Who divides up balance of booking deposit amongst vendors after sale

MisseyB

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I'm in the process of selling a house that I own with my two siblings. The auctioneer received a booking deposit from the buyer, which they currently hold in one of their accounts.

I've just been told by the conveying solicitor handling the house sale (who was picked by my siblings) that it is up to the auctioneer to divide up this booking deposit (minus the auctioneer's fee) after the sale goes through. The auctioneer said that normally they forward the money onto the solicitor for them to divide up - a procedure confirmed by solicitor friends of mine as being the norm. The conveying solicitor is saying that this is not typical and that it'll be up to the auctioneer to look after it.

Just a bit of background for context. There is no love lost between my siblings and I, and I don't trust them to play nice when it comes to money. I never wanted to buy a house with it, but it was that or be disinherited by my mother. I've had issues with the conveying solicitor before, and the only reason I didn't fight their appointment was to avoid the wrath that I'd get if I resisted.

The auctioneer actually seems pretty decent and that he can provide me with an undertaking to have a third of the deposit balance sent to me after the sale. Can you see any drawback to making this arrangement with the auctioneer. Honestly i just want to get through this stressful experience as quickly as possible, but don't want to expose myself to been short changed if I can avoid it.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Sounds wrong to me.

Doesn’t the balance form part of the estate?

If so the executor (or solicitor acting for the executor) should retain the funds and distribute as per the will.

Is the conveyancing solicitor also acting for the executor who is one of your siblings?
 
Ah, sorry. Didn't realise they'd appear in the same thread and so didn't want to confuse things by combining them.

The house is not part of my Mam's estate. She only had less than €25,000 in cash in one bank account when she passed. The house is something I own separately with my siblings.
 
Yes it does form part of the purchase price for the house.

Just to clarify this house has nothing to do with my Mam's estate (which I mentioned in another post) and so there are no executors involved in this house sale, just my siblings and I.

But yes the conveyancing solicitor is also acting for the executors named in my Mam's will.
 
The solicitor who is handling the sale of the property may have been chosen by your siblings, but he is acting for all three of you, and he owes his professional duties and responsiblities equally to the three of you. There is really no danger that he will pay your share of the money to them.
 
Thanks for the reply. The solicitor has confirmed that they will divide up the sale price minus the booking deposit, but says that dividing up the booking deposit is between the auctioneer and us and nothing to do with them.
 
I've acted as executor a couple of times and that arrangement sounds strange.

Just to be 100% clear, you issue instructions to your solicitor, and they issue advice. If the siblings are happy to go with the solicitor's advice, then request a cheque from the EA payable to "The Reps of the late (your mother's name)" with a note saying it's the deposit for the house purchase, net of the EA's fees & commissions. Once that's done your siblings and you have done your part of collecting the assets of the estate and protecting them, leaving an audit trail.

Instruct your solicitor in writing, with a copy of the EA's letter, to lodge the EA's cheque to the relevant client account, divide it by three, and add it to the balances payable to each of you on conclusion of the business. They'll help themselves to their fees from the client account, just ensure you get a full accounting.

IANAL.
 
Thanks. Just to clarify the house has nothing to do with a will. That issue is only mentioned because I have a seperate post on another matter, which other commenters sought clarification on.

I take your point about instructing the solicitor to lodge a cheque from the auctioneer for the balance of the deposit, and then divide the money 3 wyas along with the rest of the sale value. That was my initial hope but the solicitor doesn't want to do that and the auctioneer has offered to divi up the deposit instead, just wasn't sure which was the best option.
 
It all seems a bit complex. At the insistence of your mother you bought a 1/3 share in a house that you are now selling in the hopes of getting a 1/3 share of your Mums less than €25K estate (and with funeral expenses and solicitors fees is going to be probably less than €5K to you. Seems like a very poorly thought out plan from your point of view. You could have kept your money and not invested with your siblings and lost about €5K but gained control over your own money.

Did you and your siblings take on ownership of your mother’s house before she died? Is that what happened so as to avoid fair deal if it was required.
 
Sorry, but I don't see what dividing up a booking deposit has nothing to do with my Mam's estate. The house is not tied to my Mum's estate in any way now. The question would apply if we were just 3 individuals who bought a house together. My question is about the solicitors obligation regarding a booking deposit.
 
If I was the estate agent I would be very wary of dividing up the residual booking deposit in any way shape or form.

The estate agent cannot with any certainty know how the house is held (joint tenants, tenant in common), what the ownership shares are, whether there is a lien on the house, or what other arrangements exist between the vendors. A solicitor is competent to establish all of the above.

I would be very surprised if an estate agent will do anything else other than remit to a solicitor's client account.
 
That's a very good point. Hadn't thought of that. The solicitor seems very keen not to do it, so the auctioneer offered to and wrote to me tonight to confirm. Thankfully it is a simple 3 way split, but you're right, it isn't an ideal solution. Can't understand for the life of me why the solicitor wants it to happen this way. Seems to think I'm crazy for suggesting that they look after the deposit instead.
 
Dr Strangelove said:
He's taking on a lot of risk for zero reward here!


I hope your siblings are aware of that and you are keeping them in the loop concerning your communication with estate agent
Click to expand...
I don't have any communication with my siblings, and as far as I'm aware I'm only confirming the status quo.
 
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