Sister Refusing to Leave Late Mothers House

[Allycat]

I wondered if any lovely legal eagles would be able to offer any advice on the situation a friend finds themselves in, please...
Her sister was living with her Mother in the Mother's property.
Sister was granted POA towards the end of the Mother's life (not sure if this is relevant, or not)
The mother has now died intestate and the sister is refusing to leave the property. The sister is also applying for grant of administration.
My friend has instructed a solicitor to try and resolve, but despite many letters, the sister is refusing to acknowledge the situation. The solicitor is now requesting another payment to continue, but hasn't said about escalting enforcing this. They're just sending letters that are ignored.
It can't just be that everyone just sits around waiting for a response from the sister. Would anyone be able to advise as to what should happen next in a situation such as this. Many thanks 😊

How long has it been? Sister won't be required to just leave. It's not that simple, and neither should it be I suppose when it's her home.
Once beneficiaries are identified as per dying intestate they'll either need to be bought out by sister, or her agree to move. Might be a lengthy process.

Legally, your friend will be able to force the sale of the house, unless her sister is able to buy your friend out. The solicitor will need to escalate in due course.

Personally, I’d be a bit more empathetic to the sister’s situation and not be in a rush to turf her out of her home in the early days of bereavement.

So this woman has dedicated herself to caring for her sick mother, providing care and support for a long time, and is now dealing with losing her mum, and now her sister, your friend, who has presumably taken a lot less of the care burden during the mum's final years due to not being resident, is wanting to turf her out of her home too. Your friend doesn't sound very nice.

Ok so you don't give timescales in your OP and if it's been a very long time since the death then it's a bit different but it does sound like she leapt to solicitor formalities very quickly.

The house is the sister's home, she has the right to live there until such time as a court order says otherwise.

I think your friend owes her sister a sincere apology for getting solicitors involved and causing unwarranted stress during this bereavement. Mending bridges and healing this rift is the first priority. After that, the two sisters can make a plan together. Intestacy law will dictate who receives what and there may be other relatives entitled to a share. It may be appropriate for the sister to stay in the house and pay rent on the portion of the house she doesn't own?

Honestly, I don't think people understand how hard it is on people caring for elderly parents. It's hard enough when you can live separately and get some alone time, but to live with them 24 hours a day, to be at their back and call is so challenging. If my sister had done that so I didn't need to, I would be so grateful, I'd be happy for her to stay living in her own blinking home.

I agree with other posters - unless the mother died many months ago your friend is being horrible.

So this woman has dedicated herself to caring for her sick mother, providing care and support for a long time, and is now dealing with losing her mum, and now her sister, your friend, who has presumably taken a lot less of the care burden during the mum's final years due to not being resident, is wanting to turf her out of her home too. Your friend doesn't sound very nice.

What they said. It sounds like your friend just wants money. Does she not care at all where her sister will live?

* Does she not care at all where her sister will live?*

^The sister should have thought about that.

The reason the solicitor hasn't talked about escalating is that there is really nothing to escalate at this stage.

Your friend could have applied for letters of administration herself. She has as much right to administer the estate as her sister.

Once her sister has letters of administration, she must distribute the estate in accordance with intestacy rules. If she distributes the estate incorrectly (e.g. by taking a larger portion for herself than her entitlement) your friend can take action. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with the sister continuing to live in the property until then. Indeed, if she can afford to buy out the other beneficiaries, she can continue to live there long term.