property deeds help please

[N24C]

Hi could anyone help please?

my grandad and his wife were married and
lived together in a house
that was bought for my grandad
by a very close friend.


im not sure if he was married to his wife at this time,

my grandad died in 2018 and his wife carried on living there

she has now died.

my grandad has 4 children including my dad to 2 other women

and his wife has 2 from 1 other man

my question is if there was no will made by either of them what happens to the house?

my dad and his siblings are feeling a little sad and pushed out as my grandads
wifes children have said to him
they will not share anything.

also back when my grandad died,
they all took his belongings like tools, fishing gear ext and there was nothing left for my dad or siblings

is there anyway i can find out whos name is on the house deeds?

and is my dad and siblings legally entitled to anything?

thanks in advance

[Pezza54]

Hi
Welcome to LB

Do you know if your grandad had a will?
If so who was named as executor?
If you don't know you should ask your dad
If he is unsure you can search the Probate Registry for your grandad's will and estate value

If your grandad didn't have a will, then the rules of intestacy should have applied. Depending on the estate value and property in joint names with his spouse, your dad and his siblings may have been entitled to some inheritance.

[PallasAthena]

Information about who currently owns the house is at the Land Registry and you can access it from this gov.uk site (always access via the official gov.uk page, don't use scam commercial sites that claim they can do it for you)

Search for land and property information - GOV.UK

You need to download the Title Register (costs £7). You don't need the Title Plan.

As your grandad was married when he died in 2018 his wife would have inherited everything up to a certain limit and after that his children (not step-children) . It's the intestacy rules that were in force in 2018 that would have applied and I don't know what they were (they've changed several times since). Your post implies that your grandad owned the house 100% as it was bought for him. However if grandad and wife jointly owned it at the time of his death that could also be relevant to who inherited.

Assuming that the house is now owned 100% by your grandad's wife and is in England then if she has left no Will her whole estate (including the house) will split equally between all her natural children. Step children, such as your dad and his siblings, do not inherit anything. I assume from your post that your gandad and his wife did not have any children from their marriage, all the children came from previous relationships.

[N24C]

Thank you for this,

the house is in whitstable kent England
And they had no children together
both just from previous relationships.

This would make them all step children for both my grandad and his wife
If that makes sense

[PallasAthena]

Children for whom your grandad is the biological father are his natural children but are his wife's step children (because she is not their biological mother and is related to them only by marriage).

Children for whom your grandad's wife is the biological mother are her natural children but are your grandad's step children (because he is not their biological father and is related to them only by marriage).

The difference matters if someone dies without a Will because their step-children never have a right to inherit any of their property.

Just for clarity, although I don't think it's relevant here, adopted children are treated as 'natural' children under intestacy law.

[N24C]

Pezza54
Hi,
I have asked my dad and he said
no my grandad didn't have a will
or wasn't informed of one

[PallasAthena]

It might be a good idea to go to the government probate site and search to see if probate was granted for either your father or for his wife. Even if there was no Will the site will tell you whether somebody applied to be made the legal 'Administrator' of either of their Estates. It's free to search the site. If you find a listing for either of them you can download it for about £1. That will tell you who was legally responsible for dealing with the Estate and how much the Estate was worth.

Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) - GOV.UK

[N24C]

PallasAthena
am i right to think that this would mean that because his wife inherited from him that my dad and siblings are not entitled to anything because they are her step children

[PallasAthena]

PallasAthena
am i right to think that this would mean that because his wife inherited from him that my dad and siblings are not entitled to anything because they are her step children

Correct, assuming both died without leaving a Will. What she inherited in 2018 was then hers so at her death only her natural/biological children are entitled to inherit her property. Not her step children, they had no entitlement.