My daughter passed away, no will, property is tennent in common

Lostmummy

I spoke to the solicitor on the phone this morning to enquire about what was needed to have me as a trustee in regards to the sale of the property. It was all identification paperwork. I mentioned about applying for administeration papers and she said there was no need. It was all perfectly legal and the proceeds from the sale would be split 50/50 between me and my daughters partner. Obviously she would not be dealing with the administration there after. As myself and my daughters father are the immediate beneficiaries this would not be a problem . I am confused as to if letters of administration are needed or not now. What are the benefits ? Is there any point in going to the cost of letters of administeration if it can all be dealt this way? Many thanks.

Yorkshireman99

Lostmummy wrote: »

I spoke to the solicitor on the phone this morning to enquire about what was needed to have me as a trustee in regards to the sale of the property. It was all identification paperwork. I mentioned about applying for administeration papers and she said there was no need. It was all perfectly legal and the proceeds from the sale would be split 50/50 between me and my daughters partner. Obviously she would not be dealing with the administration there after. As myself and my daughters father are the immediate beneficiaries this would not be a problem . I am confused as to if letters of administration are needed or not now. What are the benefits ? Is there any point in going to the cost of letters of administeration if it can all be dealt this way? Many thanks.

This is just going round in circles. I think you need to ask the solicitor about the costs and then decide.

Land_Registry

Lostmummy wrote: »

I spoke to the solicitor on the phone this morning to enquire about what was needed to have me as a trustee in regards to the sale of the property. It was all identification paperwork. I mentioned about applying for administeration papers and she said there was no need. It was all perfectly legal and the proceeds from the sale would be split 50/50 between me and my daughters partner. Obviously she would not be dealing with the administration there after. As myself and my daughters father are the immediate beneficiaries this would not be a problem . I am confused as to if letters of administration are needed or not now. What are the benefits ? Is there any point in going to the cost of letters of administeration if it can all be dealt this way? Many thanks.

Lostmummy - it may help here to explain a few things from the property perspective alone as this can be dealt with quite separately from the rest of the deceased's estate, especially in the circumstances outlined already.

If your daughter had been the sole owner then probate (recorded will) or letters of administration (no will) would have been needed for someone to then deal with the property i.e. sell it or transfer it to a beneficiary.

The property is the legal estate but is separate from the beneficial estate and probate/letters of admin deal with both but may not always be required where a property is held in joint names.

As this property is registered in joint names the legal ownership passes to the surviving owner, her partner. That does not mean that her beneficial ownership passes to him as well but the ability to sell or transfer the property passes to him so letters of administration (or probate) is not required.

They may be required though for other matters involving her estate such as monies, belongings etc but not the property itself. We only deal with the property so clarification on that wider point would be needed from your solicitor or her bank for example.

So we know that the partner can now deal with the property but if he sells then your daughter's interest in the property is effectively converted into monies and as such her beneficiaries may have a claim on those monies - in this case though he appears to have acknowledged this and the monies are to be split 50/50.

Where joint owners hold the property as tenants in common they will often reflect this on the register itself by way of entry of a form A restriction.
I have linked you to the form SEV which contains the form A wording - you will note how it restricts a 'sole surviving owner with regards taking receipt of capital monies' - namely if they sell/remortgage they cannot do so on their own and must appoint someone else to act with them and therefore take receipt of the proceeds of sale/remortgage. This is aimed at ensuring that the deceased's beneficiary receives their share and that any involved parties look to ensure that is what indeed happens.

A form A restriction may not always be applied for on the register and joint owners may simply enter into a declaration of trust or record how they wish to hold the property in some other way. That is why the register is not the definitive source of such information although many believe that it is.

So in summary if your daughter and her partner were registered as joint owners but with no form A restriction then he can now sell the property without the involvement of her beneficiaries.

If the estate comprises more than just the property but there is no will then letters of administration may be needed to deal with these. The laws around intestacy and probate will help understand this in more detail although your solicitor has covered it for you it seems.

If there is evidence to confirm that they were in fact tenants in common then this would be the basis of any claim on the part of the beneficiaries on the proceeds of sale - her partner, as mentioned, appears to have acknowledged this and hence the 50/50 split. Although they may simply view it as a 50/50 split anyway of course.

The solicitor dealing with the sale will also control the Transfer and receipt of the sale monies. If they are to release those monies 50/50 they will need to be satisfied as to each identity and their legal entitlement. Again this appears to be what the solicitor has already explained.

So whether you require letters of administration appears to depend on what else is comprised in your daughter's estate and whether it's value warrants the need to apply for same. This is not within my remit so you should rely on others here but if you are dealing with a bank for example it is often best to also ask them as well as if the amounts of money involved are small they may not require that level of detail.

You may find the CAB website of help

I hope that goes some way of explaining things from a registration perspective but if it still leaves you with unanswered questions or issues then please do refer back to and rely on your legal advice

Lostmummy

Land Registry Rep..... Thank you so much. You have explained everything so well. It all makes perfect sense and thank you for taking the time to write me such a detailed reply. You're a star x

RAS

:TLand Registry Representative; thank you for a brilliant explanation.