Possessory title complication

frankfrankly

Hi all

Complicated conveyancing question, any advice welcome...

We have been waiting on buying a house for some time. We have just been contacted by our solicitor who has told us that the possessory title has been granted in the husband's name. The probate is in the husband's name and on the land registry it states that the title has been granted in the husbands estates administrators name. The complication is that the husband died 16 years ago, the wife died earlier this year and had been living in the house her whole life. We do not have any probate for her and the house is not being sold in the name of her estate.

I am so confused and fed up with the whole thing. How can the land registry have granted a possessory title in the name of his estate when he has been dead for 16 years? Surely this should have been done in her name as she has been living there for 12 years+ and the statutory declarations would support this?

Please help, I know this is a big ask I really appreciate it, we are desperate to get this house.

Thanks in advance!

Richard_Webster

Basically your solicitor simply needs to ask the seller's solicitors for an explanation.

I can speculate but that's all it is.

Possibly the deeds got lost and there was some evidence that the husband bought the house many years ago so any possessory title claim would therefore be in his name. Where there are lost deeds then very often you only get a possessory title even though the evidence might be quite strong - if there is a missing link somewhere the Land Registry will not give an absolute title.

The widow's position might have been that she knew the house was not hers - maybe the will allowed her to stay there while she lived. If she always thought the husband owned the house then she couldn't really make a claim. If his estate administrator is prepared to sell to you and provide a back up possessory title indemnity policy is provided then it will probably be OK.

I must stress this is only a guess - putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 - but I am sure that if you are patient your solicitor will get to the bottom of it and explain it to you.