Dieing Intestate

[Kazal]

My daughters friend has recently lost both parents in the space of a few weeks. Neither had made a will. Her friend has put their house up for sale saying that the proceeds would be shared between the siblings. I said I didn't think she could do this. My daughter then told me that she and her husband have not made a will. Her husband (despite recently being quite ill and quite a bit older than her) refuses to make one. She said I've looked into it and as the house is jointly owned and no mortgage it will automatically fall to me as the only next of kin. I told her I didn't think that was right but I'm not sure who steps in in these situations (govt. etc.) so couldn't agree or disagree. Some helpful advice please

[bednobs]

somebody needs to apply for letters of administration. This will give them the legal right to deal with the estate.
She is broadly right in that the estate will usually be spread out between children of the deceased

[bednobs]

sorry i misread your questio - are you asking about the friend or your daughter?

[Kazal]

Both

[bednobs]

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/

[Buenchico]

The rules are explained here
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will
or in this flow chart:
http://www.emgsolicitors.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/rules-of-intestacy-flowchart.png
(You might need to enlarge the image,by pressing Ctrl and + together a few times if you're using a Windows computer, to view the text there)

When someone dies intestate there is a 'pecking order' defining who can apply for a 'grant of representation' (in the form of 'letters of administration') empowering them to distribute the estate of the deceased person in accordance with the rules. In practice that generally means that the person who is nearest to the top of the flowchart in my second link (or one of several people if, say, the estate was to be shared among siblings) is entitled to apply for the grant.

[New Judge]

Yes I'm sure that Buenchico will correct me but I believe that she cannot simply "put the house up for sale". Simply put, it's not hers to sell.

[Buenchico]

Agreed, NJ.

The house currently belongs to the estate of the second parent to die. The daughter requires a grant a representation ("letters of administration") in order to be able to sell the property.

http://blog.landregistry.gov.uk/property-owner-dies/

[Buenchico]

The daughter needs to complete this form
http://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/pa1-eng.pdf
and submit it to the Probate Registry
together with the £215 fee (plus, probably, a few pounds extra for additional copies of the grant)
http://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/pa003-eng.pdf

Information about the procedure can be found here
https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/pa003-eng.pdf
and the address of the relevant Probate Registry can be found here:
https://courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/search/postcode?aol=Probate

[Buenchico]

^^^ Oops!

The 'information' link should be this one:
https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/pa2-eng.pdf