Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Non-motoring legal advice => Topic started by: roythebus on October 09, 2025, 04:44:32 pm
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Yes, there's no spouse or civil partner.
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I forgot to say that I've assumed the deceased brother has no surviving spouse or civil partner.
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Thanks, that's most helpful. It's more or less what I told her.
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I think your friend's first priority is to discuss with the police how she can get access. Once in she can soon get a locksmith to change the locks. Then start looking for documents. Search the flat itself of course but also look for any documents indicating other places where the Will might be. Any correspondence with solicitors. Could it be with his bank (although most banks no longer look after Wills nowadays).
Unless and until she finds a Will she can take steps as the highest ranked person in the Intestacy Order of Priority - https://todayswillsandprobate.co.uk/order-of-priority-rules-of-intestacy/ - to secure the property and its contents. As well as changing locks she can (and should) remove from the flat all valuables and important documents and take them into her own home for safe keeping.
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Thanks for that, very informative. My lady friend is in her 60s, her late brother was older, no mortgage, it was on right-to-buy when council flats were worth a pint of Best at today's prices. there is an even older brother last heard of living rough in France.
Form what I've heard one of the key holders lives in Croydon and was a "carer" for the brother. He called the police from what I understand. the other key holders are unknown to my friend. She things her brother has made a will but no idea where to start looking. There was an indication that there was one as she and brother had a falling-out many years ago and he said he'd leave her out of his will. The City police have got keys to the flat. My concern is that others may have been in and started removing stuff and that she should change the lock asap.
No doubt there will be a bit in inheritance tax to pay!
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Sorry but I'm confused by who the other people are. Who are the other people who might have keys? Who was last heard of living rough in France? Are there other living siblings?
How did the police get keys? Did they break in to discover the body and take away a set of keys at that time? Possibly after gaining access they had a locksmith change the locks and the locksmith left all the new keys with the police?
IF there is no Will (ie he died Intestate), and IF the brother who has died in the Barbican has no living parents or children, and IF your friend is the only surving sibling then your friend would inherit the property and the deceased's whole estate. And she would be the person who could apply for Probate and would then have the authority to deal with his Estate. If there are other living siblings the estate is shared equally between them.
But she is going to struggle with this if she doesn't "do computers". Most things involving administering an Estate have to be done online. If it turns out she is the closest relative to handle the Estate if there is no Will (or if there is a Will that names her as Executor) she might be best advised to employ a firm of solicitors to deal with it all. Especially if, as your post hints, there may be another sibling somewhere entitled to a share of an intestate estate but who can't be found. If her late brother owned a Barbican flat outright (no mortgage/loan to pay off) the Estate will well be able to afford solicitors' fees. Barbican flats are expensive! Online sites like Zoopla will give a rough idea of current value.
Of course she doesn't know if there is a Will yet, she needs to gain access. She should ask the police if they can let her in. Ask neighbours or any known friends if they have a key (unless the locks have been changed).
Does she know who her brother's solicitor is? I'm guessing not, but if she does she could ask them if they have the Will. There's a private company called The National Wills Register who store Wills. She could check if they hold her brother's.
Is an Inquest being held? If so the death can't be formally registered until after the Inquest but the Coroner should issue her with an interim death certificate called a "CORONER'S CERTIFICATE OF THE FACT OF DEATH" which she can use to administer the Estate in the meantime.
She can check the actual ownership position of the flat (and if there are are any mortgages or charges) at the Land Registry. She'd need to set up an account first and there's a £7 fee but it's straightforward. The document she needs is the Title Register (don't need Title Plan). https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry
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Genuinely asking for a friend. Her brother was found dead in his flat in the City of London a couple of weeks ago, natural causes I think, my friend doesn't have keys to the flat but a couple her late brothers do, as do the City police. She doesn't know the others who may have keys and until she can gain entry to the flat to try to find a will or solicitors details she is unable to do much about anything. she is as far as we know his only surviving relative who was last heard of living rough in France, no contact for years. Similarly there was no contact with her deceased brother for a few years.
I've suggested she contacts the City police to let her gain access to the flat so that she can search for the documents and then change the lock to keep the other unknown people out. She was contacted by her local police 2 weeks ago when her brother's body was discovered. She has also been in contact with the coroner and registrar. The late brother bought the flat in rhe Barbican many years ago so I'm told.
Any other advice would be helpful. My friend doesn't do computers.