- Joined
- 22 Dec 2021
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I've known Bob all my life, he was a big mate of me dads. Married & divorced 5 times he was definitely a lovable rogue who alternated between very well off & flat broke all his life. The only bloke I've ever known to be mad on sailing & my kids still talk about the weekend he took them sailing on the Wash.
His head started going 5yrs ago & last year he told everyone he had stomach cancer. Well into his 80's you know that isn't going to end well, me & my lad went to see him in hospital a month ago but TBH there wasn't much left of him to visit. He was the youngest of a very large family & he often said he had no living family to speak of, just 5x ex-wives who he hated on a scale according to how much they robbed off him.
Last week my lad was passing & saw some work going off on Bob's house, said it was best that I popped 'round to find out.
2x lads were busy clearing the front garden, I asked them if they'd got the right house & they suggested I talk with the lady inside.
"Has Bob passed then duck"?
"Yes, he died last Sunday night, did you know him" ?
"Knew him very well duck, can I ask who you are to him & what you doing with this house"?
"I'm Caroline, his step daughter. Not sure if we'll be selling it or living here ourselves yet".
"You'll be doing neither duck, this is MY 'effin' house".
And I will never forget her face & the way it dropped, ever.
I checked my records & I bought Bob's house in 2001, renting it back to him for a nominal amount for the rest of his natural. He'd sold his last business as he was getting too old to work & didn't have any pension, the ex's having taken care of any of Bob's plans laid for Bob's old age . . . . Since confirmed with my Solicitor who assures me that all's OK with the title at the land registry & casually pointing out that I've also raised 3x mortgages on it in the past !
It turns out that Caroline & her husband jumped the gun ever so slightly, & in the absence of any kind of will, just assumed she'd be inheriting a nice little windfall.
His head started going 5yrs ago & last year he told everyone he had stomach cancer. Well into his 80's you know that isn't going to end well, me & my lad went to see him in hospital a month ago but TBH there wasn't much left of him to visit. He was the youngest of a very large family & he often said he had no living family to speak of, just 5x ex-wives who he hated on a scale according to how much they robbed off him.
Last week my lad was passing & saw some work going off on Bob's house, said it was best that I popped 'round to find out.
2x lads were busy clearing the front garden, I asked them if they'd got the right house & they suggested I talk with the lady inside.
"Has Bob passed then duck"?
"Yes, he died last Sunday night, did you know him" ?
"Knew him very well duck, can I ask who you are to him & what you doing with this house"?
"I'm Caroline, his step daughter. Not sure if we'll be selling it or living here ourselves yet".
"You'll be doing neither duck, this is MY 'effin' house".
And I will never forget her face & the way it dropped, ever.
I checked my records & I bought Bob's house in 2001, renting it back to him for a nominal amount for the rest of his natural. He'd sold his last business as he was getting too old to work & didn't have any pension, the ex's having taken care of any of Bob's plans laid for Bob's old age . . . . Since confirmed with my Solicitor who assures me that all's OK with the title at the land registry & casually pointing out that I've also raised 3x mortgages on it in the past !
It turns out that Caroline & her husband jumped the gun ever so slightly, & in the absence of any kind of will, just assumed she'd be inheriting a nice little windfall.