Losing a loved one is difficult enough without having to move out of the home you shared immediately. You may wonder if you can continue living in the deceased’s house during probate – the legal process for administering their estate.
In this blog, we’ll review everything you need to know about your rights and responsibilities if you wish to remain in the property.
What is probate?
When a person passes away, probate is the legal process for administering their estate and distributing assets to beneficiaries. Appointing an executor in a legally valid will gives them authority to carry out probate.
If there’s no will naming executors, near relatives can apply to manage probate. Whoever handles it is responsible for protecting assets like property, paying outstanding debts and taxes from the estate, and ensuring inheritance complies with the will’s wishes.
The main steps in probate administration are:
- Valuing the estate: All assets like property, financial accounts, vehicles, art, and jewellery are appraised to determine the estate’s total value.
- Paying debts and taxes: Any unpaid bills, loans or care home fees owed by the deceased must be settled. Inheritance tax may also need to be calculated and paid.
- Distributing assets: Once debts and taxes are paid, the remaining assets can be transferred to beneficiaries named in the will.
Probate also covers deciding ownership of assets not specifically bequeathed, like shared family homes. The process varies slightly in Scotland but involves similar estate administration.
Executors aim to act neutrally, protecting assets reasonably during this period before distributing inheritances. Beneficiaries should avoid making significant changes affecting an asset’s condition or value until they legally own it.
Can you live in a house in the UK during probate?
For shared family homes especially, beneficiaries may want to continue living there during probate for familiarity. Temporary occupancy can benefit everyone by maintaining and monitoring it, too. But strict rules apply, so executors must consent.
As the property’s legal owner has died, you no longer have an automatic right to occupy it. But executors have the discretion to permit residence if it aids their duty protecting assets probate depends on.
They must act impartially, though, based on the deceased’s wishes. Your inheritance rights won’t be straightforward, either, until probate finishes. So, there’s no guarantee you’ll eventually own that house or land.
Suppose you stand to inherit or already co-own the property. In that case, the executors should reasonably allow you to remain living there. However, they may impose suitable time limits pending the entire distribution of assets under probate.
Purely tenants, lodgers, or dependents with no ownership claim could continue occupying a residence during probate by consent. But executors can end or restrict tenure rights more easily. They may charge market rent, too.
Any occupancy permission should be formalised in a basic written license agreement detailing responsibilities like bills, repairs, and access terms. Break clauses legitimise ending occupancy if difficulties arise late.
Sole legal owners of a property can specify in their will who may stay living there rent-free for defined periods after they die. Conditional lifetime rights of residence are also common. Occupancy rights then still depend on complying with obligations like maintaining the property.
What am I allowed/not allowed to do while living in a house during probate?
If permitted to continue occupying a property pending probate, beneficiaries must follow guidelines protecting its value as an estate asset not yet legally inherited. Breaches of these could see occupancy rights withdrawn. Restrictions will likely include:
- No significant changes without consent: As executors must accurately administer and distribute the assets in their care, you shouldn’t modify a property in ways impacting its character or value. So, no structural alterations, extensions, redecorating, etc, without permission, as it could infringe on the inheritance rights of other beneficiaries later. Maintain the property in good overall condition.
- Pay occupancy costs: Unless your right to stay is expressly rent-free under the deceased’s will, expect to pay bills, council tax, insurance, etc, yourself while living there under probate. You will also be expected to contribute fairly towards general repairs or maintenance necessary to prevent deterioration.
- Grant full inventory/valuation access: So that executors can accurately value estate assets for probate, you must provide keys and unrestricted access for property inspections, inventories, and specialist valuations. These cause minimum disruption but may happen at short notice.
- Secure the property: Beneficiaries temporarily occupying a vacant residence must keep it locked and alarmed to avoid theft, squatting or damage. Notify executors of any security concerns.
It’s crucial to cooperate fully with executors’ administration duties during probate and respect the inheritance rights of others that are still unresolved.
If you want changes like redecorating or letting rooms, always seek written approval, outlining proposals in detail and reassuring executors of plans to reverse alterations if required later.
Should I speak to a legal expert before living in a deceased person’s house?
When someone close to you dies, gaining clarity around your entitlements concerning their property is crucial before occupying it long-term. Speaking to a local advisor specialising in wills and probate can help here:
- Outlining your rights: They will interpret specific provisions in the will or under intestacy rules to outline your position concerning rights to occupy the deceased’s property temporarily or permanently. This indicates if executors must accommodate your residence there or can impose stricter conditions.
- Explaining occupancy conditions: If permitted to inhabit the property through probate, they will clarify essential responsibilities around costs, maintenance and securing the premises. Breaching these could undermine occupancy consent.
- Drafting occupancy agreements: They can assist executors in constructing a formal license agreement defining conditional rights to continue living there based on clear obligations to pay, repair, and permit full access.
- Advising on disputes: A legal expert can also recommend remedies or options if executors wrongly deny residence requests or if you disagree with temporary conditions imposed during probate.
How long does the probate process usually take?
The standard UK probate process lasts between 6 and 12 months before concluding. But timescales often extend beyond a year due to variables like:
- Estate size: Larger or more complex estates with significant assets like property portfolios or company shares take longer to value and administer fully. Expect over a year if asset valuations also require professional inspection or legal transfer procedures.
- Disputed claims: Queries or disputes over the validity of a will from potential beneficiaries not included or disputing inheritance share can considerably delay granting probate. Similar disputed creditor claims against the estate also prolong the process.
- Tax calculations: For larger estates, thoroughly calculating and then paying inheritance tax due before distributing assets extends deadlines. Complex returns may need compiling and negotiating with HMRC, taking additional months.
- Legal challenges: Court proceedings instituted by beneficiaries or creditors dissatisfied with how executors handle disputed estate administration further hold up completing probate.
Where a property occupied by beneficiaries is involved, aim for enhanced communication with executors throughout. This allows preparing for potential delays beyond initial occupancy period approvals.
Can I continue living in the house after the probate is complete?
Once UK probate concludes and legal ownership of assets transfers to beneficiaries, your rights occupying a property will depend on if and what you ultimately inherit. As personal representative duties end, executors cannot extend existing temporary occupancy consents either.
But if named on the property’s deed or directly bequeathed under the will, you become the full owner, so you can legally continue living there without restrictions after probate. Equally, if you inherit a share, making you co-owner or if rights of residence were granted long term.
