Transfer of house deeds after parents died

missile

I hope OP chooses a.n.other solicitor

John_Pierpoint

You could wait until actually selling to do this, if you are intending to sell.

I am asking myself if the Land Registry can accept the death certificate as sufficient legal evidence to transfer the ownership to your mother and thus allow you mother's executors to sell the house.

When I sold my uncle's unregistered house (worth more like £400k) my legal selling expenses came to £526 including VAT. I think it was the buyer's problem to register the house?
I certainly remember getting a letter trying to ask questions about the Victorian boundary measurements, to which I had to reply politely saying in effect "get a grip, the house on the left is already registered the house on the right is already registered, so the old paper deeds are irrelevant - you are buying the gap between the other two". [There was also a potential problem about the bottom of the long thin garden as everyone in the street had extended their gardens to a greater or lesser extent into what was now a disused watercourse.].

If you pick up on the Land Registry Representatives other postings, you will find one in the last few days giving an email contact address.

Land_Registry

Hi

You can decide not to put your sister and your name on the deeds if you are intending to sell the property straight away. If agreeable to the buyer and their legal representative, when the sale is completed, the buyer’s name can be recorded directly on the deeds. But you would have to show any prospective buyer and their solicitor, as ‘Cabbage’ said, the documentary evidence of how the property has been passed to you and your sister.

Usually the buyer’s solicitor draws up the relevant documents to transfer the property from you and your sister, as personal representatives of your mother, to the buyer. But if they insist that you put your names on the deeds first, then what you do depends on whether the property is registered or not.

If it is please see our web page "As a personal representative or executor, can I transfer to a third party?" It also gives instructions on how to complete the forms you need to send us.

If the property isn’t registered, again the buyers solicitor may ask you to register it before it is transferred to the buyer, in which case please see our "Public Guide 13-Applications for first registration made by the owner in person" for what you need to do.

vegasgo

Thanks for the detailed replies LRR and John_Pierpoint.

A few questions;

- I believe the property is registered, in my dad's name - a title number beginning with SLG (then 6 numbers) - correct?

- My mum died in April and we're nearing getting the house emptied ready for sale - will be approx six months - is this still classed as selling 'straight away'?

- The solicitor who quoted me £1200 to change the names on the title deeds said it takes 13 weeks to go through - is this correct, and if so, would waiting for the buyer's solicitor to do so hold up the sale?

- As my dad did not have a will, am I right in thinking the house automatically passed to my mum, without any official documentation to prove so? My mum's will states 'I devise and bequeath the residue value of my real and personal estate ... (to be passed equally to her children).

Thanks again.

John_Pierpoint

If you go onto the Land Registry site, you will find a system for checking if plots of land are registered. Ig you are not sure about the title number you can access an arial photo, then hover a magnifying glass symbol over the plot (you need a steady hand for small plots and presumably it cannot work for flats (?)) When you think you have found it you can pledge £3 for the paperwork and £3 for the plan of the plot and print them there and then. Alternatively, if you have an unambiguous postal address, that should identify the registration automatically.
When my son did this before the turn of the century he got so enthusiastic about doing his own conveyancing, that he checked out the rest of the street (or tried to) and discovered that his credit card blocked after a few transactions, so he switched to his debit card and his bank no longer cared about the fraudster when it was someonelse's money being stolen.

I would start by checking an on line site like Zoopla, which links itself to the Land Registry site, and see what it thinks is the official postal address.

I would also advise checking the prices of online solicitors, just to get a feel for the actual costs.

vegasgo

John - I do know the postcode and address of the house!

vegasgo

I've also been told via another solicitor;

For the purpose of selling the house, you do not need to transfer it
out of your father's name but you will need to obtain a grant of
representation to his estate in order to be able to sign a contract and
sale transfer. This should be straightforward and quite quick as you
already have a grant in respect of your mother's estate.

Is this correct?

missile

I am pleased to hear you have gone to a.n.other solicitor.

John_Pierpoint

vegasgo wrote: »

John - I do know the postcode and address of the house!

I legally live in one borough and (unfortunately) have been given a postal address in another for the convenience of the post van..
I also have a house name, not a number, as I am the only house in my "street".
In fact there are 4 different ways of writing my address and with luck my trustee postie will deliver the letter, regardless of changes in address.
This has caused confusion on several fronts including at the Land Registry.

Computerised systems are not very good at matching addresses that are inexact.

Land_Registry

vegasgo wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed replies LRR and John_Pierpoint.

A few questions;

- I believe the property is registered, in my dad's name - a title number beginning with SLG (then 6 numbers) - correct? - I suspect it is SGL but yes re a lettered prefix and a series of numbers for the title number allocated. As John_Pierpoint mentions you can always run a check online if unsure

- My mum died in April and we're nearing getting the house emptied ready for sale - will be approx six months - is this still classed as selling 'straight away'? - when we refer to straight away we really mean as a result of sorting out your late mother's estate which from what you have said the house is part of. In most cases people do use a legal adviser to deal with everything involved, part of which will include the transfer of the house to the beneficiary or on sale to someone else and this often happens fairly quickly depending on circumstances

- The solicitor who quoted me £1200 to change the names on the title deeds said it takes 13 weeks to go through - is this correct, and if so, would waiting for the buyer's solicitor to do so hold up the sale? - it would be very rare for it to take 13 weeks to register at the Land Registry but I suspect they ahave included the time it can take to deal with the Probate Registry as it seems likely you will at least need letters of administration for your late mother.

- As my dad did not have a will, am I right in thinking the house automatically passed to my mum, without any official documentation to prove so? My mum's will states 'I devise and bequeath the residue value of my real and personal estate ... (to be passed equally to her children). - that may well be the case but it is not something we are involved in. I am sure others will be able to post some advice though. The alternative is to take legal advice or you could try the CAB - this link has some immediate information which may clarify a few things for you?

Thanks again.

I have added some responses in red to your questions - I hope they help