probate and transfer of property

zailrand

Hello,

I'm just awaiting grant of probate on my mum's estate. I swore the oath just over a week ago so anytime now really.

I'm sole executor and sole beneficiary and all monies are sorted, it will just be the property to sort.

Her house was not mortgaged but was owned 2/3 by my mum and 1/6 each by two friends of hers. At some point we have agreed to either put the property up for sale or me to buy them out. My mum died feb 2016 and fire various reasons clearing house is taking a while (distance and health mainly). Basically other owners are in no hurry though - they are both older than my mum and none of us expected her sudden death - as they both expected my mum's house to be part of their estates as a legal agreement between the three of them have my mum sole occupancy rights and decisions about selling for her lifetime. Ie other owners couldn't sell or request share while my mum was still alive.

House is registered with land registry with 3 owners as tenants in common in the shared indicated above. Full value of house is about £180k. Property market in that area (rural Cumbria, not lake district) is fairly flat and house could take a while to sell. Properties in the vicinity often take 2 or more years to find a buyer!

So, is it best to just transfer mum's share to my name once I have probate or leave in current names till either I buy them out or we sell? Having done probate admin myself I'm hoping to deal with this.myself too -I'm assuming it is quite simple? One thing I haven't quite been able to work out is what the transfer fee would be - is anyone able to advise? Thanks in advance for any help.

Yorkshireman99

Almost the only reason a property will not sell is that the asking price is too optimistic. Two year to find a buyer is absurd. There is no legal need to register the change at present. This can be done by the solicitor when you sell. You need to ensure that the house ins insured and that it is maintained and visited regularly i.e. once a week. Probably best to leave the heating on at low temperature. I would suggest putting the property on the market in the New Year unless you plan to occupy it yourself. If you do decide to buy the others out you need to get a paid for survey by a RICS or equivalent surveyor.

zailrand

Thanks for reply.

Visiting once a week is not possible as I work full time and house in 250 miles away. I have insurance and insurers are aware property is unoccupied. Storage heaters are on too to keep chill off along with cental heating pump to stop water freezing in radiators. Neighbours will pop in from time to time and light a fire.

Re sale time - my mum's last house a couple of miles away took 18 months to sell and house next door to current one 3 years, I can't think of any property in the area which has sold quickly. I'm quite familiar with the area as it's where I grew up and I've lived back there twice. My mum's house in particularly is a bit of an odd barn conversion - will need some work, plus it's in the middle of nowhere (yet semi detached), private water supply and no mains sewerage and down 1.5 miles of private track so it will need a specific type of buyer! Local estate agent has valued at £180k which she thinks is realistic and leave room for negotiations. Only thing which may perhaps make a difference is that the Dales National Park boundary moves next year so it will be a bit better to that but without all the planning restrictions so that might make it attractive to someone

Yorkshireman99

zailrand wrote: »

Thanks for reply.

Visiting once a week is not possible as I work full time and house in 250 miles away. I have insurance and insurers are aware property is unoccupied. Storage heaters are on too to keep chill off along with cental heating pump to stop water freezing in radiators. Neighbours will pop in from time to time and light a fire.

Re sale time - my mum's last house a couple of miles away took 18 months to sell and house next door to current one 3 years, I can't think of any property in the area which has sold quickly. I'm quite familiar with the area as it's where I grew up and I've lived back there twice. My mum's house in particularly is a bit of an odd barn conversion - will need some work, plus it's in the middle of nowhere (yet semi detached), private water supply and no mains sewerage and down 1.5 miles of private track so it will need a specific type of buyer! Local estate agent has valued at £180k which she thinks is realistic and leave room for negotiations. Only thing which may perhaps make a difference is that the Dales National Park boundary moves next year so it will be a bit better to that but without all the planning restrictions so that might make it attractive to someone

Noted. The same comments about pricing still apply. It might be worth getting another agent to give you a value as it costs nothing but to be really sure you would need a professional valuation. Good luck anyway.

zailrand

Amusingly other agents price higher than the local agents in that area which I think is often unrealistic. But these agents are proper local and have the highest sucess rate - plus their fees are quite reasonable and they will do all the viewings at no extra charge - other agents haven't been reliable on viewings in that area so as I won't be in the locale they are probably the logical choice. If I decide to buy the other out I will get full RICS valuation/survey done but currently that is least likely option for a number of reasons.

Thanks again

Yorkshireman99

Sounds as if you have it under control. If nobody is desperate for the cash then I suppose you can afford to wait.

Land_Registry

zeailrand wrote: »

So, is it best to just transfer mum's share to my name once I have probate or leave in current names till either I buy them out or we sell? Having done probate admin myself I'm hoping to deal with this.myself too -I'm assuming it is quite simple? One thing I haven't quite been able to work out is what the transfer fee would be - is anyone able to advise? Thanks in advance for any help.

If it is sold then the two surviving registered owners would complete the Transfer. You mum's share would then be in the purchase price.

If you buy them out then they would transfer to you

Our online guidance explains how to transfer the ownership and any application to transfer should include an official copy of either the death certificate or probate
https://www.gov.uk/registering-land-or-property-with-land-registry/transfer-ownership-of-your-property

The registration fee for a Transfer for monies would be paid under Scale 1 on those monies.
If there were no monies and it was a gift then it would be Scale 2 on the value of the gift so a third of the current market value, namely £60k which would be £40
The fee scales are linked to from the guidance

zailrand

Thanks LRR

So from your post an I correct in assuming:

We don't need to do anything till

- After we sell at which point the transfer will be to the new owner and mum's share will come to me as beneficiary

- I decide to buy them out at which point it will cost £40 (assuming I pay £60k)

Is there any point at all in transferring my mum's share (i.e. The 2/3) from her name to mine?

Yorkshireman99

zailrand wrote: »

Thanks LRR

So from your post an I correct in assuming:

We don't need to do anything till

- After we sell at which point the transfer will be to the new owner and mum's share will come to me as beneficiary

- I decide to buy them out at which point it will cost £40 (assuming I pay £60k)

Is there any point at all in transferring my mum's share (i.e. The 2/3) from her name to mine?

Not really any point.

zailrand

Ok, that's interesting. I always assumed I needed to transfer it to my name if my mum died so that's all really useful advice. Thanks

Yorkshireman99

zailrand wrote: »

Ok, that's interesting. I always assumed I needed to transfer it to my name if my mum died so that's all really useful advice. Thanks

As long as you have a valid will then you have the supporting evidence that it is now yours so it is just not needed. When the property is sold, or you buy the others out the solicitor will do it in one go.