Probate granted- advice on house rental

Lpghostage

My sister and I are both executors for my late father's estate. The estate was simple so we decided to go for a DIY probate which was a painless process and we now have the Grant of Probate.
There is a property involved and we are thinking of renting rather than selling.
I would appreciate advice on the following:
1. Should we now contact the Land Registry to advise change of ownership? Which form do we use?
2. Is it best to have house registered jointly with our respective spouses?
3. With regard to my half of the rental income, my wife is a non-taxpayer. Therefore, could I transfer ownership to my wife, or would this not be acceptable to HMRC?

Yorkshireman99

The first thing to do is consider if you really want all the legalities of being a landlord. Insurance, upkeep of the property, certificates for gas safety and so on. Also the income and capital gains tax liabilities. This is not a task to be undertaken lightly. You would all be well advised to take professional advice first. Also take a look at the forum on this topic.

Brighty

Land registry forms you'll need are AS1 if putting into beneficiaries names only, or TR1 if putting into spouses names as well. You'll also need to fill in AP1, Any new owner not named on the probate as executor will need to do an ID1

HMRC deem the rental income to belong to whoever owns the house, so if you want your wife to have all the income, she'll need to own all your half the house. Which is fine, but if you split up, it's hers, she owns it.

Land_Registry

The forms for transferring ownership Brighty mentions are here. Any party involved in the Transfer and not named in the probate as an executor will need their ID confirmed

As Yorkshireman posts there is a lot to consider and legal/professional advice is recommended. And if putting the legal ownership in wife's sole name then looking at ways to protect your beneficial ownership and what impact that has on the tax etc issues could be part of that

Lpghostage

Many thanks for the advice so far. Looks as if professional advice may be the best way forward.

getmore4less

Before spending any money look for the guides to renting on here and places like landlordzone.

the renting forum
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

if you go rental you are staring a business research first and pay when you are convinced it is the right thing to do and you need help on very specific details you can't work out for yourself.

detailed advice on the tax on the rental is way down the line.

Yorkshireman99

getmore4less wrote: »

Before spending any money look for the guides to renting on here and places like landlordzone.

the renting forum
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

if you go rental you are staring a business research first and pay when you are convinced it is the right thing to do and you need help on very specific details you can't work out for yourself.

detailed advice on the tax on the rental is way down the line.

The tax implications cannot be discounted early on. They are a fundamental part of making an overall decision about the desireability of the project.