About to exchange - CCJ's pop up out of the woodwork!

faveted

My mother passed away suddenly last summer with no will. I am acting as administrator of her estate on the behalf of myself and my siblings who will inherit under intestacy. Her house is under the final stages of sale and we were about to exchange contracts. However, the land registry title has highlighted three charges preventing this, which, when I ran search reports on the register, showed that there are three court judgments for debts totaling around £30K. Two of these are linked to my mother under the address of the property being sold, and one is linked to her under a different address. Throughout the last year of collecting information through my administrative duties I have come across NO correspondence pertaining to any of these charges. I have had access to my mother's emails and redirected post since her passing and yet this was all completely new information to myself. Obviously I need to speak to the debt collection agencies but want to ask the right questions.  Can anybody offer any advice on how to deal with these agencies? Are they likely to reduce the debt if I explain the situation? Also, with regards to the debt that is not linked to the property, can this prevent the house sale from going through and is payment enforceable? As administrator I do not want any of this to come back and affect myself in the future once the estate has been settled. 

Thanks in advance for any advice as I feel in the dark having never had to deal with such agencies previously. 

Keep_pedalling

They will not reduce a debt that is secured by a charge against a property. Speak to your conveyancing solicitor the should no the process to get these restrictions removed so the house can be sold. The creditors should be paid from the sale proceeds before you get the remainder.

How much unsecured debt is there, and what is the value of the estate.

faveted

How much unsecured debt is there, and what is the value of the estate.

All other debts (credit card, utilities etc) have been settled and I literally thought that I'd covered everything and all that was left was to sell the property. There is no mortgage and enough in the estate to cover the £30k owed. 

Do you know anything about the debt linked to a separate address and whether this is payable from the estate? (I'm assuming so and more than happy to pay, but a sibling has informed me that we shouldn't be liable for this)

Thanks

Keep_pedalling

faveted said:

How much unsecured debt is there, and what is the value of the estate.

All other debts (credit card, utilities etc) have been settled and I literally thought that I'd covered everything and all that was left was to sell the property. There is no mortgage and enough in the estate to cover the £30k owed. 

Do you know anything about the debt linked to a separate address and whether this is payable from the estate? (I'm assuming so and more than happy to pay, but a sibling has informed me that we shouldn't be liable for this)

Thanks

If it is secured against the current property then yes it will need to be paid.

TBagpuss

The issue is whether it is a debt your mum owed. IF it was her debt, albeit when she was a t a different address, then her estate is liable to pay it.

Id the address one she ever lived at or had any connection with? 

If however it is not her debt (for instance, if it is owed by someone else with the same or a similar name) then she isn't..

faveted

Yes she owned the property being sold (to which there are two equitable charges applied), but at the time she was living at the other address with her partner. 

My concern is that one or all of the initial debts were created by a family member who was living in the property currently being sold for a period up to the date of the CCJ. This family member has form for deceit as they had previously applied for a credit card in my mother's name and raked up debt on there before my mother found out. What I'm wondering is whether this person had committed other fraud that was not detected that has now led to these charges?? 

I contacted the information commissions office to enquire about making a subject access request but was informed that no data can be shared about a dead person due to data protection, which leaves me in the dark a bit.  I was advised to take independent legal advice but quite frankly this will take substantial time and resource and I am concerned that we have kept the buyer waiting long enough (due to other complications) and they may pull out. 

Robert_McGeddon

faveted said:

  I was advised to take independent legal advice but quite frankly this will take substantial time and resource and I am concerned that we have kept the buyer waiting long enough (due to other complications) and they may pull out. 

For £30K isn't it worth it?  You have a choice to make.

There would be a considerable amount of time/effort in researching the CCJs and maybe getting them set aside. There is also the possibility of criminal action against the family member. It may be worthwhile financially but unless you're a tough nut it is likely to be physically draining.

GrumpyDil

The two secured on the house you are selling will need to be dealt with prior to the sale completing. The third charge will need resolving before you can complete distribution but should not impact the house sale.

I'm confused about the comment from the ICO as the data protection rules only apply to living people. 

Thrugelmir

Did you report your mother's death in the London Gazette? This will have brought the news of her demise to the creditors attention.