I was left half share in a house but didnt go on title deeds

Robin9

wheeler1970 said:

no siblings or spouse just me.so if I'm expected to pay the debts back it have to be in instalments 

They are the debts of your siblings estate - nothing to do with you unless you start meddling with the estate.

Who has/is arranging the funeral ?

getmore4less

wheeler1970 said:

I'm in need of some advice 5yrs ago my mother passed away and myself and my sibling were left her house in the will,but only my siblings name was on the title deeds now my sibling recently passed away and it would seam they owe money to a bank and other companies, at present i haven't done probate because of the debt situation but I'm now been pestered by the bank but ive told them there is no estate, but i am told they will search probate and land registry and obviously there name will come up at the L/R for the property which ive lived in since my mother died but will the bank recognise that the my sibling only owned 50% of the property if i showed them a copy of said will,and what are my rights before i do probate? money owed to the bank is under £5000  

If you are living in the property then it becomes a lot more difficult to walk away or ignore.

Did your sister also live in it?

Although you say you did not want to be involved in owning property it will be better for you to take control and mange this as it is your home, the alternative is control could be taken out of your hands.



If you were both on the grant I would have thought the land registry would have required both of you to sign off the transfer.

It is important to realise there is legal ownership and beneficial ownership.

With mums grant and will it should be possible to establish your beneficial interest in the property.

It may even be possible to correct the legal ownership maybe the land registry rep will spot this.


If that history gets sorted it still looks like your sister has sufficient beneficial interest in the property to cover the debts so does not have an insolvent estate.



How much time has passed since your sister passed.

Did your sister have a will
Are you named executor
Do you have a will
Who will inherit your estate

Keep_pedalling

Robin9 said:

wheeler1970 said:

no siblings or spouse just me.so if I'm expected to pay the debts back it have to be in instalments 

They are the debts of your siblings estate - nothing to do with you unless you start meddling with the estate.

Who has/is arranging the funeral ?

They are very much to do with the OP as they as it seems the only beneficiary, so it is their interest to get the debt settled, and administer the estate. 

They really have 3 options, raise the cash to pay the debt, sell the house pay the debt and buy something cheaper or do nothing.

The later option will result in the debt being pursued through a forced sale which will cost the OP big time, so they really need to get to grips with the issue pronto. 

Marcon

wheeler1970 said:

no financial reason i just didn't really want responsibility of owning property, you say im responsible for debts but there is no money just the house so at worse what can the bank do if im living in the property surely they cant make me sell for a measly 5k

The problem is that you say your sister had other debts - and it's highly likely that someone else will pop up asking for their money. She owned (at least) half of the house and unless you can pay off all the creditors, selling the property may be your only realistic option.

Flugelhorn

just a thought - depending on how they should have been registered as owning the property after the mother's death - would this have been joint tenants or tenants in common? would that now make a difference as to the debts? if jointly owned the OP would now solely own it, if there was no other estate then presumably the sister would be insolvent?

Marcon

Flugelhorn said:

just a thought - depending on how they should have been registered as owning the property after the mother's death - would this have been joint tenants or tenants in common? would that now make a difference as to the debts? if jointly owned the OP would now solely own it, if there was no other estate then presumably the sister would be insolvent?

Almost certainly tenants in common - but given OP's reluctance to take on the responsibility of owning a property, even establishing that might be expensive. Definitely one where informed legal advice (including sight of the late mother's will) is essential.

theoretica

wheeler1970 said:

I'm in need of some advice 5yrs ago my mother passed away and myself and my sibling were left her house in the will,but only my siblings name was on the title deeds now my sibling recently passed away and it would seam they owe money to a bank and other companies, at present i haven't done probate because of the debt situation but I'm now been pestered by the bank but ive told them there is no estate, but i am told they will search probate and land registry and obviously there name will come up at the L/R for the property which ive lived in since my mother died but will the bank recognise that the my sibling only owned 50% of the property if i showed them a copy of said will,and what are my rights before i do probate? money owed to the bank is under £5000  

Your rights are to the half of a house you inherited from your mother. 

Your sibling will have left an estate which is their half of the house less all their debts.  You may be able to keep the whole house if you are your sibling's main beneficiary and release enough cash to pay off all debtors and any other beneficiaries.  Doing nothing and hoping this goes away is a really bad idea.

getmore4less

Flugelhorn said:

just a thought - depending on how they should have been registered as owning the property after the mother's death - would this have been joint tenants or tenants in common? would that now make a difference as to the debts? if jointly owned the OP would now solely own it, if there was no other estate then presumably the sister would be insolvent?

Joint assets do not stop creditors coming after a share but does make it quite a bit more difficult

In many cases where the debts are relatively small they won't bother.

Relevant legislation (someone is bound to ask)
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/45/section/421A



I think the option to have owned joint(retrospectively) has gone.
There may be a case if they both had no other family both shared living in the property and would have willed to each other anyway.