Mum lost deeds - where can she get a copy?

confusedmummy

My elderly mum has lost the deeds to her house. She has looked everywhere. Is there any way she can get a copy of the deeds? thanks!

googler

Does she have a mortgage? If so, the lender will normally be holding them.

If the mortgage has been redeemed, they may be held with the solicitor who prepared the discharge of the mortgage.

Do you know for certain that she was holding on to them?

confusedmummy

googler wrote: »

Does she have a mortgage? If so, the lender will normally be holding them.

If the mortgage has been redeemed, they may be held with the solicitor who prepared the discharge of the mortgage.

Do you know for certain that she was holding on to them?

No, she doesn't have a mortgage, it was paid off years ago (like 20 years ago). She had them at home but thinks she might have thrown them out by mistake when she was doing a big clear up. She is 73, so not always as clear thinking as she would like to be.

jjlandlord

Not very knowledgeable at all, but it seems that if the titles were not registered a good way forward could be to start the registration process where deeds have been lost.

A link to the Land Registry:
http://www.landreg.gov.uk/upload/documents/pg2.html

At least once the title deeds are registered there should be no more worry about loosing anything.

Jeffrey_Shaw

jjlandlord wrote: »

Not very knowledgeable at all, but it seems that if the titles were not registered a good way forward could be to start the registration process where deeds have been lost.

A link to the Land Registry:
http://www.landreg.gov.uk/upload/documents/pg2.html

At least once the title deeds are registered there should be no more worry about loosing anything.

I agree. It will be a question of evidence. Did she buy the house new, from a developer? Who else (besides you [OP]/her) could execute a Statutory Declaration as to the facts/history, to supplement one by her herself?

roses

You can order it from land registry if lost, it's about £20

Mojisola

roses wrote: »

You can order it from land registry if lost, it's about £20

It doesn't sound as if the house was ever registered at the Land Registry. If it hasn't, they won't have any details of the property.

saabay

You really need to find out from Land Registry whether the house is registered before worrying about reconstituting lost title deeds. Need to do a search of the index map (SIM) the form for which is available from LR's website.

Jeffrey_Shaw

saabay wrote: »

You really need to find out from Land Registry whether the house is registered before worrying about reconstituting lost title deeds. Need to do a search of the index map (SIM) the form for which is available from LR's website.

Yes. Do NOT rely on an online message from HMLR website re non-registration; the database is unreliable other than via an official hard-copy search (pref. with a plan, if available).