selling inherited house in Scotland(cgt iht etc)

rudefuss

Hello all,
My sister and i were given a house in Scotland 6 years ago(valued at £200,000 at the time though i dont know b whom) as my father new his time was up soon and didnt want us to pay the tax man any more than necessary. We are now in the position where our mother is looking after the house as we cannot move up there (though i would if i could), This is becoming a big burden for her and it breaks my heart as she is still working to help pay for the upkeep. We could have rented it immediately but my sister refused so now we have a house that will need some renovation within 5 to10 years (eg. roof redone ) that none of us can afford. My sister is now being very difficult as we have been given an estimate of around 160,000 (which is reasonable imo) and she wants more (no surprise there). she harps on about" having to pay cgt and inheritance tax wich would swallow up a vast sum of money" which as far as i know we would not have to pay as there is no gain and it wasnt an inheritance it was a gift. btw the house was bought for less than £20,000 (yes thats right £20,000) so there is a massive profit right there. I guess ill get to the questions (this is for my sisters benefit btw)
1 Would we have to pay capital gains tax or be liable for inheritance tax?
2 is there such a thing as capital gains... er loss and what if any are the implications
3 If my sister refuses to accept the selling price ( an average estimate from estate agents) is there anything to "force her hand "
4 Do I need to get a surveyors price and is this a better "selling price" to go on
5 Does anyone want to buy it (joke)(er kind of)
6 any other advice would be greatly appreciated
ps sorry if its a bit garbled
Thanks in advance
Rudefuss

googler

You don't make it clear, but has father now passed away?

If so, how was his estate dealt with by his executor or executor dative? Was it dealt with as a 'small estate'?

xylophone

I assume that your father died around six years ago?
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/iht-thresholds.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/inheritancetax/intro/basics.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/property/basics.htm
might be of some assistance.

jamesd

1. the executor of the estate will have had to sort out the potential inheritance tax on the property. Even more so if he continued to live in it after giving it to you, which means that it was part of his estate at the time of death, as a "gift with reservation", unless he was paying a market rent for use of it. How did the executor handle this?
2. yes, but that would be sorted out by his executor, who would be expected to deal with such matters as part of the estate, since the house seems to be part of it.
3. Yes, it's possible to force sale of a property. Consult a solicitor if you want to do this and they can explain how to go about it.
4. Let the solicitor sort that out.
5. no.
6. You both need to learn more about inheritance tax and find out how that was handled for this gift and any others made in the years before death.

rudefuss

Thank you peeps.
Googler, yes he died just after the "gift" .our mother was executor and Ive read that if we havent registered at the land registry then it is still the responsibility (perhaps the wrong word) of the executor . i mean that the executor can sell for a reasonable price if we agree to sell . is this correct?

xylophone, thanks , saved me lots of trawling for understandable info

Jamesd, ace thanks for the info especially #3 I might have to go down this route

googler

rudefuss wrote: »

Thank you peeps.
Googler, yes he died just after the "gift" .our mother was executor and Ive read that if we havent registered at the land registry then it is still the responsibility (perhaps the wrong word) of the executor .

Not Land Registry - Registers of Scotland. You may get advice from others here that applies to E&W, not to Scotland ....

googler

So, your mother was executor for the estate six years ago and hasn't wound up (distributed) the estate yet?

Was there a will, or was she appointed executor dative after confirmation of his estate?

If the house hasn't yet been transferred into your names (as you seem to imply), then it's still part of the estate which has to be wound up ...

googler

Have a read at this booklet (you can get it from registrars and local council offices in paper form) and post here a broad summary of what your mum did as executor or executor dative.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/213661/0056769.pdf

and let us know what was actually done as the gifting process to transfer the property into your names. Was a conveyancing solicitor involved at this stage?