Inherited house council tax bill

[CuckooCuckooClock]

My gran died 2 years ago.
She named me, my brother and my mum as executors of the Will.

My brother signed over his responsibilities to my mum.
My mum and I do not get on at all. I have only seen her twice since the funeral.

She put the house on the market reluctantly because she wanted to keep it as a holiday home for herself. She priced it far too high and it didn’t sell. it did have an offer which was accepted and we applied for probate.

On Wednesday I received a council tax bill for over £800. I could find the money but would struggle without it.

My mum, brother and I are the only beneficiaries of the will getting 6/8, 1/8 and 1/8 shares respectively.

What should I do? What can I do?

I’m scared if I don’t pay it will affect my credit rating and I won’t be able to remortgage my own house ever. But I’m also reluctant to pay £800 every 6 months for a house I don’t even have a key for so my mum has a holiday home (I suspect she uses the property now and again).

Any advice gratefully received

Why did the bill come to you. I would ring them and qsk for it to be paid from probate and pass it to mum or the solicitors who are handling probate and the sale.

Why has it come to you and not her? You should split it according to ownership. There may be a discount for unoccupancy for a limited period but suspect that has long since expired.

Probate has been granted so no solicitors are dealing with it at the moment.
I must admit - I really don’t understand how all this stuff works.
I have contacted the council but not heard back and the bill only gave me 1 week to pay.

No discount for empty properties.
But if I just pay my 12.5% then does that mean I have no legal liability for the rest?
It’s quite possible that my mum and brother got the same bill but I have no way of finding that out.

And do I just have to keep paying even though I have no control over the sale of the property?

It si probably an outstanding bill for previous year and they have identified you as an owner. Who pays utilities? For probate there is normally a period after death in which ct is not charged or only nominally, if the property is part of an estate and unoccupied but that lasts only about 6 months. The estate should sort out debts to the point of the inheritance and transfer of title. Then it would be up to new owners to pay.

The bill should be paid from the assets of the estate before they are portioned out to the beneficiaries. Contact the Council and let them know what is going on.
Is it a bill for 2020/21? If so your Mother should be paying the bulk of it.

No it has to be all or nothing. Council will not care about your shared ownership. CT is a priority debt could go to court to reclaim it.

The bill is a liability of the estate. It should be paid out before the 6/8, 1/8 and 1/8 is paid.

@Snowman123 that is only while estate is being settled. GM died 2 years ago and at some point ownership was transferred.

OP, you are both part-owner of the house AND one of the executors of your grandmother's will. If you agreed to be an executor and applied for probate but the house has not been transferred into the three names of the beneficiaries, then you'll have received the bill as an executor and it should be paid for out of the estate.

The executor should take care of this If you and your mum are listed as executors and engaged a professional to act on your behalf, then they should take care of this.
If there is no professional, you need to discuss this with your mum. Do not pay something you do not understand.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand!

I don’t understand how it can be paid from the estate? What does this mean?
There doesn’t seem to be a professional involved and I cannot discuss this with my mum.

Or have I misunderstood and the estate is yet to be settled? Do you not need probate before you can sell it? I would have thought it could have been done long ago based on valuation.

The bill is for the last 6 months.

Were there cash or other assets in the estate?

No other assets

What does it mean for the estate to be settled?
Does the solicitor who felt with my grans will have to tell me what is going on or might they have just given everything to my mum?

If probate has been granted does that mean that my mum brother and I now own the house?

It’s so confusing to me.
I need someone to explain it to me in easy to understand terms because I keep trying to read about it and getting more and more confused.

Is the house about to be sold? It isn’t clear whether you are keeping the house or not. If you and your mother are joint executors of the will you simply have to communicate whether face to face, email or even via a solicitor. It should also be possible to get a response from the council to tell you what the legal situation is. I wouldn’t pay until I had more information but do not ignore the bill.

If the solicitor dealt with the will it should have included probate and transfer of the assets ie. House.

An executor of an estate holds assets in trust for the beneficiaries of the estate. After all debts of the estate are paid, the assets of the estate are distributed to the beneficiaries according to the terms of the Will.

Have you paid all debts and transferred title of the property to whoever received the house in the Will?

I think, if probate has been granted, then you and your mum and brother now own the house. Therefore I’d assume you and they are jointly liable for the council tax on the house for the past six months. The question is, is £800 your eighth of the bill (ie is the bill £6,400) or is £800 the whole amount owed, of which you owe one eighth?

It’s not clear to me either whether we are keeping the house or not!
I would like to sell it but I have no access to it. I simply do not know what my mum is planning and she is as awkward as a person can be so I have no way of getting any sense out of her.