[PaulB]

Cutting a long story short, my Mum's house has a charge attached to it from many years ago when my parents split up. My father (who was the person named) has since died. I'm trying to work out what this actually means and whether any charge would have died with my father or would have passed to his heirs. The charge (which dates from the early 1990's) is still mentioned on the LR docs that we downloaded yesterday.

The Land Registry entry says that there is a charge in favour of my father, but give no other detail. I'm assuming any investigation will require legal advice from a solicitor rather than asking the Land Registry. Would that be a fair assumption?

Many thanks...

[romille]

I imagine that there will be conditions attached to the charge, these might be found in the divorce settlement documents. Your mother would have signed a legal agreement to allow the charge to be put in place, if you contact the solicitor that acted for your mother they should be able to provide copies from their archive.

[PaulB]

Thanks.... we'll have a root around. Not sure we know the solicitor. Mum may or may not remember (or may have exorcised any memory of what was a traumatic event for her.)

Edited to add: Mum can remember the name.. and a few takeovers later they are still there, so we'll start there. (Shame the Power ofAttorney paperwork is 100miles away!)

[Sooty25]

The charge will become a part of your late father's estate. Assuming he retained a percentage of ownership, his heirs will inherit that percentage, it won't die.

This could become a big problem if;
1. the heirs are hostile
2. if the value of the share results in an inheritance tax liability.
3. If there is no documentary breakdown of the charge

You need to see his will to discover who the beneficiaries are and you need to find the divorce agreement.

Good luck.

[PaulB]

Thx... I had assumed that it wouldn’t die. I guess we need to make provision for it and let the legal bods sort it out. I’ve no idea who the heirs to my Dad’s estate are or were - I’m certainly not one!

[GolfHotel]

Your father probably had someone who sorted out his affairs after he died. If he left a will that person would be an executor and can act on his behalf. If someone acted without being named in the will then they were an administrator and in theory need to have proper authority from a grant of probate. Often if an estate is small it is dealt with unofficial. Even banks realise there is no real point it worrying about small estates. However beneficiaries can argue over the most insignificant detail.

If probate has been granted then the will is public and you can find the executor or administrator.

If property is involved then an estate is likely to need to be dealt with properly. A charge on the property may make it almost unsalable without sorting it out.

[romille]

You might find that the charge is only crystallised under certain circumstances i.e. you mother was allowed to have the marital home but your late father was entitled to a share of it's value if you mother predeceased him or formed a permanent relationship with another partner. You really do need a copy of the financial settlement from the divorce and the agreement allowing the charge to be recorded.