Vanished share of house

[MollyChandler]

In brief, my siblings and I were left a share of our Granddad's house. We weren't informed when it was sold and didn't receive our share. I would like to know if I can do anything to resolve the situation and if what has happened was legal.

Granddad had 8 grandchildren in total. My Aunt's 3 children who are in their 40's, and my Dad's 4 children, including me, all in our 20's. My siblings and I don't know that side of the family, contact was stopped when we were too young to understand why. Dad just rants about it, so asking doesn't get us anywhere.

Granddad died over 12 years ago and left a rather complex will in which some money and half of a house was split between one cousin, my siblings and myself. The house was owned by Granddad (50%) and my Aunt and Uncle (50%) as tenants in common, a deed of trust was drawn up.

It was up to my Aunt and Uncle to decide when they wished to sell the house, then we five grandchildren would receive 10% each of the total house price minus whatever fees were involved in the selling. The other grandchildren were left out. Not pleasant but that was how Granddad wrote his will.

My Dad and a distant cousin are executors of Granddad's estate. No one was happy with this, but after a lot of hassle probate was granted and the money was released immediately to one of my cousins (over 18) and to my three brothers and I once we turned 18.

6 years ago Aunt and Uncle's solicitor sent a letter saying that they were thinking of selling the house but there were issues with the deed of trust. There was no more contact after that. We recently discovered that the house was sold 4 years ago.

We can't find our Aunt, Uncle, cousins or the distant cousin who was the other executor. They are probably all still alive. Dad is in his 70's, ill and confused and refuses to contact the solicitors who dealt with the estate. If we can resolve this without bothering Dad, I would feel much better about it.

The solicitors who dealt with the estate won't have anything to do with us, they will only speak to both executors or no one.
Aunt and Uncle's solicitor didn't know that the house was sold after they contacted us, Aunt and Uncle used different solicitors for the sale.

The deed of trust is not held by the land registry (written before records were digitised) the land registry states that the house was owned by Granddad, Aunt and Uncle and sold to so and so.

I am really curious as to why we weren't told when the house was sold. Surely as probate was granted so long ago, legally we should have been informed?

I'd be very grateful if anyone can offer any advise.

Bump

The Executors are legally responsible for distributing the Estate proceeds. If your dad cannot help you need to find the distant cousin.

Can you get POA for your Dad - nothing to do with your inheritance, explain it's so you can make sure that you can pay for carers etc as he needs more help than you can give etc.?

Once you have this you should be able to talk directly to the solicitors involved with the estate..

@TiddyTid I am looking for the distant cousin, but no luck so far. I am hoping there is something else I can do if I can't find him or if he has died.

@Ariela Unfortunately Dad would never consider POA. He knows that it is a good idea to be organised with a POA, but I'm not sure if he unaware of how confused and repetitive he is getting, or if he is aware and is scared. He is an infuriatingly stubborn know-it-all who buries his head in the sand.

You need an enduring power of attorney ASAP for your dad and you also need to hire an investigator to find the cousin.

Are you in close proximity to the house which was sold? How did you find out it had been sold? Presumably youve searched the Land Registry?

Interesting one. As a beneficiary of the house sale, I would have thought the solicitors were obliged to engage with you.

What a mess but as other posters have said it’s the executors responsibility. You may have to engage a solicitor.

As a beneficiary of the house sale, I would have thought the solicitors were obliged to engage with you.

Totally agree with this - I can't understand how it could be sold and the beneficiaries not contacted. It sounds a bit fishy to me.

Thank you, everyone.

The solicitors dealing with the will didn't know that the house had been sold. They were only told that my aunt and uncle were thinking of selling, so I understand why we beneficiaries weren't contacted. But now they know the house has been sold, don't they have a responsibility to carry on dealing with the estate?

@NightsOfCabiria We are a couple of hours from the house. One of my brothers is a carpenter, someone he'd worked with showed him some photos of his latest job and my brother recognised the house and realised that it had been sold. I have searched the land registry.

No, I'd imagine the new solicitors should be dealing with it.
Good way to run away with a bit of money though!

Molly, so you found out by chance? that’s shocking.

The solicitors acting in the house sale had no obligation to contact the beneficiaries; their only concern was to deal with the owners of the house - your aunt and uncle, and the executors of your grandfather's estate. If your father, being one of the executors of the estate, was unaware of the sale that is slightly concerning in terms of who signed the transfer papers selling your grandfather's share of the property. Do you know which solicitors dealt with the sale? If so you or your father may want to start there.

The difficulty you have is that without your father's cooperation or finding the distant cousin, you are going to come up against constant brick walls as as a beneficiary you are actually entitled to very little information. I'm assuming the distant cousin has moved from the address shown on the grant of probate? If so, try and find a fixed fee private investigator to find him. I have used ones which charge as little as £150 for tracing someone using a name and last known address.

Also the solicitors acting in the estate do not necessarily have a duty to continue dealing with the estate. It is likely that they would have finalised the estate by showing you, your siblings and your cousin owning a 10% share in the property. If your aunt and uncle didn't want to sell at the time the estate was being administered the executors would have been given a choice to pursue forcing a sale through the courts, or leaving things be until a sale takes place, the later option usually being more attractive to keep the peace and save spiralling court costs.

@NightsOfCabiria Yes, I'm very impressed that he could recognise the house, he must have been about 8 the last time we visited.

Do You have any idea what your share is worth? Because the cost of tracking it down may be greater than the proceeds.

Sounds like a matter for the police. This is theft.

@LittleMissPetty Thank you, that is really interesting to know that the executors should have signed transfer papers. My aunt and uncle used new solicitors to sell the house, not the solicitors that they had used for the previous 10 years. I shall try to find them.

Dad won't talk to the solicitors who dealt with the estate as he claims that they tried to swindle him, I think he will engage with other solicitors, but would ask them to talk to me. He would like to have this sorted as it really would make a difference to our lives, he just doesn't want to do the legwork.

The distant cousin moved away from the address shown on the grant of probate a long time ago. I can't find him on the electoral roll, both he and his wife have very common names and appear to have moved away from the area.

So as the solicitors do not have a duty to continue dealing with the estate it should be fairly straightforward to find new solicitors if the executors are happy with that?

@Purplewithred Yes, after sales costs each 10% share would be about 20k.