Land Registry

Savvy_Sue

nom_de_plume wrote: »

I'm near to getting probate on a relative's estate. Their home has been left to an individual. This person is going to pass on the property to one of their children (money may or may not change hands - I don't know). Am I best advised to transfer the property to the original intended beneficiary and let them deal with it or can it be transfered directly to the eventual recipient?

I'd say that whether money is changing hands between the beneficiary and their child is not your problem, but ...

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

It would probably make more sense tax wise to create a deed of family arrangement ("instrument of variation") and change the will to skip the generation.
Money is not meant to change hands in this situation and as the house has been left to only one beneficiary only that beneficiary needs to get involved.

this is also correct: the effect of this will be that the house 'skips' the beneficiary's estate: it might create a problem with IHT should the beneficiary die within 7 years of a) inheriting the house and b) passing it on.

nom_de_plume wrote: »

Hmm interesting!
There may be some money changing hands as there is more than one offspring. I shall have to ask questions.

If the beneficiary has more than one offspring, again I'd say this was not your problem. If the beneficiary has other siblings who were left either nothing or different things, again I don't think this matters.

I know this is an old article, but this paragraph is a good summary:

A deed of variation effectively allows the beneficiaries of a will to agree among themselves that the will should be re-written within two years of the death of the testator - or person who wrote the will - so that assets pass in a direction other than that set out in the will.

BTW, it's usually said that a DofV has to have the agreement of all the beneficiaries, but someone on here did a bit of digging and found that quite reasonably it only needs the agreement of the beneficiaries who are affected.

I'd advise you to take legal advise (you'll need it for the deed anyway), but I'd suggest that the beneficiary pays for their own before going down this route.

nom_de_plume

Thanks for the very detailed reply. As I mentioned above I need to ask some questions. The beneficiary is getting on in years so there may be some mileage in a DofV.
I think the best I can do is point out the possible alternatives and let them seek advice and make a decission.
There are other children, as mentioned above. None of the children are beneficiaries. I think the parent is looking at the inevitable and planing a bit of a 'share out' now.