Wills.

[cardiac arrest]

Not sure about this, but 12 months ago the Co-op adminstered my late mothers estate which inlcuded selling the house she was in.

The house gradually reduced in value until it was flogged off just before being auctioned for the miserly sum of £17k.. and the estate paid out to the benefactors.

Now I see that the house has been resold for £36k, although some work has been done on it. Some of the benefactors are wondering why such a big difference, and whether the co-op had sold it off too cheaply.

Is it worth asking the question ?

[The Tech Clerk]

Re: Wills.

Not sure about this, but 12 months ago the Co-op adminstered my late mothers estate which inlcuded selling the house she was in.

The house gradually reduced in value until it was flogged off just before being auctioned for the miserly sum of £14k.. and the estate paid out to the benefactors.

Now I see that the house has been resold for £56k, although some work has been done on it. Some of the benefactors are wondering why such a big difference, and whether the co-op had sold it off too cheaply.

Is it worth asking the question ?

Abuse of process ????????????????????

[PriorityOne]

Re: Wills.

I would be asking why it was auctioned, as auctions tend to bring in a lower price than selling on the open market. Was there such an urgent need for a quick sale and who suggested it?

When my late mother's house was sold some time ago, an auction was never suggested as an option..... and the administrator liaised with those named in the Will throughout.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: Wills.

I would be asking why it was auctioned, as auctions tend to bring in a lower price than selling on the open market. Was there such an urgent need for a quick sale and who suggested it?

When my late mother's house was sold some time ago, an auction was never suggested as an option..... and the administrator liaised with those named in the Will throughout.

From what I recall the house was valued at £38k originally, but the best offer received after a few months was £25k..then that buyer pulled out. The executor, who called in the Co-op to do the probate stuff (without mentioning it to the benefactors) wanted a quick closure and told us it wasn't going to sell because of the area and decided to put it to auction after about 6 months..mentioning that after 6 months council tax would start to be due to be paid on it..and it was going to cost us all. I'm not sure exactly what the Co-op role was, whether they just carried out the instructions of the executor or whether they had a responsibility to liquidate the assets for the highest possible value ?

We had seen on various websites that other properties on the same street had sold for around £40k so we were shocked when an offer of £17k was accepted (not £14k as said above) , just before the auction , on the basis that this would be more than an auction would have yielded. ..which maybe true.

The house wasn't in poor repair or anything, although maybe a little old fashioned..so whatever work was done on it must have only been cosmetic (like laminate floors, repainting, new bathroom , kitchen perhaps)..perhaps £5k spent....then I'm told it's sold for £36k.

The other 'little' thing was that in receiving the final statement from the Co-op of the assets and disbursements etc, there was no cash in any Bank Account....

To be honest, it's a horrible thing to be querying and can only cause upset if it is queried....if it comes down to the decision making of the executor rather than the Co-op I'd probably just leave it alone, for the sake of family harmony...The Co-op took fees of £3k for dealing with the probate, which didn't leave much from a £17k house sale..

[PriorityOne]

Re: Wills.

While it may be horrible querying this, you are entitled to a full written explanation of how things panned out and the reasoning behind the decisions taken at the time..... because all they seem to have offered you so far is that Council Tax would be payable if the house was left on the market for longer. That may not have bothered you or the family but they seem to have assumed it would have done and gone ahead with an auction on that basis alone.

On the face of it, it doesn't make a lot of financial sense; since the gap between the auction price and what the property was worth would have been greater than the average Council Tax bill. I would also be interested in who bought the house, as estate agents often buy properties on the cheap to rent out.... so how did a buyer know to make an offer before the auction took place?

Apologies for putting negative thoughts in your head but the fact is that you could have got more and as you haven't, you need a cogent explanation of why that was. Referring to my late mother's property once again.... when an offer was made, the executor advised us to accept but didn't go ahead until we had agreed it.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: Wills.

I will send off an email to the probate Solicitors tomorrow and ask for an explanation...

[ATW]

Re: Wills.

Is there any link between the 1st purchaser and the executor that you are aware of? The 1st purchaser seems to have bought a bargain and sold it almost straight away for a lot of money. Seems odd to me.
From what I remember the people at the Land Registry are usually very helpful and might be able to point you in the direction of forms to send them to find out who bought and sold the place recently (and how much for). The fees for a lot of Land Registry forms are often £10 or less too so it won't cost a lot to find out whose hands its been through recently. It might cast some light on things for you.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: Wills.

Is there any link between the 1st purchaser and the executor that you are aware of? The 1st purchaser seems to have bought a bargain and sold it almost straight away for a lot of money. Seems odd to me.
From what I remember the people at the Land Registry are usually very helpful and might be able to point you in the direction of forms to send them to find out who bought and sold the place recently (and how much for). The fees for a lot of Land Registry forms are often £10 or less too so it won't cost a lot to find out whose hands its been through recently. It might cast some light on things for you.

I pulled a free copy off the land registry website which was a search for house price data...this showed the date of the sale, and the amount paid for the property..it also states that this is the only Land Registry transaction since January 1995 (when they started their online data records). This is proof that the 1st purchaser did not register the property, for whatever reason...but was able to sell it. You can make your own minds up about that, but I am awaiting these questions to be answered by co-op legal services.
I have also paid for a copy of the current land registry entry (£3) which just shows the new owners name and old address..confirms the price and the date but has a date of 11th April 2013 as the date of the title absolute..I presume the delay was processing the paperwork.

I could send off a form for the previous owner details at £16, postal only, but to be honest I don't think it will give any other name than that of the original owner, how can it ? Again, I have asked this question of the co-op. I'm still not sure what the co-op legal role was, they provide an 'admin' service and also a 'full' service which includes legal liability...at the price they charged I'm thinking it will be the latter...but I'll find that out soon enough.

I'm keeping an open mind and hope there is a rational explanation for all this which will satisfy our curiosity.

[Helper2015]

Re: Wills.

Co-op could have been negligent or in breach of any trustee duties depending on the terms of the will. I know it's nearly two years after since you posted, but may I ask what was the outcome for the beneficiaries with regards to any potential claims against the testator's (will maker) estate, if any at all?

[cardiac arrest]

Re: Wills.

Co-op could have been negligent or in breach of any trustee duties depending on the terms of the will. I know it's nearly two years after since you posted, but may I ask what was the outcome for the beneficiaries with regards to any potential claims against the testator's (will maker) estate, if any at all?

The co-op said they did not act in any advisory role, merely the adminstration side..so they were not liable for the decisions that were made by the executor, who they said made all the decisions. the fact was the house was sold at auction at a quick sale price, then resold by the buyer ( a property agent in the area who does not register development properties). The difference in price in the 8 weeks it took to sell the property was put down to 'one of those things'..and the buyer was from outside the area (down south somewhere). . It's all water under the bridge now but such a shame my mum had her only major asset devalued by so much, she would have been upset by that. The real issue was the fact it was originally advertised for several months with no interest or reasonable offers..the price kept being reduced until eventually it was auctioned. How far it was advertised I don't know, and how much renovation work was done by the property developer I don't know either - but as I said,it's water under the bridge now and no further action was taken.