To just say, let the house clearence take it!

[dentydown]

My distant cousin died (my nan knew her well, she was her first cousin and didn't want to abandon her in death) last September, and left a house. Now she died intestate, so there was a lot of sorting to do, searching the house for a will/photos/legal papers etc.
I've been a bit pre-occupied recovering photos, personal letters and little bits of sentimenal odds and sods for th family to remember her by. We managed to recover a lot of paperwork and hand everything over to a probate company, who are wonderful!
My partner seems to have developed magpie-itis. S was a bit of a hoarder, the property is in a bit of a state and she liked to buy white goods. He has taken a few small white goods with him every visit! (I pay him 70 pounds to get me there and back)
I've taken stuff to clean up and pass to the charity shop (mainly because I don't want to see nice china/nick-nacks chucked)
Now he's talking about the washing machine (still in it's packaging), dishwasher , cookers. And brass ornaments for scrap! I just feel like telling him enough! Let the house clearing take it (they said any photos/personal papers they'll leave to one side).
He's saying i'm being unreasonable because I took ornaments for charity/family mementos. He's making use of the stuff. I even got comments as I was washing up the china (lovely vintage stuff) for the charity shop. "All that work for someone else's enjoyment" urgh!

I wonder if a proper search has been conducted for a will. Local solicitors, banks etc.

Anyway the OP seems to be ignoring all advice, and sleep - walking into trouble, so I'm out now.

The administrator is the management company. It's being done by power of attorney.

They do all the legal stuff. They have subcontracted the geneology and the property management stuff to other companies. Property management are managing house clearance and estate agents.

I am acting on behalf of my nan. I was the one who contacted the management company. I was the one who informed the registrar of s's death.

I'm trying to do stuff to save the estate money, yes. Rat/mouse poison because it costs me a tenner to put some down, while a company would charge a couple of hundred.
Sorting documents, obtaining documents saves money as well. They would go through geneology companies to obtain birth/marriage/death certificates. I did it for lett.

When my dad died (five years ago) he had no will and so it was a case of one person stepping forward and saying I'll do it, my brothers and I could have done it jointly but that would have made stuff more complicated with three of us having to sign every document, so because they CBA I did it. There was no jury deciding who could be the administrator and whilst this was obviously amicable and there was no 'challenge' in my situation it doesn't seem like there is in the case of the OP either.

OP, yes, by not taking proper bona fide legal advice regarding the laws of intestacy you did royally fuck up.

Just because someone dies intestate does not simply mean that everything is just up for grabs (as your totally stupid DP seems to think). It must go through the correct processes first.

Personally, I would feel that if the only way to keep your DP's filthy, thieving fingers off this deceased person's estate is to appoint a solicitor to look after it then so be it.

I am acting on behalf of my nan. I was the one who contacted the management company. I was the one who informed the registrar of s's death.

So who is the "they" in this post:

The reason why everything took so long is because it took them 2-3 months to trace my nan.

Power of Attorney? Whose?

So, relative had given power of attorney to someone?

If she had set up anything like Lasting Power of Attorney with someone then would they not be the person/persons to ask regarding whether or not she may have left a will and where to find it?

People usually appoint trusted family members or very occasionally good friends as their Attorneys.

This is the first time you have mentioned that Power of Attorney may have been given as far as I can see. Massive drip-feed.

Beginning to wonder if this is for real anyway. You are just acting so dense.

Who has Power of Attorney?
It will surely be a person not a company.

You said you didn't know the deceased lady, so how come you informed the registrar?

Your nan knew her well, but it took almost 3 months to trace your nan after the death?

Well it certainly wasn't given to op's Nan (nor, by extension, to op) because it took 2/3 months for the administrators to find Nan.
Op is in over her head.

We can't have all the info here OP, besides POA is null and void when the person dies.
The job of disposing of assets becomes the executor of the will, or the solicitor if she didn't make one.

What a load of crap.

I love a mystery.

Either this is total bollocks from start to finish or OP is being deliberately vague and clueless.

Family members can apply for letters of administration if there is no will, so it doesn't have to be a solicitor who deals with an estate with no will, but I can't see how the op would have done that.

I think it's clear which it is Topseyt.

So do I, Fireside.

This is one time when I'm happy that mn doesn't have an edit feature for posts.

I'll third that.

As Jim Royle would say, Power of bloody Attorney my arse.

I suspect the OP's grandmother was contacted by an heir hunting firm and that's who she means by "they".

OP, I don't know your story. I, along with others, have tried to help. You seem to be increasingly evasive about pretty important issues, and I can only guess at why that it.

I'm increasingly uncomfortable with this thread, and will bow out now, whilst I still feel there's a possibility of you deserving the benefit of the doubt.

The one truth I can glean is that your DP sounds absolutely awful.

I knew what she meant Riders, but doesn't explain why the op said she registered the death and how she contracted the management company, when there were already heir hunters involved.

With respect hefzi I am not sure you are right. IME House Clearance companies actually charge (hefty sums usually) to empty a house and it is up to them what they do with the contents . But you wouldnt normally bring them in and you certainly can't sell a house until you have probate (if a will) or the equivalent (i think it's called Letters of Administation but its 15 years since I did it). The administrator (would normally be a beneficiary?) would then decide whether/how to dispose of contents to get the most value for the beneficiaries.

What I meant is that the two quotes in my post of 17.31.06 contradict each other.

Probably best I leave it there because this thread is probably nearing it's end.