Claiming years later

[Jack1993]

Hi All,

Hoping someone can help with this so I can advise my friend

Back around 2003 my friend and his brother inherited a property from their mother.

They had to take out a mortgage to pay other siblings at the time. 5 years later his brother died without leaving a will. He had a son who at the time asked about the house, however when he was told there is still a mortgage being paid he didn't want to know and never asked for any inheritance. His brother was also never married.

Now my friend is at the age where he has decided to write a will and with the deeds still being in his and his brothers name the solicitor has said that it should have been passed to his brother son when he died.

so I suppose my questions are;

Has he still got right to claim 14/15 years later against the estate?

Can my friend legally leave the property to others in his will

Thanks in advance!

[Pezza54]

Hi
If the property was owned as tenants in common (half share), as opposed to joint tenants, then under the rules of intestacy, the son should have inherited 50% of the value of the property (less the outstanding mortgage and unpaid bills) as well as money in his father's bank accounts and any personal goods

Did your friend apply to Probate for the letters of administration? If not, was anyone else appointed administrator? The estate was not administered properly

You stated the son wasn't interested in receiving any inheritance. Was this put in writing and signed by the son? Was he over 18 at the time.

If it wasn't put in writing the son may have a claim against his uncle who financially benefitted from taking over his brother's share of the property

You should ask your friend whether his brother would have wanted his son to inherit. If the answer is yes, in fairness he should think about negotiating a financial settlement with his nephew

[atticus]

Yes, particularly as the property remains in joint names. Your friend should do the right thing by his nephew - whose claim will be against your friend and not the estate of the father/brother. It will be appropriate to make an adjustment to reflect that your friend paid the full mortgage (if that is the case).

Your friend may leave his interest in the property in his will.

[Jack1993]

Good afternoon both,

Thank you for your help on this.

i belive they where tenants in common, however i will check this. He did at the time apply to probate for the letters of administration.

Out of interest what would be the rules if they were joint tenants? And is this possible of they are brothers rather than a married couple? Probably a daft question but I'm a complete novice trying to help

The unfortunate side is that his brothers son has learning difficulties. Due to this his mother keeps him very repressed and takes control of his money (not that she needs to as he is capable) becuase of this his brother didnt want to leave the property to fall into his sons (sons mother) hands.

It was a very early and sudden death so he never got round to writing a will. The only thing he had left was a verbal agreement with his brother to leave the home solely to him or vis versa should anything happen

[atticus]

Whatever the position regarding the nephew, your friend is not entitled to keep the full value of the property for himself.

You said that your friend has consulted a solicitor. He should follow the solicitor's advice.

[PallasAthena]

Out of interest what would be the rules if they were joint tenants? And is this possible of they are brothers rather than a married couple?

The difference between two people owning a property as "Joint Tenants" and owning as "Tenants in Common" is explained here

Joint tenants vs tenants in common - Which?

Any two (or more) people can jointly own property by either of these methods, whether they are married, siblings, or just friends.