Q. MY old family home was in County Limerick, built by my grandfather. My dad owned the property for a time until he moved abroad. He gifted the property to my aunt years ago as my grandad’s primary carer. She lived there until her recent passing. She had no husband or children and we don’t know what to do now. There are a good number of nieces and nephews, all close enough with our aunt, but she was very private. My dad has passed away. Do my family have a say as to what should be done with the property?
Dear Reader,
This can be a very stressful family situation, but it is not an uncommon problem. Firstly, the entire family should try and ascertain whether or not your aunt ever made a will. If she did, it will name executors. These are the people responsible for carrying out her wishes under the will. It will also contain details of who is to inherit the property.
If there is no will, it will fall to a member of the family to take out ‘administration’ in her estate. As your aunt had no spouse or children, it would fall to one of her siblings alive at the date of her death, if any, to take out administration. If no siblings survive her, it would fall to one of her nieces or nephews.
An administrator, a legal personal representative, has “a power of appropriation and sale”, meaning they can sell the property and distribute the proceeds.
They would need to serve notices on beneficiaries and there is a six-week window to object, on limited grounds. However, beneficiaries cannot compel the administrator to use this power, i.e. you cannot force the administrator to act.
There are also duties on administrators to administer the estate. Administrators have one year from the date of death of the deceased to take out a Grant of Administration of the estate. After this time, a court can order the administrator to execute an assent vesting the property in the beneficiaries. Realistically, it may take a year or longer to gather together a schedule of her assets and to take out a grant.
Ideally, there would be a consensus between the family about what is to happen with the property. The most common way to deal with the property would be to simply sell same and divide the proceeds as between those entitled, although it is also common for a family member to essentially buy the property at a market value from the estate.
You should consult with your solicitor immediately to ascertain the best possible course of action going forward.