House Bills & Covenants

rancid-a

Good afternnon all

Mum passed away just before Christmas and Probate was granted in March.

I am an executor and inherited Mum's house, but she said in the will that she wanted me to sell it to a relative. I'm in the process of doing this now but it's taking a while.

Now that Mum's utility accounts are paid and closed, is the estate still responsible for paying upcoming bills until the house is sold?

Yesterday, 'the occupier' (I guess that has to be me) of the empty house recieved an electric bill of £200. The buyers solicitor has also asked for a council covenant to be removed from the deeds which is costing £350 (to remove a yearly £1 rent charge) and then there's the council tax - the excemption ends in August.

I didn't inherit any money and don't have too much to use for the bills on this house as I have my own flat. The other executor, who is also buying the house, feels I should now take over paying any new bills that arrive betwen now & selling the house.

If it's my duty to pay everything, that's fine, I will try but I'm going to struggle.

user1977

The estate can pay the bills whenever it has sufficient cash to do so. Creditors just have to wait.

The rentcharge is just one of the costs of selling so treated in the same way as the legal bill etc - again, I'd expect all of that to be settled from the proceeds of sale, not something you need to pay for upfront.

Keep_pedalling

That was a terrible condition for you mother to add to the will it would have been a lot easier to sell on the open market.

it is not your responsibility to pay any bills it is the estate’s responsibility. As for removing the rent charge your relative is taking the #@!!, if they want that removed they pay for it.

Marcon

rancid-a said:

Good afternnon all

Mum passed away just before Christmas and Probate was granted in March.

I am an executor and inherited Mum's house, but she said in the will that she wanted me to sell it to a relative. I'm in the process of doing this now but it's taking a while.

Now that Mum's utility accounts are paid and closed, is the estate still responsible for paying upcoming bills until the house is sold?

Yesterday, 'the occupier' (I guess that has to be me) of the empty house recieved an electric bill of £200. The buyers solicitor has also asked for a council covenant to be removed from the deeds which is costing £350 (to remove a yearly £1 rent charge) and then there's the council tax - the excemption ends in August.

I didn't inherit any money and don't have too much to use for the bills on this house as I have my own flat. The other executor, who is also buying the house, feels I should now take over paying any new bills that arrive betwen now & selling the house.

If it's my duty to pay everything, that's fine, I will try but I'm going to struggle.

Not clear whether your mother 'wanted' or 'directed' you to sell the house to a particular relative, or why she wrote the will the way she did.

Presumably you've checked that the route you're currently going won't land the estate (or indeed you) with a tax bill if your mother's reasoning was that leaving the property to you as her offspring would give the estate a further £175K nil-rate IHT band  - is the property valuable enough to benefit from this anyway?

The solicitor doing your conveyancing (i.e. the one acting for you, not the purchaser) will be able to advise you on what you do and don't have to agree to as a condition of sale of the property, including which costs can be passed on to the purchaser. The request to remove a covenant is highly likely to be one of those costs which can be passed on. Or you could refuse, of course...

If the sale is being dragged out for no good reason, make it clear you'll be increasing the price unless it is completed within a reasonable timeframe - 'reasonable' is something you need to ask your own solicitor about.

Keep_pedalling

This sort of clause is not enforceable it is mearly a wish, if this relative wants to play silly buggers, then you have the option of putting it on the open market or moving in and taking ownership.

rancid-a

Hi everyone
Thank you for taking time to help with this, it's really appreciated.

Marcon said:

Not clear whether your mother 'wanted' or 'directed' you to sell the house to a particular relative, or why she wrote the will the way she did.

I'm not 100% sure either if Mum is making me do this, she worded her Will like this:

Page 1.
1. I revoke any existing wills.
2. I appoint my son & xxxx to be executors and trustees of this my will.
3. I give my savings account to my grandson and granddaughter in equal shares.
4. I give the rest of my estate to my trustees to pay for my funeral and my debts and then for (me) absolutely.
(all signatures)

page 2.
To my Executors:
I wish for my son to sell my property to xxxx & xxxx(the 2nd executor). I have discussed this with him and hope he is able to sell the property as stated.

(Mums signature).

I don't mind selling the property to my relative, It's what Mum asked me to do to help them get on the property ladder and to keep the house in the family. It's only a small house worth about £90-100k.

I already paid the council covenant, my solicitor told me to pay it directly to the council. It would make me happy if I could have that £350 back and allow the estate to pay for it.

Have to say, It's been the longest six months ever! Perhaps the worst is over, I'm ready for a break.
Thank you again everyone

Spendless

Surely these bills belong to the estate and aren't yours. I'd have thought that they come under 'my debts' (page 1 point 4) I'd be keeping receipts/copies of everything you've paid out. 

Marcon

rancid-a said:

Hi everyone
Thank you for taking time to help with this, it's really appreciated.

Marcon said:

Not clear whether your mother 'wanted' or 'directed' you to sell the house to a particular relative, or why she wrote the will the way she did.

I'm not 100% sure either if Mum is making me do this, she worded her Will like this:

Page 1.
1. I revoke any existing wills.
2. I appoint my son & xxxx to be executors and trustees of this my will.
3. I give my savings account to my grandson and granddaughter in equal shares.
4. I give the rest of my estate to my trustees to pay for my funeral and my debts and then for (me) absolutely.
(all signatures)

page 2.
To my Executors:
I wish for my son to sell my property to xxxx & xxxx(the 2nd executor). I have discussed this with him and hope he is able to sell the property as stated.

(Mums signature).

I don't mind selling the property to my relative, It's what Mum asked me to do to help them get on the property ladder and to keep the house in the family. It's only a small house worth about £90-100k.

I already paid the council covenant, my solicitor told me to pay it directly to the council. It would make me happy if I could have that £350 back and allow the estate to pay for it.

Have to say, It's been the longest six months ever! Perhaps the worst is over, I'm ready for a break.
Thank you again everyone

You aren't forced to do so by the wording of the will. 'I wish' is not the same as 'I direct' - and 'hoping' you sell the property as stated makes it very clear it's not a binding direction.

I can't see any reason why the estate can't pay these costs, but if you are the sole beneficiary (?), it's effectively coming out of your inheritance anyway.

Flugelhorn

the savings accounts shouldn't really have been left to the grandchildren as the cash is what was needed to pay some of the costs of the estate. Nothing wrong with leaving something to the grandchildren but this has caused the OP to have some extra bills.

msb1234

have you told the utilities company that your mum has passed away? If not, give them a call tomorrow, get a meter reading for them and they will want to see the probate / will / some sort of proof that you’re the executor. Then they will pass on all energy bill debts to an agency who will arrange to collect any outstanding debt from the proceeds of the house sale. You do not need to pay this upfront. 

Any costs that HAVE to be incurred for the sale of the house will also be paid out of the proceeds of the sale. The request that the buyer has made about the charge is their cost so they need to pay it. It’s not a necessary cost for the vendor (ie you). 

msb1234

Out of curiosity, did you get a valuation for the house before selling it?