Will not acted upon...

Mummy_Bean

So My grandparents had a typical Will, in which if either of them died then everything would go to the other, then when they both died the estate would be split equally between the 3 sons.


but when my granddad died the 3 sons ( the executors) never did any thing to officially change the property into my nans name (the deeds were solely in my granddads name). This never really was an issue as there was no mortgage.


However fast forward 5 years and my nan has moved in to my parents and she has offered to sell me her house - but it is my understanding the house currently is not hers to sell?


How can we go ahead with the sale? Can we put the house into probate and I essentially buy the house from my granddad or do we have to change it into my nans name and then g ahead with the sale?


Thanks for any advice

RAS

The starting point is to work out whether the house was owned as a joint tenancy or tenants in common.

Land Registry, cost £3.

duchy

Depends what the will says -if the house was hers for her lifetime and upon her death passes to the sons or if it was bequested to her without obligation or conditions.

madbadrob

As Duchy and ras have said you first need to check what name the house was/is in. Then you need to check based on that what your dads will says? If the house was to pass in whole to your mum then technically after changing the house yes she can however if the will states that the house is for your mums use during her life time and then to be passed to the children ie you and your siblings then no she cannot sell it. If the house was held as joint tenants and not Tenants in common then unfortunately that clause in your dads will doesnt stand because its not his house to pass to anyone on death

Rob

getmore4less

Mummy_Bean wrote: »

(the deeds were solely in my granddads name). This never really was an issue as there was no mortgage.

Why do people never read posts before responding?

Land_Registry

In the first instance if the property is in England & Wales and was in grandad's sole name then the Executors may still have the authority to deal with the property - winding up an estate and dealing with the distribution of assets can sometimes take several years to complete but it may be worth checking with the Probate Service to be sure

The Exceutors are required to deal with the estate in accordance with the will although you imply that it was a joint will although you may mean they had separate wills but the same intention depending on who passed away first.

Clarifying the Probate situation would be my first recommendation and then the issue of the 3 sons and their interests as the original intention was to leave the property to them after gran's demise but that has now changed.

If after considering and resolving any issues it is agreed that the property can be sold to you the most likely outcome is that the Executors then complete a Transfer to you in the normal way.

One other issue to consider is that the property is unregistered in which case the sale will trigger First Registration. This can be relatively straightforward providing you have the deeds etc but somethign else to also consider.

In the circumstances we would always recommend seeking legal advice although you should be able to clarify the Probate aspect and what the actual terms of the will(s) mean.

Thereafter if everyone with an interest is in agreement the sale and registration can be completed.

As far as your original question is concerned you cannot buy it from your grandad as he has passed away. If the will had been acted upon then the Executors would normally have put the property in Gran's name and then she would be able to sell but that has not happened so the ball appears to remain in the Executors court depending on the outcome re Probate

Mummy_Bean

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. As stated the house was only in my grandads name as was common when they bought it 65 years ago.

So as i thought my uncles (the executors) will have to put the house through probate to transfer it in to my nans name so she can then sell it to me.