Assistance with Heirs and Neglected Homes

Questioner

In our neighbourhood, a house has been empty for 18 years. The garden is very neglected and the house itself has also lacked attention all those years. It is a thorn in the side of the neighbours. According to the neighbors, the lady has passed away and left the house to her sister's son, who has hardly been seen in the past 18 years and lives on the other side of the country. We are very interested in buying this house and have already put a note in the mailbox, but so far no contact. We have been in contact with the sister of the deceased owner, and she indicates that she has not been in contact with her son for years and that he changes address regularly. Google, Facebook and even the family tree pages do not provide any clarity about the son's name and where he might live. The neighbors say that he would only want to sell the house after his mother has passed away. His mother doesn't even know anything about the house. The deceased owner is still registered as the owner at the Land Registry, and the municipality is also not allowed to help us further due to the GDPR. I find it a vague story, and I suspect that the sister inherited the house, but the son wants to take advantage of the inheritance. Why else would he only want to sell after her death? And why has the inheritance not yet been claimed and is the house still in the name of the deceased woman? Oh yes, the sister we spoke to is now 93 and seems to be suffering from dementia and was very vague in her story. What next? How do I find this man or find out who the heirs of this house are?

Lawyer

You can report the neglect and years of vacancy of the home to the municipality. The municipality can then write to the heirs with the request to carry out maintenance and to take the home into use. I can try to find out the name and address details of the heirs for you by initiating an investigation into the settlement of the inheritance. If you have any questions or would like legal assistance, you can contact me without obligation and free of charge to discuss what I can do for you in this regard.