Tenants in Common -Sale of Property

[Zuffy]

Mr A and Mrs B owned their house as Tenants in Common(50% share each) with a Form A Restriction registered against the Title. They had Wills which left the survivor of them with a life interest in the half share in the house of the first of them to die. Mr A died leaving Mrs B with a life interest in his half of the house. A Grant of Probate was completed in relation to Mr A’s estate and I was named in his Will as his Executor.

Mrs B has now died and a Grant of Probate has been extracted in relation to her estate by her Executor who is a Solicitor . The house is being sold and her Executor is also dealing with the conveyancing.

The Estate agents dealing with the sale of the property have only kept the Solicitor acting for Mrs B estate updated.

I have attended the Estate agents offices recently because for several months I have heard nothing .I learnt that the sale of the property is nearing completion however this information has not been forthcoming from either the Solicitor or Estate agent.




The questions I need answers to are-




1. When the time comes to complete the sale of the property would the Executor for Mr A be required to sign any documents to confirm the sale of Mr A’s share in the property




2. Would the Solicitors acting for the purchasers of Mr A and Mrs B’s property be required to pay 50% of the proceeds to each estate.




3.What should Mr A’s executor do if all the funds from the sale of the property are paid to the Executor dealing with Mrs B’s estate.




4 What would it mean in respect to the sale of the property if the purchasers Solicitor failed to pay Mr A’s share at the time of completion.




Thank you in advance for your advice .

[Pezza54]

A1 Yes

A2 Yes

A3 Write to the solicitor requesting 50% of the proceeds from the sale, pointing out his duty as executor to ensure the terms of Mr A's will are followed in particular to distributing money following the sale of the property owned as tenants in common

A4 A letter of complaint to the solicitor. If the solicitor still refuses to transfer 50% of the proceeds, then refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (and claim interest)

[Zuffy]

Hi Pezza54
Thank you very much for answering my questions . Just so make sure I have it right in my mind ,are you saying it’s the solicitor who is the executor for Mrs B’s estate (and who is carrying out the conveyancing for the house sale) who will be responsible for transferring the 50% to Mr A’s estate .I mistakenly assumed that it was the responsibility of the solicitor representing the buyers of the house. So thank you very much for clarifying that it’s really helpful.

[Pezza54]

No see the answer to Q2
A4 answers the question if by chance or mistake 100% was paid to Bs solicitor on completion and Bs solicitor refused to pass money to As executor

[Zuffy]

Sorry Pezza54 ,I feel like my mind is all over the place.Thank you very much again for answering the questions I raised. I now have a better understanding about what should happen.