Deeds not in vendor's name

sparks11

Hi all,

I wonder if people can give me opinions on this situation. Obviously I will be speaking to my solicitor about this first thing in the morning, but wanted to see if anyone had heard of anything similar or had some advice.

We were due to sign contracts on Friday, but our solicitor told us today there are a couple of problems. Firstly, the property is leasehold but he doesn't know as yet how long is left on the lease as it isn't registered due to the house not changing hands since forever ago. We were told by the EA that it is a 999 year lease, but we have no idea where they got the information and if it is true. Our survey and valuation report said they thought that the property is freehold but that needed to be confirmed, so presumably our lender think it is freehold rather than leasehold. That is worry number one.

Potentially more worrying is that our solicitor also says he is waiting for a copy of a death certificate from the sellers as the title is still held in the name of a deceased owner. He didn't seem to be overly concerned in his email about this, but we aren't sure what to think. Before it was put on the market, this was a rental property, let out by two sisters who inherited the house when their parents died. So it isn't like this is a recent death! Does this mean the house has never legally been theirs if the title isn't in their name? As I say, they've been letting this out and are now selling something not in their name. I can't help but think this is the sort of thing you would check before putting your house on the market!

Husband and I like to think we're fairly pragmatic people. While it wouldn't be pleasant and would hurt financially, if this could potentially cause problems, we are prepared to walk away.

Thoughts? Am I worrying over nothing?

G_M

Leaving a property in the name of the deceased is quite common. Admitedly it usually happens where the Executers and/or Beneficiaries are selling after Probate - so some months after the death, and provided they can produce the will, or Letters of administration proving the sellers are Executers/Administrators of the Estate, tere is no problem.

It's more unusual if the Beneficiaries have owned the property (and let it out/lived in it) for some time, but legally the same principal applies.

sparks11

Thank you G_M, that is good to know. Hopefully my solicitor will tell me the exact same thing in the morning. Husband's uncle is currently going through hell trying to buy a house from the family of someone who died recently, and I didn't much fancy being in the same boat!

G_M

The issue with a recent death is that the property can't be sold till Probate is granted. This can be done in a few weeks, but more usually a few months, and if there are issues, disputes over inheritance, queries by HMRC over Inheritance Tax etc, it can drag on for a long time.