MIL house ownership

[Spicybananas]

just need some help on where my FIL might stand here.

my SIL passed away very suddenly - my SIL had been left a house by a relative before she died and was in the process of getting it updated with the land registry but it didn’t get done before she died due to a charge on the property. Because my SIL was young she didn’t have a will and my FIL is the only next of kin for my SIL (my DP doesn’t want to make any kind of claim) - where does my FIL now stand with the house?

He’s going to apply for probate but does he now have a claim on the house or not because it hasn’t transferred officially into my SIL’s name? (Even though she was left it in a will)

It doesn’t matter whether the property had been transferred to your SIL at HM Land Registry or not, she became entitled to it on the relative’s death and it is therefore part of her estate (assuming there was no contrary survivorship clause in the original Will). The executors of the relative’s estate will therefore need to transfer the property to whoever is entitled to your SIL’s estate under the intestacy rules.

Fab thank you that’s helpful. No we don’t think there was anything in the will - we haven’t seen it and my SIL was quite private so hadn’t shared much with us before she died so my FIL is trying to piece it all together as much as he can!

Wills are public once probate is granted. If you know the name of the person who left her the house, you can go straight to the probate registry. If you don’t, the land registry will have the name of the previous owner.

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

If the estate of the first person hasn’t been finally distributed, your FIL would probably be better off getting a copy of the will - just to make sure there aren’t any surprises.

Edited to say: If your SIL had no spouse / civil partner and no children, the estate is divided between surviving parents. Your DH doesn’t legally have a claim (I know you said he wouldn’t anyway). If SIL’s mother is still alive, she gets half the value of the estate.

Thank you that’s helpful to know actually - I think the estate of her aunt has been sorted so worth a look!

No, her mum died a long time ago so just my FIL. (DP and SIL had different mothers and it’s the aunt on her mum’s side’s house hence why she was left something as big that he wasn’t)

In which case, assuming this is England or Wales (just realised I’d been blithely giving advice assuming that was the case), FIL inherits the lot unless there is something in the aunt’s will to the contrary. If there is, it would probably either be giving your SIL a life interest (in which case your FIL doesn’t inherit the house) or possibly including a survivorship clause (the usual length of time is 30 days so it sounds like that may be past).