Executors' responsibilities

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

To what extent are executors duty bound to maintain a property in good order during the course of probate, even if probate has been ongoing for an extended period of time?

RAS

What's the exact issue?

As attorney, I made sure that the garden looked lived in, the house maintained as was, repaired as needed and looked lived in. We didn't do any decorating or non-essential repairs. All using the donor's money. Sold as seen. I'd have done the same whilst administering the estate.

But I've been walking past a house recently which has finally been sold after probate and it's impossible to pass on the pavement. Can't even see what state the house is in. Maybe the deceased left no liquid assets with which to maintain the property or they have a professional executor whose fees make that an unreasonable cost.

Regardless, I'd expect it to be insured and the conditions of the insurance met.

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

RAS said:

But I've been walking past a house recently which has finally been sold after probate and it's impossible to pass on the pavement. Can't even see what state the house is in. Maybe the deceased left no liquid assets with which to maintain the property or they have a professional executor whose fees make that an unreasonable cost.

Regardless, I'd expect it to be insured and the conditions of the insurance met.

Thanks for replying.

Your second paragraph covers it all, really.

A deceased estate (I am not connected in any way), where a house has been empty for well over 18 months. The garden is totally overgrown; fence panels have fallen over (on to or over-hanging the pavement) and the whole place is beginning to look 'derelict'.

The real sad thing is that it is located on a very nice development and in my opinion, is letting the whole area down.

No-one seems to know who the Executors are.

Probably nothing anyone can do to find out any information about what's going on.

p00hsticks

thingswerentthisbadinmyday said:

RAS said:

But I've been walking past a house recently which has finally been sold after probate and it's impossible to pass on the pavement. Can't even see what state the house is in. Maybe the deceased left no liquid assets with which to maintain the property or they have a professional executor whose fees make that an unreasonable cost.

Regardless, I'd expect it to be insured and the conditions of the insurance met.

No-one seems to know who the Executors are.

Probably nothing anyone can do to find out any information about what's going on.

Possibly the deceased didn't leave a will (or people have failed to locate it following the death) so there is no executor. 

In which case unless those who would benefit under the intestacy rules think it's going to be worth their while applying for letters or administration the property's just going to be left to rot. 

I donlt want to dishearten you, but I know of a property in the middle of an affluent town in the south east that's been left abandoned for at least a decade (it;s a semi-detached too - god knows how the neighbours cope)

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

p00hsticks said:

thingswerentthisbadinmyday said:

RAS said:

But I've been walking past a house recently which has finally been sold after probate and it's impossible to pass on the pavement. Can't even see what state the house is in. Maybe the deceased left no liquid assets with which to maintain the property or they have a professional executor whose fees make that an unreasonable cost.

Regardless, I'd expect it to be insured and the conditions of the insurance met.

No-one seems to know who the Executors are.

Probably nothing anyone can do to find out any information about what's going on.

Possibly the deceased didn't leave a will (or people have failed to locate it following the death) so there is no executor. 

In which case unless those who would benefit under the intestacy rules think it's going to be worth their while applying for letters or administration the property's just going to be left to rot. 

I donlt want to dishearten you, but I know of a property in the middle of an affluent town in the south east that's been left abandoned for at least a decade (it;s a semi-detached too - god knows how the neighbours cope)

Thanks. Your comments just about cover it.
No-one knows for sure if there was a will - just rumour and hearsay.
Unconfirmed report of a local solicitor being involved in the estate. 
Local estate agents know nothing definite about a potential sale.
Such a shame. 

RAS

Does anyone know the name of the deceased? Or has anyone looked at the local Electoral Roll for say 2023? 

Anyone can go to the Probate Registry and check if probate has been granted, although it's been dodgy at times. A copy of the will/admin costs £1.50 and would name those responsible. Checking indexes costs nothing.

And the local Highways should respond to complaints of highway and pavement obstruction.

Always possible the executors are struggling to locate the beneficiaries.

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

RAS said:

Does anyone know the name of the deceased? Or has anyone looked at the local Electoral Roll for say 2023? 

Anyone can go to the Probate Registry and check if probate has been granted, although it's been dodgy at times. A copy of the will/admin costs £1.50 and would name those responsible. Checking indexes costs nothing.

And the local Highways should respond to complaints of highway and pavement obstruction.

Always possible the executors are struggling to locate the beneficiaries.

Thanks for the reply.
Deceased name and year of passing both known.
Being public registers, I have checked both Land Registry (Title register, charges register, etc) and also Probate Registry.
As of yesterday, probate has not been granted.
I am signed up for property alerts at LR (I mainly do this for my own home and those of family members - have done for years).
Assume you can only get hold of a copy of a will after probate at which point it becomes a matter of public record?

RAS

thingswerentthisbadinmyday said:

Deceased name and year of passing both known.
Being public registers, I have checked both Land Registry (Title register, charges register, etc) and also Probate Registry.
As of yesterday, probate has not been granted.
I am signed up for property alerts at LR (I mainly do this for my own home and those of family members - have done for years).

Assume you can only get hold of a copy of a will after probate at which point it becomes a matter of public record?

Correct about the will, can take a few months to get it uploaded. 

I'd have suggested you also check the bono vacantia list but that has been taken off line since it's use in property fraud has come to light. 

Has anyone tried sending a written letter to the person at the address, just in case those responsible have mail redirect set up?

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

RAS said:

thingswerentthisbadinmyday said:

Deceased name and year of passing both known.
Being public registers, I have checked both Land Registry (Title register, charges register, etc) and also Probate Registry.
As of yesterday, probate has not been granted.
I am signed up for property alerts at LR (I mainly do this for my own home and those of family members - have done for years).

Assume you can only get hold of a copy of a will after probate at which point it becomes a matter of public record?

Correct about the will, can take a few months to get it uploaded. 

I'd have suggested you also check the bono vacantia list but that has been taken off line since it's use in property fraud has come to light. 

Has anyone tried sending a written letter to the person at the address, just in case those responsible have mail redirect set up?

Thanks for the confirmation and suggestions.
Funnily enough, I became aware of the bono vacantia list several years ago when I was contacted about a possible inheritance which came to nothing.
I was also aware of the recent press reports concerning fraud, but wasn’t aware that the list had been taken down.

magicmoneyportaloo

Executors are not (legally) obliged to act. If they discover the estate is insolvent they may reasonably figure that it isn't worth applying.

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

Do the executors not carry any responsibility to (say) beneficiaries if a property is allowed to deteriorate (before probate is granted)?