Death in property

[Bubbles121]

Hi all! I'm posting here for traffic, I don't really have an AIBU...

How do you know if someone died in your house when you're moving? Is there a website or something like in America which tells you - or does the agent or vendor have to disclose it to you?

You don't know, unless you are buying brand new house. My house is over 200 years old so I'm sure someone must have died in it at some point. I'm afraid it's a fact of life.

How would they know?

My house dates to 1720- I imagine that it has seen multiple births and deaths.

You don't have to disclose if someone died in a house, until the 1950s/1960s it was normal to die at home.

I'm in America, and in my state the realtor has to disclose. Someone died in my brother and SIL's house.

What if someone was murdered? Do they have to disclose that / is there a way you can find out?

Biggest clue would be the body in the hallway. Or maybe a big puddle of blood.

Maybe check if there are limbs in the wheely bin

Why would it matter? It wouldn’t even occur for me to ask that?
My dad died at home (heart attack) and I would be horrified if someone asked about that if my mum tried to sell her house.
Also... no, there’s no record of it because the medical records and coroner’s reports are absolutely and rightly confidential.

Btw it is a new build house too.

It wouldn't be tracked, no. It is pretty normal as pp said.

If you think about the high maternal and infant mortality rates, more risky Home births, harder to access or afford decent healthcare before the NHS kicked in and the lack of nursing homes I’d guess most homes built before 1940 have seen at least one death.

I suppose if you google the address a murder may show up.

we spotted a gravestone with a name and had the address of where the lady died and date. which is quite a common thing in this part of the world!
I've actually mentioned it on another thread and people were doubting me!
anyhow.... the address was our house and the date was my 4th birthday.

Coroners reports are public documents

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/coroners-inquests/

Estate Agent here (for my sins)...

Yes, by law if a murder or suicide occurred in a property for sale, we would have to disclose that. We don't have to give (nor do we usually have) any more info so ins and outs you would need to find out yourself if it bothered you so.

Also, it is up to the seller to disclose this info to the agent in the first place so occasionally can get left out if said seller if unscrupulous/doesn't feel is relevant

Hope this helps!

Murders are rare and well reported. So if you really wanted to know, you could research all the ones in the general area and see if any of them occurred at the address. But people dying at home just because that's where they happened to be when it was their time isn't recorded, because it's a normal part of life.

What if someone was murdered?

That I don't know. I would assume so. In my brother's house, the owner was elderly and lived alone, and just passed away. His kids called the police to do a welfare check after they couldn't reach him for a couple days, and they found him.

There's a house we are keen to buy but found local newspaper reports dating back to the sixties about a man who murdered his family with an axe on that road. I'm not keen to live in a house with that sort of history - perhaps that can be my AIBU?
Anyway I can't find a record of the actual address just the road. It's a loong road and I just have to know it wasn't my intended house...

@MacosieAsunter you might have the answer! Thanks

Chalk on the carpet may be a giveaway.

Not saying it would happen every time but in notorious murder cases like the Fred and Rosemary West ones, the house can be demolished.

Also... no, there’s no record of it because the medical records and coroner’s reports are absolutely and rightly confidential

Also the place of death is listed on the death certificate but no way of searching that and probably not practical to order copies of every death certificate until you find out.

Unless you have a name OP?

A couple I know bought a house where someone was murdered and they got a really good discounted price because no one wanted it.
They didn't care.

Sorry just seen, you do. You can order copies of the death certs and that will tell you.

But honestly I don’t know it would bother me.

Do you know the name of the man who lived there and his family?

If so, you should be able to access electoral/census records (for a small fee probably) for the address you're interested in and will probably be able to find out that way.

But @Namechangeforthiscancershit they were murdered with an axe and then the murderer left a note (and hung himself) talking about what a wicked man he was and how the house must be demolished. According to the article he was a member of a local cult.

Would that really not bother me? It completely freaks me out

I have had this debate (weirdly) with loads of people and I think if it freaks you out then it’s hard to see how it wouldn’t and vice versa.

I wouldn’t judge you in the least for being put off, but for me it’s just a house!

@MacosieAsunter you’d need the name and DOB of the deceased to search and also a legitimate reason for asking i.e. being a close family member contesting a will.