Unregistered freehold land

Scp

I am helping a lady whose husband died recently without a will and owning unregistered freehold house.
I have obtained for her letters of administration.
She is the personal representative /administrator as well as the beneficiary.
Does she have to assent to herself?
Is Form AS1 required in addition to FRI?
She cannot afford a solicitor, so I am helping her.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks.

SeniorSam

If you contact the Land Registry locally, they should be able to help you

DandelionPatrol

Scp wrote: »

She is the personal representative /administrator as well as the beneficiary.
Does she have to assent to herself?

Yes she does. But when she does so, she is 2 separate legal persons as highlighted above.

konark

If the land is unregistered it's not just as simple as signing the house over to herself on AS1. She will need to get a solicitor to do this to prove the house belonged to the friend's spouse.

G6JNS

konark wrote: »

If the land is unregistered it's not just as simple as signing the house over to herself on AS1. She will need to get a solicitor to do this to prove the house belonged to the friend's spouse.

This not necessarily the case. Someone has to prepare an epitome of title. It depends on how complicated the deeds are.

Scp

G6JNS wrote: »

This not necessarily the case. Someone has to prepare an epitome of title. It depends on how complicated the deeds are.

Thank you. I intend to do this. Best root of title is a mortgage deed (earlier than 15 years, when the house was bought), and I have earlier documents as well.

It is just a question of my sitting down, and going through them.

I shall ring the Land Registry whether an AS1 is required in addition to the FR1 and ID1, and, of course, the DL2 in duplicate!

meritaten

phone the land registry - they are very helpful and will advise you appropriately.

BobQ

konark wrote: »

If the land is unregistered it's not just as simple as signing the house over to herself on AS1. She will need to get a solicitor to do this to prove the house belonged to the friend's spouse.

If the lady has the original title deeds and the deed names her husband as the owner it will be quite straightforward to transfer the title with a Grant of Representation (letters of administration) and a death certificate.

Where it would need a solicitor is if the evidence of title is incomplete or complicated.

Land_Registry

Not sure if you have rung us yet but if you did then we would refer you to our Practice Guide 1 (I suspect you have already seen this though as you refer to a 15 year root of title).

I am assuming that the property was originally bought in the deceased's sole name and is England or Wales.

If that is the case and his widow wants to register the property in her name as the beneficiary then an Assent would be acceptable and the named executor would transfer to the beneficiary as you mention. Form AS1 can be used for this and the online guidance includes notes to help with it's completion.

Forms FR1 and DL are the application forms whilst the AS1 is the legal deed used to transfer the ownership. These forms plus the root of tile and certified copy of the probate will be required.

I should add that there is no legal requirement to register the title following a sole owner's death. In many cases it does happen as executors and beneficiaries wish to deal with the estate, which of course includes the property. It also makes dealing with the property a lot easier in the future say for example when the widow passes away.

I hope that helps but if you have trouble completing the forms or lodging the application then please do contact us but if it is for wider advice on wills, probate and inheritance we will not be able to assist.

EasySolution

I thought that Section 4 of the Land Registration Act 2002 lists the triggers for a First Registration. One of those triggers is an assent.

Could the Land registry representative just clarify?

Scp

Yes. I thought it became compulsory.
I did mention that the deceased died intestate.
The widow is solely entitled. I have obtained letters of administration for her in her name.
My question is: is an assent still required?
I can understand an executor assenting to a beneficiary.
Simply put : can you assent to yourself?
Any assistance will be much appreciated?