Where there’s no will there is still a way to settle estate

QMy late father (who died in 2022) and mother (thankfully still alive) were close to my father’s first cousin Joyce and her husband, Bill.

Sadly, both died last year, first Joyce and then Bill three months later. I am executor for Joyce. Bill died intestate (with no valid will) in a care home.

His money had run out, so he was funded by the state. Their house will be split 50-50 between the two estates and his half will repay the accrued care costs.

At present, with no person with legal responsibility for Bill, we are responsible for, but cannot sell, the empty house.

Joyce and Bill were both only children, with no children of their own. We have already spent money trying to trace blood relatives of Bill to take on his estate, to no avail.

My mother would willingly take on being Bill’s legal representative. She had known him and Joyce since 1958; they lived in the same town for the last 25 years, spent significant time together seeing each other at least once a week, often more.

Our solicitor says my mother, as a relative by marriage, cannot take this on and it can only be blood relatives of Bill who are permitted to step up.

Please can you help us? Is there any way that we can get Bill’s estate to be represented so we can move forward with the house sale?

At present, as executor of Joyce’s estate, I am responsible for (half of) a 1930s house that is geographically distant from where I live and is rapidly falling into disrepair.

Our solicitor charges £330 an hour – one recent interaction about Bill’s estate cost us nearly £500.

We feel stuck in a legal vortex worthy of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. – Michaela

Dear Michaela

AHow frustrating that if only Bill had made a will, all would now be plain sailing with his executors being able to sell the matrimonial home and allow both estates to be settled without delay. But

sadly, you are bogged down in a situation where the law seems to be throwing up obstacles, rather than solutions.

So, let’s find some solutions. First, the good news is that all the legal and other expense incurred so far in trying to find any blood relatives of Bill may be claimed against his estate.

So I hope your solicitor has been keeping a record of the time spent in dealing with Joyce’s estate on the one hand and Bill’s on the other.

Second, there is some action that can be taken straight away to put someone in place with the legal authority to sell the house.

The way the Probate Registry gives authority to administer a deceased person’s estate is to issue a “Grant of Representation” known as a Grant of Probate where there is a will and executors named and a Grant of Letters of Administration where there is no will or capable executors.

The shorthand is ‘“Grant” and you need a person with a Grant to sell the house.

This is my centenary ‘Ask a Lawyer’ column ( 100 not out since January 2022) and I hope regular readers will be aware that I try to limit legal jargon, but today there is a need for a little Latin.

The way forward for Bill’s estate is for a person to be appointed by the Probate Registry as a legal representative for Bill under a Grant ad colligenda bona which translated means a grant “to collect goods”. This limited grant allows the person named on it to collect the goods in an estate, but not distribute the estate.

You or your solicitor may apply to be named on the Grant ad colligenda bona and once the Grant is issued the person named will be able to sell the house.

The particular facts of this case mean it would be in order for you (if it is you) or whoever is the person named on the limited Grant to pay half the net proceeds of sale of the house into Joyce’s estate because half of the house belonged to Joyce, which will allow you to distribute Joyce’s estate.

Also, it means the ongoing anxiety of you being responsible for a house many miles from where you live and which is deteriorating, will be lifted.

The person named on the limited Grant would be able to pay off Bill’s debts, including his care fees. In practical terms this may fully dispose of Bill’s estate. However, the limited Grant will not allow Bill’s estate to be distributed beyond that. Distribution may only occur once any person or persons entitled are found.

It sounds like you have done enough groundwork in that regard to justify referring Bill’s estate to the Bona Vacantia division ( BVD) of the Government Legal Department.

Bona vacantia means “vacant goods” also known as ownerless goods. There is a different procedure in Lancashire and Cornwall, where the respective Duchies have legal authority to deal with and claim ownerless goods.

The BVD are, quite rightly, strict about cases they will take on and, in particular, I would check that they will permit the Grant ad colligenda bona to proceed.

But if they will not, I would say it will then be up to the BVD to deal with the house.

The BVD process will end up either with distant relatives of Bill being traced who are entitled, or if there really is none, Bill’s estate will pass to HM Treasury.

If you suspect there may be relatives of Bill out there who are first cousins or closer blood relations, a quicker and more commercial solution would be to refer the case to a specialist genealogy firm or “heir hunter”, who will find those entitled and, of course, charge a fee payable out of the estate.

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Gary Rycroft is a solicitor at Joseph A Jones & Co. His column is published twice a month online.

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If a person dies without a will finding someone to be their executor can be difficult