Refusing to sell property

[paulajayne]

The son has never contacted my solicitor but the grandson has sent all sorts of letters to the solicitor usually accompanied by a rather nasty message to me informing that me he has sent something. His message last night was to inform me that he had emailed the proposal to my solicitor, but it was quite pleasant by his standards

Keep all messages as they may be of use later.

[Hagalout]

It could be, but why would the grandson suddenly change his stance to accept half of his entitlement, along with the nasty message from the son trying to extort money from me. Plus the small matter of my £10,000 costs.

[Peridot]

Maybe they have now spoken or got advice so know the legal position. The son will be sore that they have now understood what should happen so is probably looking at trying to get more as his share is obviously affected by the grandchildren's decision. I wouldn't dwell on it too long, you'll drive yourself nuts trying to second guess them.

[Hagalout]

Thank you Peridot and Paulajayne, yes Peridot you got that one right I will have to wait and see what happens. I suppose my worry is that the caveat will come off with little or no repayment of my legal costs and then another one goes on and it starts all over again. They have threatened before to put them on in the granddaughters name and even the other great granddaughter and also the son and his partner. At least if it went to court it may be sorted once and for all, but will it go against me if I insist on court when he has sort of agreed to remove it.

[Peridot]

They would get short shrift from the Court if they continued down this line. You're trying to second guess now. As they have apparently found out the legal position I suspect it will be the son that causes the issue when trying to deal with the costs aspect. Sit tight your solicitor will suggest how best to respond to them. Fingers crossed they are actually seeing reason and will continue to do so!

[Hagalout]

Thank you, I will wait to see what he says next. It would seem to me that he will have received their settlement letter before he has sent the 14 day warning letters.

[Hagalout]

As an update to my situation, my solicitor contacted the Caveator(grandson) to advise him that he would have 14 days to remove the caveat and come to an agreement to pay my costs or we would be instigating court proceedings. He had thought by agreeing with his uncle to accept half of his entitlement that he would walk away paying nothing towards my costs or the upkeep of the house for the last two years. He has now reappointed a solicitor who it seems is writing to his uncle to inform him that the grandchildren are entitled to the full amount of their late mother's share which is fair enough but begs the question why that wasn't done 2 years ago? She has also written to my solicitor agreeing to take the two caveats off which would suggest that they know they have no legal standing to be on there anyway, but it's only if we agree to accept that they don't pay any costs? but she also adds nastily that if we issue court proceedings to recover my costs they will draw the attention of the court to their offer to remove the caveats. I consider that a disgrace considering he has simply messed me about for two years with no attempts to make the claim against his grandfather's estate via the correct channels. My solicitor seems to suggest that it could be difficult to recover all my costs anyway but I have read of a few cases were a judge has awarded the full amount when it is clear that the caveat was merely used as a stalling tactic. And certainly in my case the Appearances weren't even served upon us. The grandsons conduct has been appalling from the start.

[Hagalout]

Could I please ask Peridot's opinion on this latest development as explained in my previous comment.
Is it correct that the other solicitor will be able to use against me in court the fact that they are now offering to remove the caveats in their latest letter? It wouls seem rather ridiculous considering the grandson has abused the caveat system from day one and has never attempted to make a claim against his grandfathers estate. The dispute should never have involved my mothers estate and has cost me over £10,000.
Where is the justice in that?

[Peridot]

Hi Hagalout,
As wih all court proceedings there is always a risk that a costs order won’t go the way you would like so it is right to flag it. You must remember the other sides lawyer is doing what’s best for their client too and any negotiation will come from their best outcome and yours on the other side. If there is any room for negotiation then usually an agreement will be reached otherwise it would be decided by the Court. That is when you get into the realms of what is reasonable which would include the conduct of the parties. This would include things such as not accepting reasonable offers potentially.
Has your solicitor advised you on the offer yet?
What it will come down to is whether fighting further and incurring more costs effectively cancels out any benefit you would gain by coming to an agreement.
It is a tough decision as you can never be certain which way the Court could decide on this aspect. In my experience an offer from you maybe worth considering which accepts a smaller costs figure.
I would be guided by your lawyer at this point having all the history of the issues they are best placed to guide you here.

[Hagalout]

Thank you, its just that it seems ridiculous, that he can simply delay my probate application for two years, he was told that he had no claims against my mothers estate yet he refused to remove it, then he had 3 caveats on. all registered from the same address. And didnt serve the appearances to the warnings on us. He has had no legal representation for over 12 months, yet the first letter from his new solicitor is like this it is scandalous.

[Hagalout]

As a further update my solicitor responded to the grandsons solicitors threatening letter by making them an offer to partially reimburse my legal costs, but they have simply ignored his offer and just sent the consent forms to sign to remove the caveats accompanied by a further abrasive letter.
I though the whole idea of mutual consent for the caveats was to eliminate this type of behaviour.

[Hagalout]

The caveator is still refusing to agree to pay any of my costs, and his solicitor is insistent that I am "not entitled to any pre-action costs when no proceedings have been issued and it has been agreed" I have not agreed to anything, they signed the consent forms and forwarded them to my solicitor but we feel we should be recovering some costs after he has simply been vexatious throughout and lied on appearance forms knowing all along he had no claims against my mothers estate. I thought this was the reason for mutual consent. My solicitor had given them 2 weeks warning of taking them to court so they offered to remove the caveat providing there are no costs applied for.
What sort of legal system can leave someone almost £10,000 pounds out of pocket with no chance to recover it.
Surely if this was the case anyone with a grudge against someone could do this whether they had a claim or not.

Please could you advise if this is right what his solicitor is saying.
Thank you

[Hagalout]

Could anyone please offer any advice in the developments explained in my last post. Thank you

[Hagalout]

Could anyone please offer advice on the developments explained in my last post. Thank you

[harletinna]

Thanks for the topic, very useful information. I recently also sold the house that my grandmother left us. I owned this house with my brother and sister together. It was a little difficult to negotiate with everyone about selling it. We were helped a lot by a company www.thepropertybuyingcompany.co.uk. They buy private and commercial property and help in property clearance. It was the most important thing for us was that they helped with all paperwork and covered solicitor fees.