Council tax during probate

BB.

Hello, I am seeking advice on behalf of my husband, the only child whose parents passed away and the probate was granted on 11/01/22 . This has not been finalised yet due to "delays with the Land Registry" according to his Solicitor. His parents left him a family house and 2 weeks ago got a bill came through from the local council to pay almost £7k which includes council tax from 26.05.22 (we now know this is when Assent was signed) and empty Homes premium at 100% from 26.05.24. He had no prior warning from the council nor the solicitors of this coming through and wondering what the best way to approach it. Are there any grounds to ask for a discount or to delay the Empty House Premium for a year or so, to give him time to decide what to do with the house? 
He made no plans regarding future of the property due to personal attachment and also was not aware the property was legally his. 

Any advise or if you can share your own experience, would be much appreciated,

Thanks,
BB. 

Brie

First thing to do is to contact the council and explain that this is the first he's heard about the tax owed.  I believe there is a certain period (6 months?) when the empty house situation isn't applied but after that as owner (assume there's no other beneficiaries and the house is in his name?) he would be responsible.  Councils are usually quite happy to make a payment arrangement particularly for large bills as they normally understand that people can't just magic up large sums of money.  

Is there someone who could live in the house to mitigate against the empty house premium?  Not suggesting you become instant landlords but if you and he used it for twice monthly weekends away that might suffice.  That might also cover you for housing insurance where empty properties are generally not covered by the policies.  Helps keep things ticking along, will give him the time and space to think what to do etc etc.  

kipsterno1

What had he previously told them in relation to the property?
There is a six month grace period from the date probate is granted after which relevant charges are applied.

Dave_5150

Council's often charge a higher rate / council tax premium for long time empty properties which can be as much as four times the normal bill https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes-and-empty-properties

BB.

Thanks All! 
The 6 month exemption has already been applied from 11th Jan 22 - when the probate was granted - to 26th May 2022 when the Assent happened. 
He had not been told by neither the solicitors nor the Council to pay anything until the Council has sent him the £7k bill and ordered to pay just above £3k immediately. The solicitors are still dealing with the Estate and he thought all the bills were being paid from the estate. 
He told the council nothing apart from registering his dad's death. 
We don't know anyone who could live there but could enquire with the local estate agency about short term let to reset the empty home status. Does anyone know how long someone would need to live there? 

Thanks again. 

NBLondon

I had a smaller version of this problem with my late mother's house.  I notified them when I inherited the house; they acknowledged it and then nothing more until the new tax year when they sent me a demand for the full rate. I looked it up (like Dave's link above) and challenged them on the 6 month grace period.  Turns out that is not statutory - it's at each council's discretion as is the higher rate on an empty property.   They insisted they had given me 4 months already and I wasn't getting any more.  So I'm paying them month by month (by cheque!) until the property sells.

One question for the OP though.  If husband is an only child; is he not the executor?  If the solicitor is the executor, I'd be asking them why they didn't warn him in 2022 and why it has taken two years after probate to transfer the property?   It took me less than an hour to do online with the death certificates.

poseidon1

BB. said:

Thanks All! 
The 6 month exemption has already been applied from 11th Jan 22 - when the probate was granted - to 26th May 2022 when the Assent happened. 
He had not been told by neither the solicitors nor the Council to pay anything until the Council has sent him the £7k bill and ordered to pay just above £3k immediately. The solicitors are still dealing with the Estate and he thought all the bills were being paid from the estate. 
He told the council nothing apart from registering his dad's death. 
We don't know anyone who could live there but could enquire with the local estate agency about short term let to reset the empty home status. Does anyone know how long someone would need to live there? 

Thanks again. 

Seems to be a complete lack of understanding of the legal effect of the Assent your husband signed as of 26 May 2022, and not noted by any of the other respondent posts here.

As of that date your husband received the legal ownership of the property free and discharged from the parents  estate. From that point onwards he was free to do with it as he wish ( sell it/ let it/ occupy it). He was also burdened with all the ongoing expenses related to it  ( utilities, insurance etc)  

As noted by NBLondon, empty property rates exemption is entirely at a council's discretion and a property owner is on noticed to establish the position themselves ( frankly a matter of commonsense in this day and age). 

However, if the solicitor/ executors have been paying all the other property expenses ( which would be inconsistent with the terms of the Assent), and there remains  sufficient cash to cover the council tax charge ( and solicitors ongoing costs), then he could always tap the estate for a cash advance to cover the charge. This should not be problem if he is the sole beneficiary.

In any event, the council tax  charge should be a wake up call for positive action with regard to the future of the property.

As to letting, estate agents should only be able to find people looking  for ' assured shorthold tenancy' ie for 1 year with 6 month break clause. With that form of tenancy the tenant becomes wholly liable  for council tax from date of moving in. Your husband remains liable for past bills.

Your husband should not consider letting as a landlord lightly. Depending on the council involve there can be quite burdensome statutory landlord obligations he might be unwilling to undertake ( a lot of private landlords getting out of the business for this and tax reasons).    

RAS

It doesn't depend on the Council, there are multiple legal requirements that the owner has to meet if they are to comply with the statutory requirements, different in England, Scotland, Wales etc. Read the stickies in the buying, selling, renting, owning forum here.

The owner can't just avoid these by using a letting agent/EA. They don't actually need any training in tenancy law and the owner remains liable for their mistakes.

Some Councils have additional requirements regarding licensing and other issues. Don't assume the letting agent or EA fully understands these.

BB.

Thanks All. The whole process has been very hard for my husband to deal with as he lost both his parents suddenly within 18 months, both in their 60ties. We also had a baby around that time and I was not able to help him/ support him much. Unfortunately the solicitors have not been great either and he is convinced (he is going through correspondence as we speak), he was not made aware of the property being legally his and obligations in relation to it as of 26th May. 

He does not want to rent the property for any time as all the belongings and parents ashes are currently there. He will pledge with the council to delay the empty property premium and if successful, he will hopefully have time to consider sale and start dealing with 
with it emotionally and physically emptying the property. 

NBLondon. It took less than 6 months from the grant of probate (11.01.22) to notice of Assent (26.05). He was not able to deal with all that himself as explained above. 

Much appreciated,
BB

pjs493

Speak to the council and they’ll likely put the bill on hold until Probate is granted and funds are available to pay it. When I was sorting through my husband’s estate I found an unpaid council tax bill from when a rental property was empty between tenants a couple of years ago. It was under a pile of paperwork and I suspect it was in his to do pile when he was sorting out his taxes and it accidentally got mixed in with some unrelated papers and forgotten. 

I must add that there was only one bill, it hasn’t been chased up as far as I could tell. My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly so I had to sort out all of the finances without any pre-planning as might be the case if someone is ill or elderly. 

I called the council, explained the situation and they said they’d put a note on the account and I could pay it after Probate was granted. In the end I just paid it as money came in from closed bank accounts as it was only for a couple of hundred pounds and it seemed to make more sense to get little things like that out of the way. 

The council didn’t seem in a rush for the money and I suspect they wouldn’t have chased it for a while under the circumstances. I think the key thing is for your husband to call the council and explain the situation. 

poseidon1

pjs493 said:

Speak to the council and they’ll likely put the bill on hold until Probate is granted and funds are available to pay it. When I was sorting through my husband’s estate I found an unpaid council tax bill from when a rental property was empty between tenants a couple of years ago. It was under a pile of paperwork and I suspect it was in his to do pile when he was sorting out his taxes and it accidentally got mixed in with some unrelated papers and forgotten. 

I must add that there was only one bill, it hasn’t been chased up as far as I could tell. My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly so I had to sort out all of the finances without any pre-planning as might be the case if someone is ill or elderly. 

I called the council, explained the situation and they said they’d put a note on the account and I could pay it after Probate was granted. In the end I just paid it as money came in from closed bank accounts as it was only for a couple of hundred pounds and it seemed to make more sense to get little things like that out of the way. 

The council didn’t seem in a rush for the money and I suspect they wouldn’t have chased it for a while under the circumstances. I think the key thing is for your husband to call the council and explain the situation. 

Probate was granted 11/01/2022!