Hi all, does anyone know if a "Legal Charge" document held at the Land Registry would show if a property was “joint tenants” or “tenants in common”.?

Hi All, I rang the CAB & the SAR, a phone call for advise etc, They both recommend that i contact a probate solicitor to investigate the matter. The CAB also said that I might be able to claim via court against someone for not following Grandma's Instructions in the will. They mentioned regards the property that i need to find out if the property was owned by my grandma & 2nd husband " as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common". So Before i go spending any fees with Solicitors i think it worth investigating this first. I have found the following website link probatewizard.co.uk/guides/how-to-tell-if-a-house-is-owned-joint-tenants-or-tenants-in-common.html Which says " If the deceased owned a house or other property jointly, it is important to find out if it was held as “joint tenants” or “tenants in common”. This is relatively easy if the property is registered, which is true for the vast majority of property in England and Wales. The title register will show how the property is owned. If the title register shows only one registered owner (the deceased), the deceased owned the property solely. If the title register shows two or more registered owners (including the deceased), the deceased owned the property jointly. If jointly owned, check the register for the following text: "No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court." This is known as the “Form A restriction”. If this text is present, it means the property is held as tenants in common. If it is absent, it is held as joint tenants. (It would be much better if the register entries included the phrase “this property is held as joint tenants / tenants in common”, but, as you may be aware, lawyers often do not make life easy!)" So I guess i'm off to check now with the Land Registry. If anyone has any further advise or comments that would be appriciated Thanks Notts

Hi Caro, I did try and ask if my late father was executor, but they wouldnt confirm anything. I suppose I could try asking. I did phone a local solicitor who did a 10 mins general advice for free type session. He said that on death a spouse would inherit property and even if the deceased left a will saying "leave my half of the house to the cats home" It wouldnt matter as the surviving spouse inherits it all by law. But since then I have been told that if they (gran and 2nd husband) had separate tenancy ownership then she could leave her half to whom ever she wished. The 2nd husband had no children nor previous or new spouse, other than grandma. I'm finding it hard to say more without personal info being divulged which i must not do. Also i guess if he made his will with gran and no new will was made, when he dies, whatever was said in the wills will be legally what should happen.

Hi Ford, I checked with the probate registry and they have nothing on file for my grandmothers estate. The will was made in the late 1990's, my father took gran into town to the solicitors (at her request) to arrange it. I started making inquiries a couple of years after she died, then managed to track down where the will is about 2 years ago.

Hi Ganymede, I dont know for sure what it said, only what dad said he could remember from reading it himself after it was written, and that a solictor has confirmed they hold her will.

Hi, would it be worth me talking to the SRA and the ombudsman first perhaps? A local solicitor said they would "start enquiries for a fee (£240 from memory)" but am worrid of throwing money down the drain, would the SRA be a way forward? especially with my belief that dad was the beneficiary of the will?

Hi The Mould, Dad didnt leave a will, my mother is still alive. When the solicitors holding grandma's will refused to speak to me, I sent them proof of my fathers death and also mum wrote a letter giving permission for me to make enquiries into the will and grandmas estate (in case she had any responcibility following dads death). I sent the solicitor also a copy of my grandmothers marriage certificate, dads birth, death certs and my birth cert to prove who i was and the solicitors still refuse to help or speak to me. Only the receptionist would talk to me on the phone at the solicitors and she said "she had been told not to say anything and that she could not help further and the solicitor was refusing to speak to me". How can i show i have a beneficial interest to the executor if i dont know who the executor is and the solicitor holding the will wont tell me either? How do i find out who the executor of the will was and also get access to it. It all seems so rediculas since Grans been dead since 2001, it seems so wrong that they can hold onto her will, keeping it secret for etertnity. Please offer any further thoughts and advise etc. Kind Regards Notts

Hi, Honeybee, thanks for the message, I also wondered why the will is just sat in the solicitors files. Grandma paid them for the service of her will and I told them she was dead and they wont let me access it or do anything with it. Makes me wonder what the point of purchasing a will via a solicitor is, if when you die they just hold on to it and dont do anything with it? I havent spoken to the SRA, I havent heard of them before so this is a new avenue to try. I hope some other forum members will read my thread and offer some thoughts too as someone might have some knowledge on this sort of subject.

Thanks Honeybee, I hope someone can give some advice

Hello - Please can anyone advise how to access a will which is sat in a solicitors office and not probated. My grandmother died in 2001, her will never went to probate, i checked with the probate office. I dont know who the executor is, I wrote to the solicitors in the town where she lived and found the one who holds her will, they will not let me access it or tell me who the executor is. When my grandmother died she had a 2nd husband and 3 children from her first marriage. My father died a couple of years ago and i sent proof to the solicitors who hold the will of my grandma to say he had died and asked if dad was executor, they would not tell me. My grandmothers 2nd husband disowned the entire family the day she died and will not talk to me. I was lead to beleive the will said that their home was to be given to my father upon my grandmothers 2nd husbands death. How can i ever get access to the will or find out who was supposed to be executor?