'Our cousin died without a will - what happened to his £500,000 home next horrified us'

When their elderly cousin George died aged 85 without a will in place, brothers Brian and Dennis were left in charge of handling the sale of his derelict London home.

If you die without a valid will, the rules of intestacycome into place. This essentially prioritises close family members, such as your partner, if you are legally married or in a civil partnership, and children, followed by parents, siblings, and so on.

As their cousin George did not have a partner when he died, or children, the responsibility of handling his estate after his death fell to Brian, 78, and Dennis, 86. But the process was far from smooth sailing.

• Metro Bank payment services went down as customers left in 'minus' figures
• M&S cafes: Marks and Spencer closing 11 restaurants as part of huge shakeup

George had lived his entire life in the same house in Barking - but the place was left in a run-down state when he passed away in March 2023, with crumbling plaster, a leaking roof, and a garden that had grown into an eight-foot jungle.

Brian said: "I had no idea that settling his estate would become such a rollercoaster — or that it would teach me more about probate, property auctions, and family finances than I ever expected to learn at 78.

"The only time we saw him regularly was at our traditional post-Christmas lunch each January. But we later discovered that, apart from those carers, no one had been inside his house for years.

"Although we all lived in London, George was in the far east of the city while my wife and I were in the far west. For people in their late 70s and 80s, that distance made visits difficult and limited how often we could see him."

Brian said their first challenge was working out exactly who was entitled to inherit anything. The brothers discovered there were 22 relatives — some close, some distant — with a legal claim. This included nine people on George’s maternal side of the family, and eight people on his paternal side.

After proving the house belonged to George - as the property hadn't been registered with Land Registry - the brothers also had to deal with trespassers, who had broken in and started using the house.

Brian said: "We had to hire security, evict them, and secure the property with heavy metal screens — a costly, ongoing expense while the house remained unsold.

"This problem continued for nearly two years. To make matters worse, rogue individuals began registering fake companies at the house’s address — a common scam targeting long-vacant properties.

"Even before we were ready to sell, we were bombarded with unsolicited offers — letters through the door, messages to the solicitor, even direct approaches."

Once they were finally ready to sell, the brothers opted to sell the house at through Probate.Auction, a property auction house specialising in probate property sales.

A reserve price of £500,00 was set and the gavel ended up falling at £570,000. Brian said: "Because auction sales complete within 30 days and the buyer pays most of the legal fees, the money reached the estate quickly.

"This saved us thousands in ongoing costs, including security and standing charges. Once inheritance tax was paid, the estate was divided among the nine main heirs and their descendants."

Each full share was worth £53,000. Brian and his sister each received £26,000.

Brian added: "Everyone used their windfall differently. Some repaired their homes, one had a new kitchen, another cousin paid for carers, and my sister used some of her inheritance to throw an 80th birthday party for 50 guests.”

Russell Taylor, co-founder and auctioneer at Probate.Auction, said: “Families, solicitors and charities are increasingly choosing auction over estate agents because it provides true market value, speed, transparency, and certainty.

"Probate properties can sit unsold for months or years — the costs of leaving them empty can be crippling.”