Council tax / probate

ribenapotato

Hello

Back in August 2013, a relative died. He lived on his own, but the house was jointly owned by him and my mother.

His will was entirely to me (grandson), so half of the house was to be signed over to me, making it owned by 50% me, 50% my mother.

It took until last month (February) for the 50% to be signed over to me.

I have received an urgent letter from the Council Tax office (City of Nottingham), addressed to my mother and I, demanding full payment for the period between October (when apparently probate happened) and now.

I don't agree with this, because:

• Up until February 2014, I didn't own the house, and it was unoccupied, so I don't understand why I would be liable for Council Tax
• Nottingham City Council say a property is exempt when properties 'are left empty because either probate or letters of administration are awaited, or less than 6 months have elapsed since they were granted.'

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Newly_retired

You could appeal against the decision.

MichelleUK

The 6 months since probate is up now, so they are probably just checking that the house has been empty since Probate was granted. If you contact them and confirm that it was empty, they should cancel the charge for you. Sometimes people do not keep the council informed that the house is no longer empty, so they assume the worst knowing that you will soon get in contact if they have overcharged!

When your relative died, as you were the sole beneficiary of the 50% share, even though you did not have legal ownership recognised at the Land Registry, you still had beneficial ownership, so any costs relating to the house would be your responsibility (well, 50%)

getmore4less

Check the councils web site for their accepted exemptions and appeal based on those.

Probate + 6months if empty(not just not occupied)

A lot of councils are now charging where before they were not having removed some of the exemptions/reductions.

http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/article/21967/Council-Tax-Discounts-and-Reductions

lavalamp

I suspect the fact your mother already owned 50% is what is muddying the issue here - would she not have been liable for some CT between date of death and probate? I think someone more knowledgeable needs to answer, but I wanted to put that out there....

Saltwater_2

I agree with lavalamp - the fact that your mother was an owner means that she was liable for the council tax (or at least she would be in my county).
This means that the class F exemption for Probate (it may be different for your council) doesn't apply. As far as the Council are concerned they can tax her as if it was a 2nd home.

lavalamp

Also, I had another thought here. My husband was in a similar situation. Probate granted in August, but property not signed over via land registry until a few months later. On paper, the house was still his from date of probate and as it didn't have to be sold to complete the transaction, he was liable for Council Tax and other bills from August. We're in Somerset, so your county may be different - you should check that.

getmore4less

lavalamp wrote: »

Also, I had another thought here. My husband was in a similar situation. Probate granted in August, but property not signed over via land registry until a few months later. On paper, the house was still his from date of probate and as it didn't have to be sold to complete the transaction, he was liable for Council Tax and other bills from August. We're in Somerset, so your county may be different - you should check that.

If empty should still get the 6 month exemption, we did.

lavalamp

getmore4less wrote: »

If empty should still get the 6 month exemption, we did.

that doesn't apply to all councils - need to check individual policies.

as an example - check Bristol: http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/council-tax/discounts-and-exemptions-council-tax

CIS

The 'owner' is defined in legislation as:

(5)In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

“owner”, in relation to any dwelling, means the person as regards whom the following conditions are fulfilled—

(a)he has a material interest in the whole or any part of the dwelling; and

(b)at least part of the dwelling or, as the case may be, of the part concerned is not subject to a material interest inferior to his interest;

It's going to be a technical argument as to whether you were a legal owner or not between the August and February. If the council won't budge then you would have to appeal to a valuation tribunal.

getmore4less

lavalamp wrote: »

that doesn't apply to all councils - need to check individual policies.

as an example - check Bristol: http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/council-tax/discounts-and-exemptions-council-tax

that says probate +6months exemption on empty properties.