late relatives estate and mortgage arrears - advice please.

J

jo8328

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hi this is my first post here so thanks for any feedback.

My uncle died in 2013 (suicide) and left a home with no mortgage (his elderly mother lived with him, and still resides there), and some investment properties (all with mortgages).

Since 2012, there has been nothing done at all. A family member is an executor of the will, but has no intention of taking out probate as he is afraid of a tax bill and as far as he is concerned if their is money owed on the houses the banks can just take them. However I know that 2 out of the 5 investment properties have mortgages of less than €20k , the others have more.

I would like to help my family out with this as they seem to have their heads stuck in the sand. The banks are aware my uncle died. Can they just take possession of the houses , or would they need to take legal action and go through the courts ? We still get some mortgage statements.

Could my dad rent out one of the houses (him and my mum don't have a lot of money and it would be a help) ? , but would there be issues with revenue and paying tax ?

I apologise for the muddled post, am trying to make sense of things myself . If there is any advice anyone would have , or a link to a good site ........... very appreciative . Any good probate solc in Galway ?
 
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Your uncle's estate has assets and liabilities.

If he has a property worth €100k with a mortgage of €150k, it's not enough to say that the bank can just take the property. The estate still owes the bank €50k.

The executor can't distribute the estate to the beneficiaries without first settling the creditors.

It's the same if your uncle owed income tax at the date of his death. It wasn't secured on any assets, but the estate still owed it.

Could my dad rent out one of the houses
Click to expand...

Yes, they can, but they can't take the rent. The rent belongs to the estate and not to them.

Brendan
 
The executor should start doing the job that your uncle intrusted them to do and start sorting out the estate. While nothing is being done, there are arrears building on the investment properties. The longer they leave it, the less money the beneficiaries will get. Paying tax on something is better than getting nothing at all!

As for a solicitor, any family solicitor will be able to guide you through the process.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
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