Landlord has died with no NoK

kkkklinky

The property is in the process of being taken by the crown...council have stated I will become a council tenant and that eviction would be pointless in my case since it is a 1 bed flat perfectly suitable for a couple over 35 and they would become responsible for rehoming us regardless, especially since my partner has severe medical needs that make him high priority for accommodation.

I suspected I would not be kicked out as my local council never evicts people in these type of situations not unless they are antisocial or causing damage to the property, if a property is too large they are usually moved to a smaller property.

Totally buzzing about this news as rental prices for council flats of this size are about 25% cheaper than private rent. Tenancies seem to be slightly more secure as well.

Flugelhorn

if they have stated that you will become a council tenant and that the property would be suitable for you then that is a good outcome. Means repairs and checks should be done, also I wonder if there are any managements charges with it being a flat ? would have been difficult if these weren't being paid 

daveyjp

The property and assets will go on the bona vacantia list. Any next of kin has 12 years to claim the assets, but in the meantime it appears the council have taken responsibility.

RHemmings

daveyjp said:

The property and assets will go on the bona vacantia list. Any next of kin has 12 years to claim the assets, but in the meantime it appears the council have taken responsibility.

I was surprised to read that no relative can be found. Everyone has relatives, however distant. I would have thought a search through births, deaths, and marriages records would have found living relatives. I'm not saying that a relative should have been found in this case after due diligence. I'm just wondering why one wasn't. I'm guessing that there is a limit as to how far they search, and wonder what this limit is. 

user1977

RHemmings said:

daveyjp said:

The property and assets will go on the bona vacantia list. Any next of kin has 12 years to claim the assets, but in the meantime it appears the council have taken responsibility.

I was surprised to read that no relative can be found. Everyone has relatives, however distant. I would have thought a search through births, deaths, and marriages records would have found living relatives. I'm not saying that a relative should have been found in this case after due diligence. I'm just wondering why one wasn't. I'm guessing that there is a limit as to how far they search, and wonder what this limit is. 

It requires somebody to think it worthwhile investing their time for a possibly fruitless search. The heir hunters do it because they can potentially sign up the distant cousins and get a share of their inheritance.

martindow

The local authority has said that the OP is eligible for council housing which is good news.  There seems to be an assumption that if the house goes to the crown that the LA will take it on.  Won't the crown sell the properties on and  take the highest offer?  The OP won't be homeless but they would have to move if the LA don't take it on.

RHemmings

user1977 said:

RHemmings said:

daveyjp said:

The property and assets will go on the bona vacantia list. Any next of kin has 12 years to claim the assets, but in the meantime it appears the council have taken responsibility.

I was surprised to read that no relative can be found. Everyone has relatives, however distant. I would have thought a search through births, deaths, and marriages records would have found living relatives. I'm not saying that a relative should have been found in this case after due diligence. I'm just wondering why one wasn't. I'm guessing that there is a limit as to how far they search, and wonder what this limit is. 

It requires somebody to think it worthwhile investing their time for a possibly fruitless search. The heir hunters do it because they can potentially sign up the distant cousins and get a share of their inheritance.

Thanks. I would have liked to think that if The Crown was taking over the property, it would be incumbent upon them to search for living relatives first. And, I would have thought that with full access to births, deaths, and marriages, this wouldn't be too onerous or fruitless. Could be much more difficult for a landlord who was an immigrant or perhaps the sole child of immigrants. Though, I don't know how the quality of births, deaths, and marriages changes when going back in time. 

user1977

RHemmings said:

user1977 said:

RHemmings said:

daveyjp said:

The property and assets will go on the bona vacantia list. Any next of kin has 12 years to claim the assets, but in the meantime it appears the council have taken responsibility.

I was surprised to read that no relative can be found. Everyone has relatives, however distant. I would have thought a search through births, deaths, and marriages records would have found living relatives. I'm not saying that a relative should have been found in this case after due diligence. I'm just wondering why one wasn't. I'm guessing that there is a limit as to how far they search, and wonder what this limit is. 

It requires somebody to think it worthwhile investing their time for a possibly fruitless search. The heir hunters do it because they can potentially sign up the distant cousins and get a share of their inheritance.

Thanks. I would have liked to think that if The Crown was taking over the property, it would be incumbent upon them to search for living relatives first. 

Whose interest would that be in though? If the estate is big enough then the heir hunters will pick it up anyway.

And you don't need to have all that exotic a family tree in order to reach dead ends because of emigration, name changes (or difficult to distinguish common names), inconsistencies in birth/marriage/death dates, etc.

Flugelhorn

RHemmings said:

daveyjp said:

The property and assets will go on the bona vacantia list. Any next of kin has 12 years to claim the assets, but in the meantime it appears the council have taken responsibility.

I was surprised to read that no relative can be found. Everyone has relatives, however distant. I would have thought a search through births, deaths, and marriages records would have found living relatives. I'm not saying that a relative should have been found in this case after due diligence. I'm just wondering why one wasn't. I'm guessing that there is a limit as to how far they search, and wonder what this limit is. 

Have you ever watched Heir Hunters? this is what they do all day long - however sometimes they simply cannot find anyone of second cousin line or closer and going any further out is not eligible to inherit. despite sometimes in our grandparents / great grandparents generations there were big families, not all had children of their own and lines can easily die out. A certain level of proof is also required and that is not always possible - there are also families from the migrations from eastern europe around ww1 and ww2 who are difficult to trace as the records were destroyed
From time to time the ones they search for go "back to the crown" - simply no-one is found 

RHemmings

Thanks @user1977 and @Flugelhorn. I'll give Heir Hunters a look when I'm home from work.