.

It could be a good idea to seek a redemption statement. The charge will be accruing interest.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/court_action_and_complaints/legal_aid/legal_aid_repayments 

Mojisola

elsmandino said:

My father recently passed away and I was invited to go to the solicitor for the reading of his will - my father's will confirmed that he left me any beneficial interest in my home, to me (everything else to go to his new wife).

The one thing that did arise, however, is that the solicitor mentioned a legal aid charge that remains on my home - this was occurred by my father whilst divorcing my mother.

The solicitors then went on to say that it is not payable by me but by my father's estate.

If this is the case, then the solicitor should pay the debt from your father's estate and then the charge will be removed from the deeds of the house you have inherited.

sheramber

If your father's house was jointly owned with his wife then it is not part of his estate so his estate is purely any savings, pension etc in his own name and the  beneficial  interest he had in the house you inherited.

His executor should be sorting it out.

AdrianC

elsmandino said:

I would be really grateful for some advice on this slightly tricky situation.

I am an only child and my parents divorced many years ago.

My father moved out of the family home and moved into another home with a new family.

I remained the family home, with my mother, who passed away (intestate), leaving me as the sole heir to the estate - I remained living in the same house.

My father recently passed away and I was invited to go to the solicitor for the reading of his will - my father's will confirmed that he left me any beneficial interest in my home, to me (everything else to go to his new wife).

The one thing that did arise, however, is that the solicitor mentioned a legal aid charge that remains on my home - this was occurred by my father whilst divorcing my mother.

The solicitors then went on to say that it is not payable by me but by my father's estate.

I pretty much left things there - was a bit awkward to ask anything further about this in front of my father's new family.

My issue now is what this means for me and my home - if the statutory charge is not payable by me, how can I have it removed?

Having done a bit of research, I realise that whilst the charge on the house remains, I shall never be able to sell it.

The "charge" is a legal flag to say that the property is security for a debt.

That debt is your late father's debt, not your debt.

The executor of your late father's estate needs to clear that debt, before the property can be transferred into your name. The debt is not your problem. It is the executor's job to use assets of the estate to clear debts. Somebody will have been left the residue of the estate - the debts effectively come out of their share. If the debts outweigh those residuary amounts, then other assets (explicitly left) are going to need to be sold. And that's where it might get interesting.

That's a question best aimed at the people over on https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/deaths-funerals-probate

You have been left your father's interest in the property - presumably it was never sorted in the divorce and remained jointly owned while both were alive...

How, though?
If as Joint Tenants, then the second your mother breathed her last, your father became 100% owner of the entire property.

If you handled your mother's estate, you will surely have details of this?

elsmandino

Thank you all so very much for your input on this - what a nightmare.

I have suddenly realised that I know very little about what is going on and I have so many more questions than answers (which you guys have helped me realise).

I think that AdrianC's last post exactly sums up the position - i.e. I am not sure whether there is enough residue to pay off the debt in full.

I had not realised that there was a specific probate forum.

As suggested, I think I had better continue this issue on there.

Again, thank you all so much - really appreciate it.