Uncle discovered that his father made no will, last surviving sibling - query

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squirrel

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Hi all, my uncle has just found out that his father made no will, he is the last surviving sibling. How does he go about getting the house in his name. He would also like to know where he can find out where his fathers father will is?
Cheers
 
Re: Query Re: Will

So - we have to be talking about an uncle in his 50's or 60's and a grandfather who died recently, a few years ago, a long time ago, who must have been aged c. 70's /80's? And he, the uncle, has just found out that the father had no will. So, how did he find that out? And then there is a house. Oh and finally where will he find his father fathers will? Why?

Seriously, tell the man to go to a solicitor. To find out in whose name the house is held and to work out what Grants will be necessary to transfer ownership.

mf
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Hi MF,
My uncle will be 80 years old in June. His Dad died forty years ago. He went to a solicitor and the solicitor sent him just a letter stating that the house belonged to his father. My uncle wants to get this house in his name because he is the last surviving person in that family. He is wondering what he will have to do to get it in his name and will it cost a lot!!
 
Re: Query Re: Will

So he did go to a solicitor. And what did he ask the solicitor? And did he ask the solicitor how much it would cost?

What is " a lot"? It either gets done or it does not get done. And if it does not get done, what difference does it make at this stage? No-one's done anything for 40 years, whats the urgency now?

This is a classic case of "how long is a piece of string"!

mf
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Hi again mf,
Yes he went to solicitor some time ago. He asked him whos name was the property in, he did not ask him how much it would cost. But he feels now that he is getting old and wants to do something about it now.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

There are a number of options open to him, depending on the circumstances.

If his father made a will and named him as beneficiary it is as simple as now taking out probate of that will and transmitting ownership.

If no will, he could either do a squatters application assuming he has been in exclusive occupation of it for the last 40 years ( or at least 12 but preferably more )or if all the other people who might have a share in the estate of the grandfather sign off, disclaimers/ deed of family arrangement/ grant of intestacy.

As mf1 says, he needs to go back to the solicitor to talk it through and give more details and the solicitor will advise the appropriate steps.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Enquiries can be made at the National Archives Office, Bishop St where all wills are stored. Initially they are held at the Probate Office but after about six months they are transferred for storage to Bishop St.
If dealing with a Solicitor I suggest that to keep costs down you do a bit of the footwork yourself.
For example try a get a copy of the grandathers will, death cert etc as Solicitors charge for sourcing these.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Yorrick said:
Enquiries can be made at the National Archives Office, Bishop St where all wills are stored.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify- wills would only be in the national archives or in the probate office if someone took out a grant in the estate. If nothing was ever done about the will it is most likely it is still held in the solicitors office where it was made.

I think it's a good idea to try to do some legwork yourself, try asking at the solicitors who represented your grandfather, if known. If not known, and you are in a rural area, there are probably only a few possibilities anyway.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Thanks Yorrick and Vanilla for that information I would love to do some of the footwork myself but I just dont know where to start. My uncle does not know who his fathers solicitor was. My uncle has got a letter from his solicitor stating that the house is in his fathers name. There is a folio number on that letter. What other possibilities might I have.
Cheers
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Does your uncle think your grandfather made a will?

If so, his solicitor can make enquiries of the solicitors in the area or of the offices which took over practices from that date. He/She can also advertise in the law society gazette for the will.

If there is no will, then it depends on whether next of kin will sign off in his favour.

If they won't, it looks like a squattors application.

His solicitor will be able to tell him all this.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Thanks for that Vanilla. What do you mean it depends on whether next of kin will sigh off in his favour. Its all double dutch to me!
 
Re: Query Re: Will

If his father made no will, then your uncle is not automatically entitled to the inheritance. The inheritance would be split evenly between all his children.

To make it easier to explain, lets say that your uncle had 2 brothers, now deceased. Both had one daughter each.

The estate would be split in 3, a third to your uncle, and 3rd each to his 2 nieces.

However, in the circumstances, his cousins , who are also legal next-of-kin might sign away their rights to the estate in favour of your uncle.

I hope this makes it clearer.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Yes, that's kind of it. But remember those people who might have been entitled to a share under the rules of intestacy will quite likely have been defeated by your uncle's long possession of the property. So their 'signing off' is more of a paper exercise than actually signing away an entitlement.
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Thank you Huskerdu and Vanilla, my uncle has six nephews and nieces. What is the difference of a paper exercise and signing away an entitlement. Sorry for all the questions but really I have not got a clue. I know my Uncle must see a solicitor soon but where do you think we could start with the footwork.
Cheers
 
Re: Query Re: Will

Hi Vanilla

Sorry to interrupt but as a matter of interest to myself, I picked up on what you said about squatters application. You said at least 12 years, preferably more. I thought you automatically had a right to squatters rights if you have been living in a property for 12 years or more and could prove this. Is it therefore not as straight forward as this?
 
Re: Query Re: Will

squirrel said:
Thank you Huskerdu and Vanilla, my uncle has six nephews and nieces. What is the difference of a paper exercise and signing away an entitlement. Sorry for all the questions but really I have not got a clue. I know my Uncle must see a solicitor soon but where do you think we could start with the footwork.
Cheers
Click to expand...

If his father had died only a few years ago, your uncles nephews and nieces would have an entitlement to their share of the estate.

However, because of the amount of time that has elapsed and your uncle is living on the property, he may be entitled to the property under squatters rights anyway, so the nephews and nieces signing away their share of the estate would only be a paper exercise.

I think at this stage, if you are still unsure of what we are trying to explain, you need to sit down with a solicitor and have a longer chat to have this explained in more detail
 
Hi again my uncle went to his solicitor today and was told he would do a adverse possession application. My uncle still does not fully understand what this is. Can anyone enlighten him?
 
It's one and the same as a 'squattors application'. It's also sometimes called a s.49 application.

It is an application by affidavit to the property registration authority to have your uncle registered as owner of the property where he is swearing on oath that he is the person entitled by virtue of his long possession of the property adversely to anyone elses entitlement.

It can be remarkably speeded up if all next of kin of your late grandfather would sign their consent to the application. So, if there is any urgency in the application being processed for example if he wants to transfer a site or land to someone and they are waiting for it, then this is the best step to to take- these applications can take up to a couple of years to be processed. There is no guarantee of success either, mostly problems arise when someone objects to the application.
 
Thanks for that Vanilla, what do you mean by if anyone objects do you mean that some of his six nephews and nieces could object?
 
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