Removing a Permitted Occupier After a Death

sourpuss2021

Alderbank said:

sourpuss2021 said:

km1500 said:

Not sure what this 'notice' is - other than you confirming he has a right to be there by sending it.

Did you get some legal advice? It shouldn't take you more than a day.

As I said, as he is not a tenant then he has no rights (unless by giving him notice you have implicitly recognised his right to be there). Change the locks and call the police.

But this is my view - get it confirmed first.

This is bad advice because OP doesn't own the house yet!!   It is still in probate.

We are told that mum left the entirety of her estate to her two sons 50/50. I had assumed one or both of them (OP or his brother) to be executor of such a simple will.
Is that not the case?

Ah, I hadn't realised an executor could issue a notice to quit before probate had been granted.  But it looks possible - see particularly Lawcruncher's comments here:

https://landlordlawblog.co.uk/2018/03/20/can-executors-serve-valid-section-21-notice/

doodling

Hi,

sourpuss2021 said:

Alderbank said:

sourpuss2021 said:

km1500 said:

Not sure what this 'notice' is - other than you confirming he has a right to be there by sending it.

Did you get some legal advice? It shouldn't take you more than a day.

As I said, as he is not a tenant then he has no rights (unless by giving him notice you have implicitly recognised his right to be there). Change the locks and call the police.

But this is my view - get it confirmed first.

This is bad advice because OP doesn't own the house yet!!   It is still in probate.

We are told that mum left the entirety of her estate to her two sons 50/50. I had assumed one or both of them (OP or his brother) to be executor of such a simple will.
Is that not the case?

Ah, I hadn't realised an executor could issue a notice to quit before probate had been granted.  But it looks possible - see particularly Lawcruncher's comments here:

https://landlordlawblog.co.uk/2018/03/20/can-executors-serve-valid-section-21-notice/

The only wrinkle is that without probate it might be possible for the tenant (not that the occupier in this case is necessarily a tenant) to assert that the person claiming to be the executor has no standing to issue the S21 (because the will might be invalid and therefore they might not actually be the executor).

It is therefore preferable that probate is obtained before any possession hearing to avoid the possibility of this defence.

I don't know what a court would do if the tenant ran this defence and probate had not yet been granted - my guess is that the case would be deferred untill the outcome of probate was known but I could be wrong.