Probate and Repossession Advice

[SultansOfSwing]

I lost my sibling to illness last year. They passed without making a will (not married and no children). Flat is owned in their name alone with a small -ish amount left to pay on mortgage. Parents are N.O.K. - divorced and not in contact and there's two surviving adult siblings, one of which has a set of keys to the flat and their adult son lives in the flat as a non-paying tenant but was there with consent of the owner who has now passed.
Parents went to probate who have decided the flat needs to be sold and remaining balance of mortgage paid. Proceeds will go to the two parents 50/50 as next of kin. Neither parent can take on the mortgage due to age - this was explored and declined.
Neither parent can face dealing with probate or anything to do with it due to grief of losing a child (understandably) so eldest sibling was nominated to work on their behalf to deal with probate however all decisions must be made by n.o.k and the sibling is the middle man so to speak between probate and parents.
6 months have passed since probate told parents to sell the flat and pay remaining balance of mortgage but eldest sibling has just done absolutely nothing about getting the flat in a fit state to sell. It was previously immaculate however nephew has basically let his friends stay and used it as a doss house and even the front door has been kicked in and a window broken.
After repeatedly asking for the door and window to be fixed they have not been. They keep ignoring calls and messages from parents about sorting it out - including eldest sibling who is trying to hold on to the flat for their son for as long as possible being rent free for them.
My concern is the flat will be repossessed and everything my deceased sibling worked for to get that lovely flat will be wasted. How long will probate or the mortgage lender give them to sell it before they repossess?

Sorry for your loss, OP

Who was actually granted probate for this - your parents, OP or someone else? It sounds like it was your parents but they expect your sibling to do the work. Whoever probate has been granted to is responsible for the sale, not the next of kin.

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Has anyone applied for letters of administration? If so, who? You might find this helpful. www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/dealing-with-the-financial-affairs-of-someone-who-has-died/

The person with the letters of admin need to apply to court on an n6 to gain possession of the property. It might be messy because presumably no documents were served before the commencement of the tenancy, if it is a tenancy, and that's difficult to establish without a lot more info about the current arrangement.

Is anyone paying the mortgage. Was it the solicitor or said the flat needs to be sold. They will know who to contact about getting the son out and selling the flat.

My nephew is work-shy so he lived on housing benefit. My sibling worked away a lot and was not often home so nephew moved in and his housing benefit was used to pay the mortgage. It was all entirely informal and no form of contract drawn up, just that the flat needed occupied and paid for whilst owner was away for months at a time and it suited them to do it that way. The housing benefit payments stopped upon homeowner's passing so it has been at a standstill for 18 months.
Eldest sibling has a piece of paper stating that father has been granted probate as next of kin and that as eldest sibling they will be doing the work on behalf of next of kin. Presumably that will be the letter of administration?

Eldest sibling wants their son to remain in the flat as long as possible and no one wants to turf him out but ultimately he does not pay his way and has let the once immaculate flat get into a state of disrepair. Eldest sibling has done and will do nothing about getting it to the standard it once was and getting it on the market for sale. Whenever they are asked what the state of play is with the flat they become abusive to our parents and told they cannot cope with their grief and to stop bugging them about it.
It was the mortgage lender who declined the parents the mortgage to take it on as theirs and it was determined the flat should be sold in order to pay the remaining balance.

Sibling has transferred the car into their name and basically taken it plus all other personal effects and in their words to parents "you are just legally next of kin but I am next of kin for everything" - which is ridiculous. I need to find a way to help our parents get this done with minimal distress to everyone involved. No one other than eldest sibling wants a share of the proceeds - I just want to resolve this mess.

If your father is the executor of the estate, it is his responsibility to ensure the sale of the flat.

Think there is someone you can report the sibling who says they have probate to, to say they are not doing their job and trying to abuse/defraud the system. Would be worth looking into.

Also sounds like it would be worth checking to see if they have legally applied to be the one sorting this all out or if your parents have and who legally has the control at the moment.

Might also be worth speaking to a solicitor (especially if you have legal insurance on your home insurance etc!) and sending a formal letter to them and copying to other siblings and parents and even the mortgage company reminding them that they have a legal obligation to sort this out in a timely manner, that according to the laws of intestacy there is a strict formula for the division of assets and that they need to follow them, they also need to ensure they keep the property in good repair to the standard it was and they will be liable for all breakages and damages. Likewise they will be expected to pay a reasonable rent - if the sibling is likely to get any money from the flat it can be taken off their share but if not they need to be paying it (and backbpayment) ASAP. (To discourage the kid staying as long as possible for free!)

I’m sure there will be plenty of other things but - even if your parents later decide to do a deed of variation so it doesn’t come to them but goes to their remaining dc for example - it sounds like you don’t want your late sibling’s estate to be just trashed and taken by your greedy other sibling and that’s completely reasonable.

I would speak to a solicitor and check if Probate has actuallybeen granted as the flat is an assett and is not sold.

If the deceased has a child under intestacy they should inherit everything not the deceased’s parents.

The 2nd sentence of the OP states no children.

Can you get a solicitor to act for your parents?

I'm surprised the mortgage company has not taken proceedings to repossess the property yet. I would contact them, tell them the sister who is supposed to be selling the house is not doing so and ask them to repossess it. They will sell it, pay off the mortgage and give any remaining proceeds to the beneficiaries of the state. Obviously if the house is in a state there will be less money!

Thank you for your replies. The flat needs a new front door and window and a thorough clean before anything can happen which eldest sibling is avoiding like the plague - probably as a delay tactic. I have offered to do it all myself and go in and clean it up as parents can't face seeing the state nephew has got it in. That offer was accepted but there was the issue of only eldest sibling and nephew having a key and refusing to hand them over to parents to get the broken door changed etc.

I feel like my sibling would be devastated to see their home trashed like that and it possibly get repossessed when this can just be resolved legally and amicably. I hate to see my parents so upset about it and feel that they can't deal with it.

Wibdib - you are spot on there, thank you.

You can go online and search for a
Probate . It’s simple .. you put in the name
Of deceased and date of death and if probate / letters of administration has been granted then it will appear. If it hasn’t your parents can renounce probate and appoint
Someone else ie solicitor..