Inherited a home but a council tenant

Albermarle

EssexHebridean said:

Albermarle said:

sammyjammy said:

Why would you inform the council?  Executor sells property, money is transferred to you once everything is complete, you put money in the bank and spent it as you wish on what you wish.  Could you purchase your council property if you want?

Maybe if the will states the house is left to the OP, then the executor will maybe just want to transfer the ownership to the OP, rather than get involved in the hassle of the estate selling the house, which could easily take many months/ a year. 

OP - What stage is this at? Do you already own the home, or is still part of the estate?
If it is the latter, then as others have suggested it would be better for the executor of the estate to sell it, and give you the money. Has that been discussed at all ?

They may well do, but they cannot insist on it! 

However there maybe a general lack of knowledge on these matters by the Executor and the OP, and maybe they both assume the OP has to have the house because that what it says in the will. 

sgthammer

If probate has finished then the estate is settled, no?

Tenancy terms vary, but a lot of authorities will have a clause about social housing being "occupied as your main and only home", which may be where Purpleruby's fear is coming from. I doubt technical breaches due to inheritance are often pursued where there are no rent arrears and/or a clear intention to divest of the other property, but if there's already some kind of feud with the council (the details of which we don't know) it's perhaps more likely to be an issue once flagged up.

Ratkin007

As above there is a clause in the tenancy around the property being occupied as your sole and principal home at time of tenancy commencement.  Inheriting a property does not put you at risk of losing your tenancy, moving out of the property is what would put your tenancy at risk.  As you don't intend to move out, you will be fine, even if the property is put in your name. A dispute with the council does not change that as they have to act within the law. 
That said, they don't always know the rules so it is advisable to seek proper advice. 

Bigphil1474

The estate isn't settled just because probate is completed. It just means the executor can finalise the estate at some point. If the OP has inherited the proceeds of sale of the property, then the estate isn't settled until the house is sold. If they have inherited the actual house, then the property might be transferred into their name. If the OP has no interest in owning the house, then ask the estate to sell it through the executor. The executor can basically do what they want in the estates interest.

Albermarle

If probate has finished then the estate is settled, no?

No, probate is just one step towards settling the estate.

Smalltownhypocrite

sgthammer said:

If probate has finished then the estate is settled, no?

Tenancy terms vary, but a lot of authorities will have a clause about social housing being "occupied as your main and only home", which may be where Purpleruby's fear is coming from. I doubt technical breaches due to inheritance are often pursued where there are no rent arrears and/or a clear intention to divest of the other property, but if there's already some kind of feud with the council (the details of which we don't know) it's perhaps more likely to be an issue once flagged up.

Nope, the probate says what is left to who and needs to be done (and deals with the government claiming their shares). 'Settled' is when it has all been done and carried out.

For example: say a mother leaves her estate which is a house valued at £350,000 split equally between her 5 adult children with families, houses, lives of their own. They obviously aren't all going to move back and live in it as a big communal sibling house. Its not so much the 'house' they inherited as their share of the value of that house which probate puts at £70,000 each. 

The estate will likely be 'settled' when either 

A) the house is sold and each of the 5 recipients gets their equal share (so if the house sells for less like £320,000 they each would get £64,000 not £70,000)

or 

A sibling who wants the house 'buys out' the others and takes full ownership. (so 1 sibling pays the other 4 sibling £70,000 each and as such has 'bought' the house for £280,000 and the land registry updates).

If neither of these occur the house remains the mothers, which can be indefinite (however the value of the estate is still responsible for things like council tax and insurance so if it remains abandoned for 10 years all those bills will come out of the estate money which lowers or could wipe out the total).