Moved into new house and loft is full

[Invisiblewoman1]

Can and should I do anything about this, completed 3 weeks ago and renovating. Just realised loft is rammed full of previous owners belongings.
Can I do anything?

Anything of value? Maybe they forgot? Probate sale?

They probably forgot. What is it?

Do anything in what way? I would hire a skip . Annoying to be left with it all.

Yes probate sale!
I thought about contacting the beneficiary solicitor to see if they want to go through it.

So much stuff I wouldn’t know where to start

I would speak to your solicitors. I find it hard to believe that the sellers didn’t know they had to clear it

Contact the solicitor who dealt with the sale. If they don’t clear it then they will have to pay for you to remove/dispose of the stuff. My friend had similar with a full garden shed.

I was wondering if it was breach of contract as contract states the house will be left clear. Thereby if I have to hire a skip - which i will - should they pay for it?
I can’t get anything of my own up there. There’s a dining table for example! It’s completely full

You NEED to speak to the solicitors, as you cannot legally dispose of it without informing them

It may have just been forgotten. It is their cost to dispose of it however

If they have ticked the box saying that the house will be left clear, they have to clear it. If they didn't, they won't. I was told by my solicitor to leave that box unticked when doing a probate sale, as I couldn't get in the loft so didn't know if it was empty or not.

They may never have gone into the loft . I would contact the beneficiary and ask them if they want to go through it , if they do they can perhaps help remove some or pay towards it .

We had a probate sale on my parents home. The attic/loft was full of stuff of 50 years 😫 there is 8 of us and we knew we had to clear it, we were constantly told it must be cleared. With getting skips to clear the actual house and taking turns going down to the house we lost track of how many skips we got etc and just all kept assuming someone was clearing the attic/loft. 2 of my brothers kept saying they were clearing it, so we were shocked when we got a letter from the buyers solicitor telling us the loft had not been cleared. We ended up having to pay for a skip and workers to remove the stuff as the new buyers couldn't climb up and they didn't want us on the premises after they moved in. We did offer to come and do it but it was too late. Our own fault really but all the costs had to be paid by us. The buyers didn't have to pay anything.

Solicitor. This is a legal issue.

Don’t go hiring skips or contacting beneficiaries or do anything that isn’t advised by your solicitor.

I bought a property and the loft was full of old tat. Boxes of kids toys, sports stuff, DIY stuff. It would never have occurred to me to contact the solicitors. I also considered the stuff mine to do whatever with as the sale had completed with it all there. It was annoying and took 3 trips to the tip to clear. I kept a brolly, that's all.

@Badoukas

I bought a property and the loft was full of old tat. Boxes of kids toys, sports stuff, DIY stuff. It would never have occurred to me to contact the solicitors. I also considered the stuff mine to do whatever with as the sale had completed with it all there. It was annoying and took 3 trips to the tip to clear. I kept a brolly, that's all.

sadly that was more fool you. You could have chucked it all in a skip and had the sellers pay.

@DespairingHomeowner

You NEED to speak to the solicitors, as you cannot legally dispose of it without informing them

It may have just been forgotten. It is their cost to dispose of it however

This.

But if I was you and they were covering the costs of the disposal I'd want to have a rummage through it all as there could be something amazing up there!

ooh, if they dont want it, I would be having a look through!

If it's a probate sale then what's in the loft forms part of the estate of the deceased. So yes, inform the solicitor, and see what they say.

They will have to pay to have it cleared .

When we bought our house there was loads of rubbish in the garden . We got the sellers solicitor to confirm in writing they would pay the bill and we actually got someone in to clear it as well .

@flapjackfairy

Do anything in what way? I would hire a skip . Annoying to be left with it all.

It costs about £250 for a small skip.

I'd ask your solicitors to get in touch with the sellers, unless you want to sort it out, let them do it.

This sounds potentially quite sad if it was a probate sale. The kind thing to do would be to contact relatives and executors of the deceased (probably via their solicitor who sold the house), explain what you have found in the attic, and ask them if they want it. Hopefully they may come and clear. It could contain family treasures of a sentimental kind or valuable family history documents, photos,etc. Do give them the choice before you dispose of it all. And if they do leave it to you, send them a bill.

My DH forgot to empty FILs loft when he moved into a care home. When we found out via the vendors solicitors DH paid to have someone come in and empty it and dispose of the contents. It was just a complete oversight whilst having to deal with so many other things.

Not only are you not allowed to dispose of it, morally you shouldn't. There could be photo albums etc and items that will be hugely important to the deceased's family. Chucking it a skip is dreadful! Contact the solicitors!

I have contacted my solicitor with photos and they will contact the executors solicitor.
They stripped the house so I like to think it was an oversight rather than deliberate. A local quote to clear it was £225 so not insignificant. Will see what they say

When we emptied DFIL house after he died. we were literally ‘saying’ goodbye to each room when DBIL suddenly said “I assume you did the loft?” And we realised we hadn’t even thought about there with The distress and emotion following his death