Selling house around probate question

dobbollah

Got the land registry doc but it doesnt seem to make any reference to joint tenancy......?

Its lists my mum and dad as the 'registered owners' and in the property register section list their names again.....

sorry if im appearing dim on this one !

fluffymuffy

I think you need a copy of the long version of the deeds. The online thing is just a summary. There's a form on the website to order a full copy of the deeds through the post. It costs a bit more and you have to wait a week or two.

PasturesNew

Annisele wrote: »

Yep, even then.

If the property was held as joint tenants, then ownership passes by survivorship - and anything your mother might have written in her will about the property is completely irrelevant.

If your mother's will was drawn up by somebody who knew what they were doing, chances are that the clause in the will means that the house was held as joint tenants - but if the will was a DIY job, you potentially have a problem.

If this happens - and the will and the deeds oppose each other - the easiest route is to go for a reversion if it is clear from reading the will/s that they intended you to have the half. A solicitor will apply for a reversion and it will be noted on the Land Registry.

I used the conveyancer in the same firm/building as the probate solicitor to make things easier as any query regarding it would be dealt with immediately in-house, rather than letter-writing.

fluffymuffy

When my friend's mother died and left her the house it went instead to her estranged father who had divorced her mother decades before. There was no remedy available by tinkering with the will retrospectively.

It's different in this case as the OP's father can give his daughters half his house anytime he likes.

When we bought our house (last week) the solicitor suggested Tenants in Common, but since we've been together 25years we felt we weren't likely to get divorced now and if one of us dies we didn't want to have to stay in the same house forever because selling it would mean giving half the money to our children and then not being able to afford somewhere decent to live.

eddtheduck

From netlawman.co.uk:

If you are tenants in common (the land registry entry) will have the wording "No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court". If there is no such wording in the title document then you are almost certainly a joint tenant.

dobbollah

Many thanks to all, the house was in joint tenancy and his solicitor has confirmed all this so the will did just confuse the issue but seems that entry simply is voided by the joint tenancy

You've all been a great help - I'm very grateful

YesWillMan

If the Will Writing firm who put such a useless clause in the will without a Severance of Tenancy being prepared signed and completed should be taken to task and if necessary reported to any Will Writing Association they belong to. There is possibility that they could be sued if financially the person who should have inherited is worse off. Most Will writing companies have Indemnity Insurance to cover this so this is something you could pursue.

However I see the will was in 96 and probably the firm involved no longer exist and may not have done so for some time.

harryhound

Why don't people read the thread before posting:

If it says this on the Land Registry certificate it is Tenants in Common and passes according to the will once probate has been obtained - the above link explains this.

Form A restriction: “No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.”