English probate law.......??

Question

?My Sister died suddenly last year, she was a home owner, seperated -not yet divorced-, her " husband" not having had contact for some years. The house has remained empty for one year to date and is now the subject of attention for "disposal" by the building society , the value of the house is approx £145000, of which is almost all equity after mortgage deductions on the sale.
The absent " husband" has shown no interest in the house and has since re-married . She had no children to this marriage and did not leave a will. Can l as her brother, sieze the house as I have the keys to enter and transfer the mortgage to me by an act of adminisrtation ??....also as a Nurse for the NHS she had a "Death in service " pension with a considerable weekly pension had she lived. Whom has the right to this pension should her absentee husband not claim it ??..can it be re-sold back to the NHS so the total sum may be included in her estate value??
Many thanks for any information to this.

Answer 1

The property may still be held jointly which would mean that the property now vests in the husband regardless of whether you have keys etc or you are the administrator.executor. Joint property is not affected by the a will or intestacy rules unless there joint tenancy has been severed by conduct or notice. Simply the act of separation may not be enough to separate your late sister share for you to deal with. If they had divorced this property probably would not be an issue. You mention remarriage that may actually be adequate severance of the joint tenacy in equity. You cannot transfer the mortgage you do not own the property, and therefore you have no security to offer. Pension forms part of her estate, its a tricky one, but it really will depend on the size of the estate. You could deal with the remainder by the process of clearing off, under the non contention probate rules. Sorry if thats not what you wanted to hear. There is a long way round, which is occupy the property for 10 years then apply for adverse possession, by any luck the husband may have moved etc, and hence no one will come forward to oppose and you will obtain title to the property.

Answer 2

I don't know too much about probate, having only done an English 'A' level after my police training.

As her husband has remarried and she had no children then you will be her next of kin, assuming your parents aren't.

If she took out the mortgage jointly with her then husband, then they will most probably have insured it against one of thier deaths, with the other being the beneficiary of a payout sufficient to discharge the mortgage. I suspect that these financial arrangements will have been altered as part of her divorce settlement.

If she was not, as you state, divorced, then her husband could not have remarried legally, and remains married to her, albeit estranged and living with another woman. This is exactly the situation I found myself in when my first wife died suddenly, even though I had lived with another woman for six years and had two children I was still legally her husband and therefore her next of kin. Her estate, as she died intestate (no will was made) was down to me to deal with, including the settlement of outstanding debts, and the disposal of any assets. Unfortunately for me, funeral costs and debts outwieghed the assets!

Her brother caused me some trouble, although he and I soon found out that I had the legal powers and he did not, neither did her daughter from her first marriage.

I would go and take some advice from a solicitior if I were you. If you belong to a trade union or similar body, or you have house or car insurance that includes a legal helpline like a lot of them do, you can probably get this advice for free.