late fathers estate, step brother involved

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

spoke to Dads friend in Australia. she said my Dads wife mentioned a will, and she assumed they'd maid the will together. so i think we can discount that info.

I tried to get the Police to remove him but they are saying its a civil matter and I need to see a solicitor.

re the Police angle ive been told:

Go to IPCC website there is a good guide.All you need say is that you tried to lodge a complaint about an offence under S144 (LASPOA 2012) (illegal squatting on residential premises) and that the police refused to take the complaint.
Say they claimed it was only a civil matter when plainly it is a crime.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

just a quick thought, late night worrying, according to almost everyone i talk too my Dad loved his wife.

now what would protect her in the event of him dying first? i know the wife effectively inherits upto £250k, but he wouldnt know how much the estate would be worth at his time of death. wouldnt he make a will protecting her? and if he did this i would think he would be under extreme pressure from his wife to put the step brother as a secondary incase she had already passed.

also why did she make a will at roughly the same time she was selling her home to the step brother for a knock down price? her estate wasnt worth more than £250k anyway, so my Dad by the same token would be protected. the only event to make the will useful is if my Dad died first and then she died, then it would goto the step brother as specified in her will.

this all just occured to me tonight as another theory.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Phoned Police today re Dads car. Same thing, wont do anything as i cant say he hasnt got a will or a note from my Dad saying he could have the car. They seemed more frightened of him complaining unlawful arrest. Told me i needed to show i had had some dialog with the step brother via a solicitor.

so it would appear you can get the keys to your neighbours car if they drop dead near it. then say he said I could have it. then sell it.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

If there was a will in favour of your step brother (whom you understand was disliked by your father) he would surely have produced it by now.
I would suggest you continue as administrator and, assuming you have priority of inheritance:
1) transfer land registry title into your own name
2) request bank balance paid into your administrator,s account
3) send letter before action to step brother requesting he gives you the proceeds from sale of car and all your fathers effects

When the house is in your name you can proceed to evict him.
Squatting IS a criminal offence but sometimes asking the police for help is a waste of time

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

he has only had one letter effectively, as he didn't want to sign for the second. said to the postman he thought it was probably his ex wife asking for something, even though the address was hand written and presumably postmarked to where I live which is 80 mile away. he didn't reply to my letter.

the bank are being very quiet over this. I gave them a crime number today, after another pain in the ass call to the Police, who fobbed it off onto the action against fraud.

land registry forms sent a week ago.

ive sent, on the advice from a retired barrister on "the law forum" a complaint to the IPCC. he says this should get them to act against the squatter.

[MissFM]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Hi Adam,

However slow and frustrating this is, you are doing the right thing following the good advice given. All you can do is plod on securing your paper trail (do pass it on to Action Fraud as well) and sooner or later, however much your step brother blanks you, you will be in a strong position to evict him and to recover your money from the financial instituions that have been so sloppy in handing it over to someone without the authority to take it.

FWIW, it sounds to me as if the sale of the cheap house was intended by both his mother and your father to be an early "inheritance" and the way it was done may well have been to minimise tax. I think you are right to concentrate on the battles you can now win (the bank and insurance co. needing a good kick up the proverbial - as you will see on thread after thread on here this requires dogged persistence).

Obviously in some areas you would be wise to cut your losses - and you never know, there may be some sort of step-brotherly remorse activated at some point.

Good luck, and you really are in excellent hands with Des x

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

which areas? the car? I have my wife saying pretty much the same. ive considered this myself. my only worry is if this comes back to bite me on the arse, as im now the legal owner, even though the Police don't recognise my high court ruling. but hay I suppose it wouldn't be the first time they tried to ignore something, just look at the papers, my problem is nothing compared to whats happening.

my guess is there is very little if any remorse in this person, apparently he chucked his wife as soon as he had bagged my Dads place. ive been told he lives there with the curtains permanently closed, trying to hide maybe?

on the point of Barclays, they now have a crime ref, but don't seem to be making the right noises. also how could he claim the life insurance? I would have thought they should only pay out to the beneficiary. my only thought is could my Dad have had it setup to pay for the funeral? cause I don't think this guy would have paid.

on a side note do you know if the people on the law forum site tagged as "law professional" are exactly that? id hate to think im following the advice of someone off the street.

p.s. like the sig, though cant find much joy at the mo. just organisations trying to ignore me.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Re "lawforum": set up by s firm of solicitors and those who respond are supposed to be "lawyers and accredited legal professionals" . I would hope they vet the posters, but this is the internet and EVERYTHING you read on it (including here) should be treated with some caution. Sometimes one reads what a "professional"
has written and wonders:tinysmile_cry_t:, and I believe at least one it tagged as a student

I think MissFM is saying concentrate on the bigger picture, eg house, bank and life insurance.
The car and other items (in monetary terms at least) will probably be depreciating assets and you could expend more effort (especially emotional) than they are worth.
I assume your father's vehicle was not some rare Ferrari! and of course there might be items of sentimental value you would like.
Too often people become fixated with what is comparatively speaking a minor matter, to such an extent that it takes over their lives and becomes all consuming.
I'm not saying this is your position

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

is it worth sending a letter warning him of my action. so he has another chance to respond with a will, if one exists?

or would I be wasting my time, weakening my position?

[MissFM]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I would think it a not unreasonable conclusion that, were there a Will in his favour, he would have been likely to have produced it and gone through Probate in the customary manner.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that any Will not in his favour, should it ever have existed, has gone up in smoke.

As regards your father and your stepmother's wishes - many couples coming together in later life with no common children do arrange things so that their own children inherit their respective assets and it seems not unlikely that that is what has happened here.

It honestly seems as if the route suggested above is the only sensible and constructive one open to you now.

In your shoes I wouldn't contact him again before you have secured the Land Registry entry in your name :tinysmile_twink_t2:

ive been told he lives there with the curtains permanently closed, trying to hide maybe?

Or growing skunk? :tinysmile_aha_t:

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

would he be able to argue this under s144:

8, The person must know or ought to know that he or she is a trespasser. The offence will not capture someone who enters the property in good faith reasonably believing they had permission to do so. This might arise, for example, where a bogus letting agent encouraged an unsuspecting tenant to occupy somebody else’s property. In such circumstances, however, it might be reasonable to expect the ‘tenant’ to provide evidence of a tenancy agreement or rent payments to show they had a reasonable belief that they were not a trespasser.

also it says if convicted it carries a 6 month imprisonment and or fine potential. would they do this to him in this situation?

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

If he moved in after your father died, from whom would he claim to have received permission ?
He could argue it, but might not be believed.

It is not worthwhile trying to second guess his defence, or penalty IF found guilty IF he is ever prosecuted.
Just concentrate on recovering your property

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Adam has advised in PM that following a complaint to IPCC his local force has requested " Specifically it would be helpful to know exactly what the concerns are that you wish to raise in respect of the actual conduct of the member of staff you spoke too and why you feel the their actions fell below what was required. "


I must admit I was surprised that you were advised to complain to IPCC by a barrister, but didn't feel qualified to question it.
The IPCC deal with a very narrow range of complaints (https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/complaints) about police conduct.
If you don't agree with what the desk officer tells you, you should have asked to speak to a more senior officer and put your concerns to him.
The police don't want to use their limited resources on what to them appears to be a domestic or civil matter where no one is in physical danger.
Presumably you told the plod that your step brother was living in your house, but were you able to prove it at the time, ie did you take a copy of land registry details with you. and from a police point of view there was the chance the step brother would claim your father gave him permission.You would need to prove that he KNEW he was trespassing, and that might be more difficult than you think!
In any case your better course of action IMO is to go down the civil route. When the house is registered in your name you get possession via the courts.
I would not waste time complaining to the police, all it does is to put more stress on yourself without actually sorting out the problems.

Re the request I don't actually know what you wrote, but if you want to pursue the complaint just tell them bluntly that you reported a crime and that the force refused to deal with it.
Refer to LASPO. However if the property is not yet registered in your name can you prove your step brother did not enter the property at the invitation of your father before he died?
What do you hope the police will do? Do you want to give evidence in a criminal court

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Have now staggered through your thread on "thelawforum" and don't actually think there is that much difference in the advice being given.

Keep in mind the outcome you want, which I think is possession of the house and recovery of the bank account and life policy proceeds. The car(s) would be a bonus.

Your "barrister" advises police then IPCC as he thinks this will result in the police taking him into custody and doing the eviction for you.
Technically he is correct and this could happen, and as you have started down that route you might as well continue. However in practice we find things don't always work out quite as expected with the police.

Other than that once you have house registered to yourself, obtain a possession order and if necessary then send in enforcers.
No need to use a solicitor, so costs should not be a problem.
Re the Banks and life insurers: don't let them fob you off. They should not have released the monies. That they did is a commercial decision. It is not for you to chase the person who took the money. Your retired barrister says that banks will release upto £5000 without probate. That's b******s, the banks will release whatever they want (12 months ago two banks released nearly £20000 to my wife without her first obtaining probate... it depends what proof you can show them that it is most likely yours).
A point was raised about funeral expenses: the banks will release monies to cover funeral costs.

I was surprised to read the "barrister's" condescending remarks when "davidr" later gives the same advice as ourselves. Perhaps "barrister" should be reminded that when they meet in court one of them loses so perhaps they are on average only 50% correct!

One other point I picked up on was the advice that you could break into the house and change the locks. Don't!
Firstly, is it something you could do yourself? If not you will have difficulty finding a locksmith who will do it for you without strong proof it is your property and you have the right to do it.
And if you diy and step brother appears whilst your at it, what do you think the outcome could be?

As they said on that forum you are obviously a worrier.
Try and focus on the important points. Don't become distracted by what you think might happen. Deal with the items one by one and as they arise. Don't try and anticipate problems.
If they arise, deal with them then.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

ive replied to the psd's email and it seems to have gone quiet. I basically explained that there is a person living at the address that might be my step brother, after all I only have the neighbours hearsay that it is him. so ill wait and see what happens.