Property and Probate Legalities

JoBailey73

Hi, I am using this forum for some guidance as a caring neice of an Unclue who needs some legal advice.

One of my Uncles passed away during the COVID Pandemic last November and it has sprung to light that the Will he claims he had and paid for is nowhere to be seen.  Within this will he claimed that the property that he owned was to be left to his 2 brothers but as we cannot find this will we have no evidence to back this up.  Only word of mouth from my late Uncle. 

My Aunt has made herself Sole Representative over the estate out of 5 remaining siblings remaining.  As part of the estate she is including the family house that was once my Grandparents home before it was assigned to my uncle. His brother is still residing in and has done so for over 30 years taking ownership of the full living expenses for this property as it used to be split. There is not mortgage the property was owned outright so it is only the gas electric council tax etc. that he has to provide for. 

My Aunt is claiming the property has to be sold which will leave my living uncle homeless as he is the only member of the family that does not have his own accommodation as he didn't need too and continued to live with my late uncle which was an agreement that they had between themselves that he could reside at the property for as long as he wanted.

He has been told he has 28 days to vacate the property but has not been served with an eviction notice.  We all know that the council will not house anyone within 28 days so will find himself out on the streets as he will not be be classed as a priority.  I once found a site that claimed that all siblings had to be in agreement for the property to be disposed of via a resale but the way that this mater is progressing no one is being consulted or communicated with.

I would like to know if anyone can provide any advice that i can forward to my uncle as this is causing him a lot stress and anxiety and has no where else to go.

The solicitors that are representing my Aunt have also asked that he forwards to them the funds from a policy that my uncle left him and that the bank transferred into his account when they discovered my uncles passing.  Can they legally request this even though it was left to my uncle and not to be divided up between the siblings or form part of the estate?

He has asked to stay at the property for remainder of his life he is in his late 60's so not a young chap and does not feel that this is an unreasonable request.  He does not want any financial aid from the siblings for the maintenance and up keep of the property he is willing to do this himself.

In addition does anyone know if there is any legal company that would assist with matter regarding probate disputes and if anyone would be entitled to legal aid for this assistance.

Any help or guidance on this would be very appreciated.

Mojisola

How long ago did he say he had made the will?  Is it possible to find a payment to a solicitor in his accounts?

I assume someone has contacted all the local solicitors to see if any of them wrote the will?

getmore4less

If he paid for a will try to work out who he paid they should have a copy might have the original

Other siblings should have got on to the grant and leave the aunt to take over.

Does the uncle that was legal owner have kids?

JoBailey73

He never said when the Will was made he always said to us that he had left instructions with the Bank and they know what to do if anything happened.

We have been to the bank and solicitors in the local area and found nothing.

He as married and had no children which is why the estate is to be issued to the 5 remaining siblings

Flugelhorn

Was the property ever really his? If there were 5 siblings did grandparents just leave it to one of them ? or was he the eldest?

Odd that he said the bank would know - he didn't leave a safety deposit box there did he?  

Maybe the will has gone walkabout 

JoBailey73

Yes the property was assigned to him by my grandparents whilst they were alive and he then re-mortgaged the property to start a business out of the equity and cleared what was left on the mortgage from my grandparents and then cleared  the loan and the mortgage that he had taken out off completely.  The land registry documents are in my late uncles name.

I am not sure about a safety deposit box i know he was adamant that they had instructions on what to do in the event of his passing

Keep_pedalling

How much effort has been made to trace the wii? If they have only check with his current bank they is a good chance it could be with a bank he previously used.

As for your uncle they can’t really force him out without a court order so if he stays put it is going to take a lot longer than 28 days. He will not get LA accommodation if he makes himself homeless by leaving as requested he should stay put until he has no choice 

The fact that he has been there for 30 years might give him a better status the a lodger. If he has contributed to the fabric of the building through contributing to repairs and improvement or helped pay the mortgage then he is not a lodger, and has a lot more rights.

He should contact Shelter ASAP for some advice.

Any chance he has sufficient assets to buy his sibling out?

JoBailey73

I am not entirely sure how much effort was made i only know that they paid for the search and it came back with nothing.

Thank you for the advice though this is much appreciated i did look at shelter i will contact them for some advice.

Unfortunately my uncle does not have enough assets to buy them out it is only 3 out of 4 siblings that is causing the issues raised my mother is happy to allow him to keep the house and stay for the remainder or until he no longer wishes to stay.