Tennants in common, question over shares

[alworthy]

I recently inherited a property where there were 2 tennants in common. one of the parties disappeared a week after completion, (20 years ago). He paid nothing towards deposit, conveyancing or mortgage payments, never lived in the property and has never expressed an interest in it.There have been several attempts to trace him to no avail. The property has been sold, after repossession by the mortgage company, but ALL the surplus funds are to be paid into court, as there is no contract determining the share of funds to each party. What is the procedure to recover this money and how long should it take?

[bednobs]

i dont understand how you have inherited it then

[alworthy]

The other tennant in common was my late sister,
the house forms part of her estate she wasn't married, had no children and our parents died many years ago. All other parts of the estate were passed to me.

[bednobs]

what i am saying is you can't have inherited it because by the sound of it it wasnt all hers to leave you. You can inherit her share but not the other tennants share

[alworthy]

My current dilemma is that although I was prepared for the possibility of only receiving 50% of the surplus from the sale of the property, as there is no specific paperwork confirming what percentage each tennant is entitled to, the acting solicitor has said that as the other tennant concerned cannot be found, 100% of the surplus is to be paid into court. I guess my statement 'I recently inherited a house' was perhaps technically incorrect, but I think / hope you get the gist...
Prior to the repossession and sale of the property, I was considering going through the courts to have his name removed from the deeds, as he literally disappeard 20 years ago, a week after the mortgage completed. My sister spent several years trying to sort out the mess. ( the unconfirmed rumour was that he did a runner from his [estranged] wife with a shed load of cash and does not wish to be found. He did maintain at the time that he would simply be putting his name to the paperwork to facilitate the mortgage for my sister and would not be interested in it per se. What is the procedure for claiming (at least 50%) of the surplus from the court?