Mum has died intestate - complicated estate issues

[butterfly0404]

Hello

I have a question, not sure if anyone has the answer. My has died without a will, had a feeling this would happen. My dad died four years ago and my mum dealt with some minimal administration associated with that . Dad didn't leave a will, there was only property and a piece of land, about half an acre, separate deeds which I understand passed to my mum.

Myself and my brother I understand will inherit but potentially the land and property might be worth a bit, potentially 700k, hard to say as the property is very run down, it;s a semi and the property next door is also in a similar state, but the plot is large.

There are further complications as a family member is running a business from the plot of land kind of under the radar of most legal permissions, ie planning, business rates etc.

They use the utilities of mum's house to run the business, whilst she was alive she was happy with this arrangement but obviously this cannot continue. It also appears family member is further subletting this piece of land to someone else for the storage of building materials.

It's incredibly messy.

As there is no will, is it likely there will be inheritance tax to pay ? I'm absolutely in the dark about this and my brother has gone awol, doesn't want to deal with any processes at all. I have an appointment with a probate solicitor next week but I fear this is going to get expensive.

No inheritance tax if under 1 million in total.

Might have a battle evicting family member.

Thank you @Versailles2025 even if there is no will for either my dad and now my mum ?

Yes I'm not looking forward to the battle over the land, I've already had their accountant on the phone asking what's going to happen, said business doesn't pay rent for the use 🙄

The inheritance tax issue is separate from the will issue.

If no will then the rules of intestacy apply.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Short piece on inheritance tax - as you and brother inherit and it includes the family home the threshold would appear to be 500k.

Not a lawyer.

www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax

I know the estate will be split between muybrother and myself, my question is will usual inheritance tax rules apply as there is no will ?

Sorry for your loss. Inheritance tax will still apply even if no will. It sounds messy with the family member and business so it's good you are getting legal advice.

Yes the usual inheritance tax rules apply.

my question is will usual inheritance tax rules apply as there is no will ?

yes

The property passed to your Mum IHT free, so you can use your Dad’s residence nil band AND your Mums, plus their own basic NRB , assuming the property is worth more than £325k.
So £325k x 2 + £175k x2 = £1million before IHT due.

Intestacy means it passes to you and your brother, you and he can apply for administration, which is like probate so you can sell the house and land.

If you could avoid inheritance tax by not making a will, a lot of rich people wouldn't bother with wills. The tax relates to the value of the estate, not who it passes to.

https://advisingfamilies.org/uk/information-portal/managing-money/residence-nil-rate-band/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoeGuBhCBARIsAGfKY7xRPzJsCriW4lQjImMuxcDEA-nT2qg51aL8tO066L4MZfe-LC1NDDMaAoSwEALw_wcB

Do you not think this other relative would try and claim she gave it to him etc ?
So sad and selfish of her to leave you with such a mess to sort out 😢

First port of call should be downloading the Title plans from the land registry at £3 each to determine ownership.

I hope the house and land are registered or if not, you know where the Deeds are!
That’s a whole world of problems if No and No.

No Will has no bearing on inheritance tax rules, same with or without a Will.
Do you have a family solicitor? They should be your first point of call.
The relative using the land may try and claim a tenancy, that would be my main concern.

The property and land are both in joint ownership of my late mum and dad, she never removed him off either of the deeds when he died so I'm confident of title there x

If brother has gone awol then apply for letters of administration on your own, he will just complicate matters.

The relative situation regarding the land, should be straight forward as one cannot pass land to another without a deed or lease.

I can't see that the relative using the land is immediately relevant either. You administer the estate, you and brother inherit the land and then you decide whether to let them carry on or kick them out but it's a separate issue to the inheritance.

In many cases you can do probate yourself. In this situation paying for legal advice makes a lot of sense.

@ThePure is right administer the estate and get probate first. Make sure the property is insured.

A solicitor can then communicate with the other parties which de-personalises it.

Hi, I didn't word that particularly well, what I wasn't clear on was the thresholds at which the tax was paid, I wondered if the usual thresholds would actually be less due to the issues explained, I certainly wasn't expecting there to be avoidance of tax, rather the opposite in fact x

Hi, yes it's possible, I did consider there might be an adverse possession claim but they had permission to use the land whilst mum and dad were alive, albeit without any legal agreements or rents being paid

The OP is concerned that the person on her parent's land, a relative I think, may have had a verabl agreement to be on the land - OP, go to a good solicitor before saying anything at all to those people ad don't tell them you done that.

Do you get on with the people on the land? However, feel the waters and see what the solicitors say.

Have gone through similar with my parents.
Dad died seven years ago, with no will. Mother failed to transfer the property into her name alone so when she died about 18 months ago the lawyer first had to deal with my mothered estate, and get me named executor.
then we had to go to court with me as my mothered representative to claim my fathers share of the home.
It took about 14 months for the lawyer to do - I think in a large part because courts are quite slow
should also say this is in Scotland - so might be a bit different from rest of UK
bit good you are going to see a lawyer. good luck with it all

That's where there will be conflict I think, he will want them.to carry on as he is heavily involved in the business but not , as far as I'm aware in a paid capacity. I will want the whole lot sold as I don't want the responsibility of it and the business is often in financial trouble so any rent levied will probably not be paid.

They are family, its a very messy situation. They are still using the utilities oin the property for their business, ie electric and water buy don't pay towards it. They really took advantage of my mum.