property jointly owned with ex

sammy70

Hi, question on behalf of my sisters (adult) children.
My sister passed away in 2020 quite young, leaving 4 children, the youngest 17.

She was on a mortgage on a property with her youngest sons father, which he has been renting out for a number of years since their break up, he has been keeping all the rent.

My question is, the four children have recently been not very kindly told by my sisters ex that he has recieved a letter from the mortgage company , he didnt give any details, only that they better not think they were having anything from the property.. how do they go about making a claim on this property? my sister wanted all her estate, which was tiny, sharing equally between her 4 children.
i dont want this guy keeping my sisters half of the property, and robbing her children of it.
they are frightened and unsure what to do.
i could really do with advice on where they stand, and what to do.
they havent got a lot of cash for legal costs..

Thank you

Savvy_Sue

I'm afraid there are a few questions which need answers. 

Perhaps the most important one: did your sister leave a will? If she did, what did it say? If she did not, then what she wanted is, perhaps regrettably, immaterial, because the laws of intestacy have to be followed. 

Who dealt (or is dealing) with her estate? I'd say they are the ones who need to deal with this now. 

You say that she was 'on a mortgage' with her ex, but did they own the property as tenants in common, or joint tenants? See https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership - you'll see from that link that if they were joint tenants, then the property passed entirely to him on your sister's death, and her children would only have been entitled to the rest of her estate. If they were tenants in common, then it's likely that half the value of the house should have come to her children,

BUT

if there's still a mortgage on the house, was there / is there any equity in the house? Has he continued to pay the mortgage? \hrt children's share of the house may be quite a small amount. 

Was your sister married to this man at any time? If she was, were they divorced by the time she died? If divorced, what were the terms of the divorce settlement?

Keep_pedalling

First thing to do is to is to check title register for a restriction which would indicate that the the property is owned as tenants in common. It should read something like this.

No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court".

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/copies-of-deeds

sammy70

thank you. They werent married, and bought the house together with ajoint mortgage , this was over 15 years ago, so if its been remortgaged its without here knowledge.
Hes lets the house out and keeps rent to pay mortgage, and he kept all profit.
i will look at finding the title deeds to see if it was tenants in common.

sammy70

her oldest daughter dealt with her estate, i believe her will stated anything she had was to be devided between all 4 children

p00hsticks

sammy70 said:

her oldest daughter dealt with her estate, i believe her will stated anything she had was to be devided between all 4 children

But from what you say the estate should potentially have included a share of the house (as an asset) and a share of the joint mortgage (as a debt) and so should have been dealt with as part of that ?

As you are confident that you sister did still own the property and that the mortage was still in joint names, I suggest that the daughter gets in touch with the bank / building society in question to inform them of the death (if she hasn't done so already) and that she is dealing with the estate, and in that capacity can they tel lher what the current situation is with regard to the property (how much is remaining on the mortgage). 

sammy70

her daughter just muddled through sorting bills, bank account etc, no probate..

i think shes afraid of upsetting applecart about the house, she said just leave it till he passes away, but as hes only in his 50.s they could be retired before its sorted.
Also, the other siblings want it sorted, and have asked me for advice.
it was definately bought together and with a joint mortgage.. he tried to buy her out of it about 10 plus years ago , but she declined.. its been rented out since they split up approx 12 years ago.
im not sure who the mortgage is with, but if its mortgaged the lender should show on the title?

Savvy_Sue

One question which has to be asked, is whether HIS child / children have and wish to retain any relationship with him? 

sammy70

his son, my daughters youngest who was only 16 when she passed, doesnt want a relationship with him, he hadnt had contact for years and didnt pay child support, got out of it by the fact hes always been self employed and good at making books appear as not much income. he owns multiple properties as well as this one which some he rents out, some he does up and sells. i have no idead how he dodges paying for his son, who is still in full time education (college) and lives in his mothers rented cottage with his oldest sibling as guarantor