Death of Wife

[BrianJohnEmeney]

Hello I have a small apartment in Paralimni that i have owned jointly with my wife since 2006. We bought the property from Buy Sell Cyprus and the solicitors were Pittardis and Co in Paralimni. I have not had my title deeds and my wife died in October 2015.I am looking for suitable advice as to what I should do now regarding jointly owned property etc and what course of action you suggest plus a good solicitor if needed. i trust you can help me with good advice. Thank you Brian.

[Pantheman]

Hello I have a small apartment in Paralimni that i have owned jointly with my wife since 2006. We bought the property from Buy Sell Cyprus and the solicitors were Pittardis and Co in Paralimni. I have not had my title deeds and my wife died in October 2015.I am looking for suitable advice as to what I should do now regarding jointly owned property etc and what course of action you suggest plus a good solicitor if needed. i trust you can help me with good advice. Thank you Brian.

Hello Brian,

Sorry for your loss. You first action is to engage a lawyer to do the probate. If you have wills of course it is much easier, and depending if there are children involved (even in case from other marriages/partners) and whether you have added a codicil to your will stating which country law you want to be treated under, the situation could get quite involved.

If you need a lawyer to help you, let me know, I am in the area of Paralimni.

All the best

[Nigel Howarth]

Dear Brian

My condolences on the death of your wife. As Pan has suggested you need a lawyer to handle the probate of your late wife's will.

The British High Commission in Nicosia publishes a list of lawyers that you can find at List of lawyers in the Republic of Cyprus.

I suggest you contact a couple of them and get quotations for the work. Although the Cyprus Bar Association dictates minimum fees for out of court work you can negotiate and agree lower fees with the lawyer.

Until her will has gone through probate her estate will be frozen so there's nothing else you can do with her share of the property and the rest of her estate until probate has been granted. (This can take a year.)

The Cyprus law on inheritance changed on 3rd July last year. This change removed the concession that enabled any person who was born in the UK or whose father was born in the UK or any other Commonwealth country to leave their estate to whoever they wished. Later, on 17th August, Cyprus adopted an EU regulation enabling a person to decide whether to have their estate disposed of according to the laws of their country of 'habitual residence' or the 'country of their nationality'.

The effect of this in regard to your late wife's estate is that if she did not make a will or did not change her existing will to state that her estate should be disposed of according to the laws of her country of nationality, her estate will be disposed of according to the laws of Cyprus.

The Cyprus law on inheritance is quite complex - E.g. If a person dies leaving a spouse and a child then ¾ of their estate passes to the spouse and child in equal shares and the person making the Will may dispose of the remaining quarter share as they wish.

Regards,

[BrianJohnEmeney]

Hello and thank you for your quick response. To clarify matters there are no children involved and there was a Will naming me as sole beneficiary.In the UK there is no need to go into probate and my own solicitor is getting the UK properties transfered into my sole name. In 2007 we took out a Cyprus Will in joint names and naming each spouse as sole beneficiary and in line with our UK Will. I have a small window of opportunity on 29th February when i visit the Paralimni area and again on the 4th and 5t before returning to the UK. I would certainly like to get things under way and your advice would be greatly appreciated. Brian

[Nigel Howarth]

You're welcome Brian,

If your late wife's Will appointed an executor, you should get in touch with him/her and arrange to meet. In many cases people appoint the lawyer who drew up the Will as their executor. If this is the situation with your late wife's Will the lawyer will also handle probate.

Some year ago my wife and I acted as executors for my wife's aunt in the UK. We provided her solicitor with details of her possessions and their valuations. The solicitor did the rest.

Regards,

[BrianJohnEmeney]

Me again - i am executor and there are no other beneficiaries. In the UK it has been dealt without probate. Do you suggest that i go to the Cypriot solicitors who drew up the Cypriot Will stating it was in accordance with the UK Will or could I use another? Brian

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello Brian

Providing your late wife didn't appoint a lawyer in her Cyprus Will as her executor, you can use any lawyer to handle probate. But be sure to get firm quotations for the work in writing.

Regards,

[Pantheman]

Hello Brian

Providing your late wife didn't appoint a lawyer in her Cyprus Will as her executor, you can use any lawyer to handle probate. But be sure to get firm quotations for the work in writing.

Regards,

Nigel,

it's not always that simple, since on first contact with the lawyer he cannot know the full estate value and since his fees are based on estate value he can't quote easy. If it were a single property where the value could easily be determined and nothing else then OK you can get a price. I am just going through this process and the deceased assets involve property and an unknown amount of cash in various banks. This all needs investigating and then a price could be given.

Hope that helps.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Pan

Some year ago my wife and I acted as executors for my wife's aunt in the UK. We provided her solicitor with details of her possessions and their valuations. The solicitor did the rest.

It is possible to negotiate a fixed fee for handling the probate without the lawyer knowing the value of the estate. (But if this is not negotiated the lawyer will charge a percentage of the estate's value.)

Regards,

[Pantheman]

Hi Pan

Some year ago my wife and I acted as executors for my wife's aunt in the UK. We provided her solicitor with details of her possessions and their valuations. The solicitor did the rest.

It is possible to negotiate a fixed fee for handling the probate without the lawyer knowing the value of the estate. (But if this is not negotiated the lawyer will charge a percentage of the estate's value.)

Regards,

Hi Nigel,

Yes he could, but I doubt any lawyer will give you and upfront price unless he has some idea of the estate value, for all he knows there could be millions involved. I agree about getting and up front fee where possible I have done that before where the estate value was known.

Anyway, seems it is swings and roundabouts so good luck to the guy. If he needs my help, he can contact me.

All the best

Pan