Unregistered land – registration at the Land Registry without legal help

BelindaDido

This is my first posting on this forum. I hope people will be able to provide some guidance.

In 1987 my sister and her husband purchased a freehold property in Devon just before registration at the Land Registry became compulsory (1 March 1988). The property was not voluntarily registered at the Land Registry. There was a mortgage, taken out on purchase, so again before compulsory registration, and on repayment of the mortgage the deeds were sent to my sister and her husband.

Since they received the deeds, they have signed the following documents which were prepared by an estate planning company:
• Severance of Joint Tenancy
• Creation of Tenancy in Common.

Neither of the documents was registered at the Land Registry as the property was and still is unregistered.

My brother-in-law has recently died and I am an executor and trustee.

The executors will be applying for probate without using a solicitor if possible; one executor has previously been involved with two personal probate applications and another executor has previously been involved with one personal probate application. When probate has been granted, the trustees will then need to address the issue of Tenants in Common. We have two questions:

1. Do any of the above events trigger compulsory registration?
I have looked at Practice Guide 1 and it seems that if there isn’t ‘...a transfer...for valuable or other consideration...’ then registration may not be necessary, but is the transfer into the name of the trustees sufficient to trigger compulsory registration?

2. Has anyone personally registered unregistered land at the Land Registry without using a solicitor or a conveyancing company? If so, would you recommend it or was it a nightmare?

g6jns_2

BelindaDido wrote: »

This is my first posting on this forum. I hope people will be able to provide some guidance.

In 1987 my sister and her husband purchased a freehold property in Devon just before registration at the Land Registry became compulsory (1 March 1988). The property was not voluntarily registered at the Land Registry. There was a mortgage, taken out on purchase, so again before compulsory registration, and on repayment of the mortgage the deeds were sent to my sister and her husband.

Since they received the deeds, they have signed the following documents which were prepared by an estate planning company:
• Severance of Joint Tenancy
• Creation of Tenancy in Common.

Neither of the documents was registered at the Land Registry as the property was and still is unregistered.

My brother-in-law has recently died and I am an executor and trustee.

The executors will be applying for probate without using a solicitor if possible; one executor has previously been involved with two personal probate applications and another executor has previously been involved with one personal probate application. When probate has been granted, the trustees will then need to address the issue of Tenants in Common. We have two questions:

1. Do any of the above events trigger compulsory registration?
I have looked at Practice Guide 1 and it seems that if there isn’t ‘...a transfer...for valuable or other consideration...’ then registration may not be necessary, but is the transfer into the name of the trustees sufficient to trigger compulsory registration?

2. Has anyone personally registered unregistered land at the Land Registry without using a solicitor or a conveyancing company? If so, would you recommend it or was it a nightmare?

Ask yourself is it worth trying to save a few hundred pounds and risk messing up the registration? Dealing with unregistered land is not easy for anyone who lacks the expertise. The crucial thing is to be sure that you can convince the Land Registry of the validity of the title.

Savvy_Sue

Hang on until the Land Registry Rep turns up here: although obviously they can't give you advice you can rely on (sue the pants off them if they get it wrong), they will advise in general terms of what to look out for and whether it is tricky. And it will probably be after the bank holiday ...

Of course none of us can give advice you can rely on, but remember that you can consult a solicitor for certain bits of the estate while doing the rest yourselves. Given that if you and your co-executors get it wrong you could be held personally liable, that's definitely worth considering IMO.

BelindaDido

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, we do appreciate that this isn't something to undertake lightly and the consequences of getting something wrong could be disastrous. However, for a widow living on pensions, with money tight but time rich, and with an active brain, it might be an enjoyable challenge.