House Clearance Help & Advice: Guide to dealing with property after the death of your loved one

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There are many factors you have to deal with when you lose a loved one, some more important than others and some which are more stressful, one of these is dealing with property left by a loved. Dealing with the property of a loved one includes property that is rented or that you have inherited.

If you inherit property left to you in the will then it counts towards the inheritance tax that you might have to pay as part of their estate. Some of the keys points to remember when left property in a will include

If you inherited the tax from a spouse or civil partner then inheritance tax won’t normally be due on the property, the cost of the property under these circumstances won’t usually be taken into account.

If inheritance tax has to be paid then this is the responsibility of the executor or the administrator, they must make sure that the tax is paid along with any other financial responsibilities before any of the estate can be distributed. This would also include the deceased person’s share of the property.

If there isn’t enough money in the person’s estate to pay off any outstanding debts or tax then the property which has been left to you may have to be sold, in order to stop this you may have to make a contribution to what is owed in order to keep the property.

If the property left to you was joint property and inheritance tax is due on the estate of the deceased then the administrator or executor will try to pay this by using funds from other sources rather than the property where possible.

If inheritance tax is due and the administrator or executor exhausts all avenues and still hasn’t met the needs then the HMS revenue has the right to approach the joint owner who would then be responsible for the shortfall.

What to do if the property was rented privately

What you will have to do if the property was rented depends on factors such as if the rented accommodation was by a private landlord or rented from the council. Contracts do vary but the majority of them do have a period of notice which you must give the landlord before ending it. If the person rented privately then the rules vary greatly from landlord to landlord about what happens to the property.

What happens if the property was rented through the council?

If the person was renting the property through their local council then in some cases the tenancy might be passed onto another individual. When your loved one passes away it is essential that you contact the office through which your loved one took out the agreement from. However if you are the spouse, partner or civil partner and have been living in the home for the last 12 consecutive months then the one left behind has the right to take over the tenancy and cannot be forced to move from the home. If the tenancy was in joint names then you have the right to stay in the home and be the sole tenant.

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