please can someone advise re deeds

cloverfan

Please can someone tell me if it is possible to get a copy of the proprietor register off of the land registry site that shows that my mum and dad bought their house together prior to it just being transferred into her sole name? thanks

have now posted it in house buying sorry guys

zzzLazyDaisy

The title certificate will show the names of the previous owners before it was transferred into your mother's sole name, but not the way in which it was held (JO or TiC). But the owners are perfectly entitled to change the way the property is held at any time, or to transfer the property between themselves (as has happened in this case) so how the property might once have been held would seem to be irrelevant now. Unless I am missing something?

cloverfan

sorry i am confused myself but i will explain as best i can! dad recently passed away and he had a loan outstanding that we were told would be gone but now halifax are writing to my mum saying if they were TiC they will put a charge on the house??? mum is devastated about my dad and i just trying to help her but dont have a clue myself!!

zzzLazyDaisy

Oh, I am sorry for your loss.

Well, it would be very unusual for married people of your parent's generation to have a house held as TiC. Although it has been around for a long time, it has really only become more popular with the rise of unmarried couples, and second marriages where the parties want to protect their individual share.

However, I think the Halifax are trying it on. If the house was held as TiC at some point in the past (which as I say, was unlikely) that was not the case at his death (unless the house was transferred very shortly before his death, to avoid his creditors) In any event, if they truly believe they have a case for making a charge over the house they can get a copy of the full title deeds from the land registry themselves.

I would just write back to them and say something like

Re your letter dated [.....] as far as my mother is aware, prior to the house being transferred into her sole name, the house was held as joint tenants.

Yours etc.

Just thought - if you phone the land registry on Monday, you may be able to verify this, as they may still have a record of how the house was held previously.