help for a friend

[diane118]

my friends uncle died 2yrs ago and left a will it said that he only owned 50% of his house the other 50% was owned by his mother who died in 1972 and she died and left no will and no money now he has died his children have inherited 75% ie his 50% and 25% of there nans between the 2 of them and my friend and her brother have 12 and half % each as there mum has died who would have inherited it.

They have been to a solicitor and and he has been acting for them for over a year, and half, her uncles children have offered them a low cash amount for there 25% of the house so far, they are not happy with the solicitor and are thinking of changing to another one can they transfer all the letters ect and work the solicitor has done over to a new solicitor?

Can they take court action on there own to get a better offer?

How much would it cost to take her uncles children to court? over this through a solicitor and would they have to pay any money up front before the court case as they have not a lot of money.Thanks

[dzug]

Alomost certainly the new solicitor would want to start from scratch. If the old one is incompetent (as you are hinting) he wouldn't want to be saddled with his work - even if he were prepared to hand it over (again unlikely).

If the house has sitting tenants then a low offer for the 25% may be fair - there isn't much of an open market for part houses.

Sounds like the best solution would be to sell the house
on the open market and divide up the money. That's probably what a court would order if you pushed it.

As to costs - ask the solicitor. That's what you are paying him for. It won't be cheap and there will be upfront costs.

[diane118]

hi thanks for your reply one on her uncles children is living in the house and has done for 2yrs she owns half of the 75% around about how much would it be to take them to court?

If it went to court would the judge decided what a fare offer that my friend and her brother would get for there 12%? at the moment the offer they have offered them is about 6% of the value of the house. thanks

[factor-fiction]

I'm struggling to follow who is who here. Could you set it out a little clearer calling people Uncle, Mum etc .

Why would you take them to court- are you saying the other beneficiaries or the solicitor has not complied with the terms of the will? If you say the ofers are too low then they are entitled to make a low offer. Why not just reject their offers- call their bluff.

[diane118]

hi thanks for your reply my friends nan died in 1972 without making a will she owned half of my friends uncles house (her son) he left a will and her uncles children (my friends cousins) inherits 75% of the dads house(50% of there dads viva the will) and 25% from there nans share that should have been sorted out when there nan died in 1972 but at that time they all thought that the nan had sign her house over to her son and she left no will. My friend has a solicitor and he as been writing to her cousins solicitor and so far they have offered only �18.000 (which is about 12%) of house value, it was valued at �150.000 my friend and her brother should be entitled to 25% of the value of there nans house which should be worth about �37.000 they are not offering any more so that is why my friend and her brother want to take them to court, Hope you understand all this.

[factor-fiction]

I think they are entitled to offer as little or as much as they want. Your friend doesn't have to accept. I'd be very surprised if they can be forced to pay more by the courts. They could offer �1 or insist that they retain their 25% interest in the property. Your friend could try to get a better deal elswhere but it's unlikely another buyer would want to pay much for a minority share in the house.
So your friend needs to ask the solicitor what the implications would be if she were to reject the offer of 12.5%. She also needs him to tell her all her options now.

[diane118]

hi thanks for your reply please could you tell me why they can offer as little as they like surely as the nan never made a will before she died in 1972 they have a duty and by law to pay my friend and her brother there 25% share of there nans house so my friends cousins can continue to live in the property they should be giving my friend rent for there share they have lived there rent free for 2yrs and there cousins dad who died lived there for 35yrs my friend and her brother cannot afford to take them to court over this as they were told it would cost a lot of money,

[bednobs]

personally, although it seems unfair i would advise to take the offer. 18000 pounds is not to be sniffed at in the slightest and going to court could take up a large proportion of that
seven years ago house prices were not as they are today, and it is feasible that 18000 for 12.5% of a house is a very good deal. perhaps they need to look at it like if everything had been sorted properly when the nan died (7 years ago) the share they got might have been less than the 1800 quid being offered now.

My maths maybe a bit dodgy and your stoy a bt hard to follow but if your nan owned 1/2 the 150 000 pounds house = 75 000 there are 4 grandchildren = about 18 grand each. problem solved

[diane118]

HI thanks for your help just to say the nan died 35 years ago so her son my friends uncle lived in a house which 50% was not his for 35yrs till he died 2 yrs ago he never let on that the house was not all his. He never payed any rent for that 50% thanks

[diane118]

hi just to say �18.000 is for 25% of a �150.000 house not 12% as you put in your last message 25% of the house value is �36.000 thats the sum that they should receive.

[bednobs]

they really really are lucky then if the nan died 35 years ago
18 000 pounds is way above what they would have got if it had all been sorted proerly at the time. i dont think you can take into account "rent" that the uncle should have paid because he is now dead, and it's gone, and cant be applied retrospectively

[bednobs]

and if there is four of them sharing 50% of a 150,000 pounds house that IS 18 000 each. As you rightly said, they should get 12.5% each = 18000 each

[bednobs]

and if there is four of them sharing 50% of a 150,000 pounds house that IS 18 000 each. As you rightly said, they should get 12.5% each = 18000 each

[diane118]

hi no they have only offered them 12% (18,000) between the 2 of them that is only 6% �9.000each for my friend and her brother, not �18.000 each as you put in your last message the 2 cousins will have �65.000 each is that fair? The house is valued at �150.000 and its between 4 of them.

Is this fair when years ago
in the 1960,s there nan was bullied into signing half her house which she had paid for over to her son. And my friends cousins tried 2 yrs ago to get my friend to sign over her share in the house for �250 to them. Any one else's views would be appreciated.

[emlett]

if you can't agree on the offers then it will have to go to court for an order for sale (trusts for land act) and hopefully the people livingthere will start to negotiate properly. obviously you need to make sure that you have a realistic value on the property.
as to cost, yes it will cost and how much will depend on whether it actually gets to court or they settle it beforehand. they might be able to get after the event insurance to cover their legal fees or a solicitor willing to do a "no win no fee" arrangement. I think the court fee is �150.00 but solicitors fees will depend on how far it goes. You might find someone who would be prepared to leave their bill to the end and deduct it from sale proceeds?
i would say that instead of changing solicitors, speak to the old one and tell him to put one last offer to settle in and otherwise issue legal proceedings if it can't be negotiated, a year and a half sounds long enough to try and settle it amicably!