Mums Estate

julesisworried

Hi,

Sadly our mum passed away last year after a long illness. She didn't leave a will however our Dad had passed away 9 years previously also without a will, at which time we sought the help of a solicitor to sort how his financials - once he had done this the solicitor said that everything would naturally pass to our Mum including the house they owned that my mum planned to live in until the end. (Which she did)

However Mum was very ill over the past couple of years and our sister was the one taking care of her (I live out of the country but visited as often as I could) and our brother went round occasionally.

Therefore when mum passed away my sister and I applied for probate online, which took roughly a year to get the document and then once we had that we put the house up for sale. At which point we instructed a solicitor. 

The solicitor then came back and told us that on the deeds of the property our Mum wasn't named therefore we needed a death certificate for our Dad - which I obtained a copy of and my sister dropped off at the solicitors, but now they are saying that this is very complicated and they need proof that my sister is in fact entitled to sell the house - as we are the only 3 living Children remaining can anyone explain if we have done something wrong here - My brother and I agreed it was fine for her to continue dealing with this?

The solicitor isn't keeping in touch or giving us any information but when I spoke to the Estate agent they had heard back saying she had told them it was complicated case?

Where do we go from here please? We have already lost one buyer as she couldnt wait any longer as she was due to have her baby and we have another buyer currently waiting.

Thanks in anticipation

Keep_pedalling

It sounds like an assumption was made that the marital home was owned as joint tenants which would mean your mother was left as sole owner. In reality it seems your father was the sole owner of the property. 

In order to sell the property you now need letters of administration for your father’s estate. If this was not obtained at the time then you will have to apply for it now. Unfortunately you will also need to do an IHT return because at the time of his death it was a requirement even for exempt estates, although you will almost certainly get away with the simple IHT 205 process rather than a full IHT 400 return.

Do you have an idea of the value of your father’s estate at the time of death and the value of the house at that point?

This should not be to difficult to do yourselves as using a solicitor will only drag things out even longer, and yo7 gen gent plenty of help and advice on the deaths funerals and probate board.

I have reported the thread as this really belongs over on the board mentioned above rather than savings so hopefully a mod will move it there soon.

julesisworried

Thanks for the response Keep_pedalling,

Apologies for posting on the wrong board.

He didn't have much mainly it was just the house and a couple of outstanding bills which we obviously paid off from what he had left in the bank, the rest we left to the solicitor. He had already sold his car, jewelry etc.

We dont have any paperwork and tbh we never looked into how much the house was worth as mum planned to live out her days there. 

Unfortunately the solicitor at the time never advised us that we would need to do this. So you think if we get the IHT 205 process completed this will help matters?

Keep_pedalling

julesisworried said:

Thanks for the response Keep_pedalling,

Apologies for posting on the wrong board.

He didn't have much mainly it was just the house and a couple of outstanding bills which we obviously paid off from what he had left in the bank, the rest we left to the solicitor. He had already sold his car, jewelry etc.

We dont have any paperwork and tbh we never looked into how much the house was worth as mum planned to live out her days there. 

Unfortunately the solicitor at the time never advised us that we would need to do this. So you think if we get the IHT 205 process completed this will help matters?

No need to apologise you are new here, but having this on the correct board will get better responses to any questions you have.

Yes you will have to complete IHT205 20 working days before you can apply for letters of administration, but it is not to difficult to fill in. The estate agent you are using should be able to give you a reasonable estimate of the value the house at the time he died. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61b9b7c0e90e070441bcf9b3/IHT2052011.pdf

I think you will have to do a paper return as I don’t think IHT205 is doable on line.

If you have any questions about the process please don’t hesitate to ask, most of the regulars on this board have learnt through their own experiences and are happy to help others coming to this for the first time.

julesisworried

Thank you for all your help I will come back if I need more hopefully on the correct board 

IanManc

If the solicitor you are using isn't keeping in touch, and is telling other people like the estate agent that it is "a complicated case" without talking to you or explaining to you why it is complicated then I think you should ask the solicitor for a bill for any work they have done so far, and, unless you want to do the legwork yourself and feel confident about doing so, instruct a different solicitor; preferably one who is recommended to you by someone who you trust has used them.

The solicitor is being paid to make things easier for you. If they aren't doing that and are not explaining things or even keeping in touch then you can get rid of them and find someone who is providing the service you need. Wills, probate and administration of estates can be complicated, but your situation isn't complicated and isn't all that uncommon either.
Edit: typo.