Late father in laws estate, advice needed

[Linnet]

My dh has received a letter today, oddly not from a solicitor but from a secretarial service on behalf of fil’s wife, in regards to his late fathers Will. He has previously had a letter from a solicitor who outlined what he and his brother would inherit from the Will who the wife then decided not to use anymore.

There is a property of which FILs half has been left to my dh and his brother with the wife (2nd marriage) having a lifetime interest…

in relation to”property” and the outstanding mortgage loan if the property were to be sold then “wife” would pay in full the balance from the net proceeds. Having paid the balance, including your half share of this she would retain the other half for herself absolutely. “Wife” is seeking clarification regarding the responsibility of the monthly mortgage payment, which was in joint names and will revert.

Is this something she can legally do? Can she sell the property without the agreement of my dh and his brother? And keep any of the money leftover? Would she not have to split any money leftover between the three of them?

we are going to try to get legal advice on Monday but things are complicated by the fact that the Will was written in England and we are in Scotland.

any advice gratefully received

It was a different solicitor who contacted my DH about his inheritance, chosen by the wife. But it might be worth us contacting the solicitor who organised it originally, I'm sure we have his details somewhere as I think he also organised the power of attorney that my DH had for FIL.

OP, Land Registry are great to talk to. Your DH has an interest in the property so it makes sense to me that they would be able to register his interest against the title to prevent a sale without his consent. Have a chat with them and see what they say.

That is a possibility we have considered. We don't know why they have these charges against them.

They also own two properties abroad which are rented out and the other one in London they live in which we think have gone to her. One of the properties abroad has no mortgage on it as it was mentioned by the solicitor but yesterday's letter mentions something about it which we also need to get the solicitor to check out.

We don't know that she needs to sell, the letter says if she were to sell. But I agree it sounds like she doesn't want to or can't pay the mortgage.

You need a solicitor ASAP.

As a pp said you need to prepare yourself. Why are people so awful when wills and money are involved.

Why are people so awful when Wills and money are involved

I really don’t know.

It’s upsetting as the only thing they’ve been left from their dad is this share in the property and they might not even get that. Yet the wife has everything else.

@Linnet I do hope you can do something.

Just remember that his Dad put in writing that he loved his DC by remembering them in his will. That’s the most important thing.

We got legal advice last week from my dh’s uncle’s solicitor. She said that the letter we received could have been written by anyone and that we should wait until probate has been granted and we’ll take it from there. This is exactly what I thought she’d say but glad that we have now heard it from a solicitor. The solicitor also set up an alert for when probate is granted so she’ll know right away, I’m also checking the probate list every day.

Last Monday I set up an alert with the land registry for the property involved and on Friday I got an email telling me that the wife had made an application, I don’t know what kind of application as it didn’t say in the email and when I phoned they wouldn’t/couldn’t tell me what kind of application it was. So something is afoot but it might be something as straightforward as changing the name in the mortgage. I guess we just have to wait and see what happens next.

Keep your solicitor informed of all developments. It sounds like the wife is trying to circumvent the will. Have you seen the will? Do you have a copy? My children have copies of my will, life insurance, all bank account details etc.

No we haven’t seen the Will. Legally the executor, who is the wife, doesn’t have to let anyone else see the Will until after probate is granted. We did ask but haven’t been given one, if the wife doesn’t legally have to show us the Will she won’t do it.

Oh well. At least you know what you are up against. I am sorry. It is very stressful. People behave so badly, it is very upsetting. My mum's last living relative left everything to her, including the family home. But he married in his late 70s, to a much younger woman, and didn't make a new will. He died suddenly, technically intestate, she got everything. I hope you manage to sort it out.

Does anyone know, if the property has to be sold but nobody buys it, as it was on the market previously but nobody bought it which is why they decided to rent it out, what would happen?

If the wife can’t/won’t pay the mortgage and it didn’t sell would the bank repossess the property and does that mean there would be no money to be split between wife, dh and bil?

Sadly, yes, the mortgage company could repossess and would only be looking to sell at a price that would enable them to recover their loan.

Whether there is any money left wholly depends on how much the mortgage is and the value of the property, but yes, letting a property be repossessed would be foolish as it will certainly incur considerable costs and reduce the money available to you all. It sounds as if the mortgage will need to be repaid in any event coming off both shares as it was a joint mortgage.
If Wife cannot afford the mortgage it is much more sensible for you to all work together to find a solution.

She is proposing the house be sold now and then your DH and his brother will get their share now rather than having to wait until wife’s death. It does not sound to me that she is planning on devious or proposing keeping their share - otherwise why would she write to say what she suggests and to try to reach agreement? The sale will go through solicitors and this will provide protection as to distribution of funds. Have you managed to consult a solicitor who specialises in probate in England ?

I should add, the house will sell if the price is low enough. They always do.

I think when they tried to sell the property a few years ago that it was over priced and that's why it didn't sell. Of course the problem now is we don't know how much the mortgage is.

We spoke to a solicitor last week who said to wait until probate has been granted and we'll take it from there.