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

I’m definitely an executor. I have a copy of the Will. I have a grant of probate. I just don’t know what that means!

Apparently there was no cash left. I think my mum had joint bank accounts with my gran so spent the money over the past decade or so.

Thanks for the advice- I will find a solicitor next week.

I’m scared if I don’t pay the council tax bill by Wednesday (the deadline on the bill) it will affect my credit rating.

Probate gives you the right to start dividing the assets.

Once it is granted you and brother and mum own the house.

Any joint bank account with your mum's name on is hers. It usually only takes up to 3 months to get probate.

Cab might be a good starting point.

Get a copy of the will which shows that your mother owns the majority of the house. Send the copy of the will and the council tax bill back to the council and tell them that your mother should be paying it.

Is your mother an executor as well? The executors are responsible for the estate and that will include paying bills due - but the money should come from the estate.

If the house has been transferred into the three names then you'll be liable for 1/8 of the bill. If the house is still in your Gran's name, her estate is liable and should pay, not the executors personally.

Ring the solicitor. It comes out of the inheritance, You need the solicitor to explain all this. You can also force a sale

I have a grant of probate letter. It took ages because there were some name change issues.
AFAIK there is no solicitor and no money in the estate so my understanding now is that we have to find the money ourselves for the council tax.
Yes my mother is an executor too.

The solicitor who had the Will applied for probate and sent the grant of probate and said they’d sent the bill to my mum

What do you normally do for the bills that must have been paid for the house over the last two years? Gas, electric, water?

I thought a solicitor was dealing with it but maybe my mum was. I really don’t know.

The grant of probate simply gives you the right to deal with your grandmothers financial affairs. Someone with grant of probate will need to deal with the same of the house. Have you seen it for sale, Rightmove? Estate agents? You are perfectly entitled to be involved in this process, ask the original solicitor.
The house forms part of the estate.
Any bills should be paid out of the estate.

Is the bill in your name only? When you phone the council, tell them the owner passed away, the only money in the estate is in the house, which has not been sold yet.

You’re only liable for the council tax bill if the house is now in your name. If the house has been transferred into your name, you would have signed something

Firstly legally you are entitled to your share and can force a sale however if she won't accept offers except at inflated prices, it will be hassle, an eighth share about 12.5% of 160k is about 19k

You need to be sure lawyers fees won't eat up all your inheritance, are you on benefits as if so giving up an inheritance will be seen as depravation of assets, if your mother wants to keep the house as a holiday home she can buy you and your brother out by paying you 19k each

When it comes to council tax you are jointly and severally liable basically that means the debt is not proportional to the will but all parties range chased for the whole debt

The house is for sale on right move.
I haven’t signed anything to do with transferring ownership of the house.
Solicitor’s fees being more than the inheritance is something I’m worried about. I’m not on benefits.
I’d be very surprised if my mum could afford to buy me out, or would be prepared to.

No wonder you are confused OP. I would
be too. I'd see what the council say on Monday. You won't be the first person in this situation.

That's good that it's up for sale but you need to involve yourself. The estate agent needs to be made aware that a second executor (you) exists & should be involved in decision making (price; accepting an offer etc) so that your share of the money doesn't disappear. I think your mother must have ticked a box on the estate agent's form to say she is acting for all executors with their permission or is the only executor so you need to stay on top of this. Your mother will need to use a solicitor to sort out the sale (the estate agent will know who they are), so you will be able to communicate with them either direct or via your own solicitor. You shouldn't have to deal with your mother directly at all. Get that legal advice asap and stress to the solicitor that you want to do this amicably and inexpensively. I'm not an expert but I'm going through probate at the moment & neither the estate agent or your mother's solicitor will exclude you from this process once they know you exist as they could get into a lot of trouble legally if they did. To give you an idea, my other relative & I are using the same solicitor who has quoted us just under £1,000 as a lump sum for the house sale & work following probate.

The grant of probate lists the executors, that will have to be shown to sell the property and the OP will have to sign - there's no way she'll be hidden. That's why the council will have written to her, it would seem that probate has only recently been granted.

I do think you need to be more involved though OP, and ask your mother about the bills. Executors are responsible for the estate and distributing it.

Just to add, any other bills that your mother is paying on the house will be coming out of the estate so she'll be keeping the receipts to hand over to the solicitor and then they'll be deducted from the money after the house is sold before you get your share.

Thanks.
So if I pay the council tax bill and keep proof of that when the house sells (if) I can get that money back before it’s divided up?
And where does the money go once the house sells? Who holds the money until it is divided up and paid to the beneficiaries? Is it the solicitor who deals with the sale of the house?
I would have liked to be more involved all along but my mum will not tell me anything.

Don't pay the bill from personal funds OP. Speak to your mother about it. You are the executor and will be distributing the funds from the sale of the house.

I would really, very strongly advise that you look into the role of being an executor. It has legal responsibilities. You need to be proactive and contact your mother about this.

I'd try to put the council back to your mother saying that she took over your grandmother's bank accounts and is paying all household bills. But you really need to talk the whole thing through with a solicitor asap & force your way into that house sale process. You will feel so much better once you feel you have some control over this situation.

Ok thanks I’m going to find a solicitor tomorrow.
I appreciate that communicating directly with my mum as co-executor would seem to be the most straightforward thing to do but you have no idea of the kind of person my mum is.
Thanks again for all your help

Oh, I get it, OP, it sounds like a horrible situation. But saying out loud that you are co-executor is exactly the way to move forward. Good luck. I hope you'll let us know how you get on.

Op do you have legal cover on your household insurance? If you do it might be worth ringing them up for a chat. Not sure if they will cover inheritance stuff if it’s straightforward (or should be) but they should be able to talk to you about the process and explain it all simply so you can understand exactly the position you’re in and next steps - particularly for things like your mother not talking to you and trying to get a sale at a realistic price, bills in the mean time etc.

Dealing with Probate/Settling Estate/House Sales etc can be very daunting and a potential minefield of legal complications so you have my total sympathy here.

However, I'm saying this in the best possible way OP - you need to get your head out of the sand and deal with it. I know it isn't easy dealing with relatives you don't want to speak to but you really need to get involved with this. Sitting at home posting on Mumsnet and stressing about it will not resolve anything. Either go and see a solicitor or start being proactive yourself. The longer you let this thing drag on the more you risk loosing out on your inheritance.