Probate issue

[mondee]

My father died March 2008. he had no will and left behind his wife, my half sister and myself. His wife never applied for probate because she was not happy that I had an entitlement and tried her best to apply for probate claiming that she was the sole relative. My Caveat stopped her in her tracks...long story. However I found out the she has died and was buried last week.

My half Sister's Husband called me on Saturday and I tricked him into telling me that my Father's home had been let out to an unknown number of tenants (there are potentially 10 rooms that they can let in the house and i think that they could have earned between £90000.00 to £202000.00 in the last 55 months). The house was split into two units with a 2 bed flat in the basement and a 4 bed maisonette above.

I have spoken to the Husband and advised that the letting of the property without my permission is illegal as the only person allowed to be a landlord had died and that they needed permission of ALL beneficiaries to do so. I have told him that I intend to sue for my share of the rent that they received which means suing against my step mother's estate. I have also told him that the tenancy agreements are fraudulent, that they could be taken to court for not having permission to have a HMO without a licence, that they need to provide evidence that they have gas and elec safety certificates, that they need to pay tax on the rent that they received and without most of these things in place they are in big trouble as the 'tenants' may wish to take action against them as well.

Qusetion: 1. as a beneficiary, will I be implicated if council and HM revenue catch up with them? 2. All the ranting I gave the poor sod...was the information I gave him correct. 3 What do I do now that I am aware of what is going on?

[boxtops]

I think you should take legal advice now - I am surprised you didn't do so the time your father passed away.

[dotty.]

contact a solicitor this is very complex.

[dotty.]

oh and if he left no will there has to be administraion applied for as he died intestate, why have you waited so long?

[mondee]

Hi people

Thank you for your answers.

I had been to solicitors and i was advised that My Father's Wife had a right to live in the property as she had a life interest in it. As the main beneficiary, she had to apply for probate but would not do so. however it seems that she just used the house to rent it out behind my back instead. She was old and sad to say...i was just waiting for her to pass away.

I had the probate issue sorted.

However, I now have to deal with a house full of tenants and I do not want to be implicated in any legal action regarding their failure to carry out the lettings above board caused by her or my half sister.

[boxtops]

Go back to the solicitors now, then - the situation has changed.

[Chinajan]

If your father's wife didn't apply for probate how did she gain control of his property to let?

[Chinajan]

Oh, I see you say you 'sorted' probate. Can you elaborate?

[factor-fiction]

Which country were your mother and father in? It can make a difference, particularly if it was Scotland. Were they still married at the time of death
If it was England and everything passed to his wife (as there was no will) then I'm not sure what entitlement you had.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'sorted probate'.
Anyway, unless Barmaid sees this and can help I think you need proper paid for legal advice regarding tenancy issues

[dzug2]

You definitely need proper legal advice. You should have followed up your caveat years ago

The rest is thinking aloud and may not be 100%

You may be in trouble as you not only prevented probate being granted but failed to take any steps (as an alternate executor) to apply for it yourself.

You clearly need to apply for probate (ie Letters of Administration) now - but you will need legal advice on the best way of setting about it.

Alternatively you walk away from the estate/inheritance. As a beneficiary I don't think you are liable but as executor you could be

[Hammer]

Factor, just because there is no will does not mean the wife inherits everything. Generally speaking she would inherit all personal possessions and the first £250,000 of the estate with the rest going to other beneficiaries, presumably including the OP, though she would retain the right to live in the house during her lifetime.

My interpretation of the situation is that OP inherited a chunk of the house but the wife could not be forced to moved out so OP decided to leave her to it and wait it out. Now that wife is gone, OP has found out that the house was in fact rented out, so wants a fair share of the rent received but doesn't want to be implicated in any wrongdoing.

This is very complex and I would imagine proper legal advice is definitely the way forward.

[factor-fiction]

I agree hammer but if the value of the property was over the I can't work out why it wasn't picked up in the probate that the OP said he sorted- unless he means it was sorted only a long after the death.
Anyway, we all agree he needs formal legal advice asap

[factor-fiction]

I've just realised there have been threads relating to this over the last 2-3 years, e.g.:
http://www.theanswerb...l/Question851394.html
It sounds complicated and if solicitors have been involved for some time I'm not sure we can help when it's a complicated matter and we don't know all the ins and outs

[mondee]

Spot on Hammer!!!!!

I had had legal advise in the past. She knew that I had a caveat on the property soon after my Father passed away. She only applied for letters of administration when she thought that I had not renewed it. She did everything in her power to prevent me from my share of the estate so I left her to it. My solicitor told me that I could force her to apply for probate but I might have to forgo monies as she would be entitled to live in her 'family home' as she had a life interest in it. So I thought that I would just wait.

Now that I have found out that she and my half sister had rented out the house with with so many irregularities that HM Revenue and the Council can take legal action about it. As it was without my knowledge, would I be implicated because I am a beneficiary?

The other legal stuff regarding the probate and letters of administration, I am on top of and none of them can move left or right without my permission.

[themas]

It seems to me that if there was any attempt to implicate you in their wrongdoing they would have to produce evidence to satisfy the relevant authorities that you were involved. However, you really need to take your solicitor's advice on this.

[Twenty20]

I'm not understanding why, if as you say you've had legal advice, you are now posting on here?

If you didn't get all your questions answered previously by your solicitor then go back and ask them again.

You're only going to get guesswork and conjecture on here. Talk to your solicitor.