Land Registry questions

Land_Registry

noclaf said:

Land_Registry said:

noclaf said:

Land_Registry said:

noclaf said:

Hi,

My mother and father own a house as 'Tenants in Common' per the house deeds and they are legally separated/marriage annulled over 20 years back.

My father passed away in 2020, probate was concluded end of last year. My father's share of the property (50% per his will) has/will passed to myself as instructed in his will. I was not an executor on my father's will (I was a beneficiary) however I have all the documentation relating to probate and death certificates etc.

My mother is in a care home and I was assigned as a 'deputy' to manage her property and affairs as she was deemed to 'lack mental capacity' by doctors.  She owns the other 50% or at least that's how both parents wills have been set out.

I need to update the house deeds by removing my father's name and adding my own name. How do I go about doing this, can I do this myself or will it need a solicitor. I am happy to fill out forms but just need to understand what the Land Registry requires to make these updates?

Thanks

When your Father died the legal ownership passed to your Mother as the surviving joint owner. You clearly understand that the beneficial ownership/will relates to the beneficial estates. 

So if the legal ownership is to be transferred it is your Mother who needs to do that. And if that’s from her to just you or from her to the two of you then legal assistance is recommended 
Our guidance explains how a property can be transferred 
https://www.gov.uk/registering-land-or-property-with-land-registry/transfer-ownership-of-your-property
And our PG 8 section 9 explains more re the powers/execution by a deputy for example 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/execution-of-deeds

I would always advise seeking legal advice/assistance in such cases as well 

Thanks, I was completely unaware there were two distinct ownership aspects to consider ( legal and beneficial) so this is v. helpful. I will read the links and may seek advice/assistance if this starts to resemble a legal minefield!

Just to add if it wasn't clear on my OP, my parents are not 'joint owners' as a restriction was added to the deeds in 2020 to reflect that the joint tenancy was severed (this was done with the help of a legal professional)

On a separate note, having a property deed without my name on it, one deceased parent and another who lacks mental capacity...do you think this creates any additional risk for potential fraud e.g: criminals trying to change the deeds to steal the property etc

Any risks tend to start with an awareness of the families personal circumstances and/or identity theft for example. There’s no additional risk re who is or isn’t named on the register as that is largely factual information used for every property transaction 
It’s always something to be wary of and as Slithery posts setting up a Property Alert would be a sensible thing to do in this case. 

That works by alerting you to any significant application being submitted to us re the property title - it doesn’t alert you to anyone checking the information but would alert you if for example someone (inc you) submitted an application to update the register. 

Thanks, will looking into the alert suggestion by Slithery.
When my father passed away, assumed I would need to update my name on the deeds asap however I was advised by a legal professional that there was no immediate rush and as the probate documents and my father's will proves the intention to pass his share of the house to me that is the 'proof' if needed.
The stories one hears about innocent folks properties being sold without their knowledge due to fraudsters.... that's rather worrying hence my push to have the deeds updated but as I live in the property and will setup the alert hopefully can mitigate that risk without the need to start incurring legal fees to have the deeds updated.
In summary, I do not plan to sell the property anytime soon (I live there too with family) so if no immediate need to update the deeds I will hold off.

You/the family know the arrangement through the will. As the legal ownership passed to Mother probate wasn’t needed for Father as the legal ownership of the property didn’t form part of his estate. 

Updating the deeds can impact the fraud risk but only in so far as it might be harder to steal and use your identity. If you and family are living there then the Property Alert service would be the option. 

MrSim

Hi @Land_Registry

I was wondering if you could advise on the expedited status on an application for a house that we're purchasing... reference: HC5EB9B - I believe the application just resolves around boundary changes, we've been waiting so long and hoping you can advise on the current status of the application and how long we may expect to wait. 

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Land_Registry

MrSim said:

Hi @Land_Registry

I was wondering if you could advise on the expedited status on an application for a house that we're purchasing... reference: HC5EB9B - I believe the application just resolves around boundary changes, we've been waiting so long and hoping you can advise on the current status of the application and how long we may expect to wait. 

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

That application was submitted on 1st March. It’s not been expedited as yet so would recommend the lodging conveyancer contacts us using the request channel 
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-an-expedite

If they’ve said it has been expedited then I’m guessing they’ve not used the right channel or their request hasn’t been seen. They (and your own conveyancer) can check online that it’s not yet been expedited. 

Once it is then it should be considered within 2 weeks and everything then hangs on it being in order 

msb1234

My mother has recently died.  Her will states that her property must be split equally between her 4 children and her husband until such point that he dies or remarries. The address of the property in her will is not the address of the property she owned at her death. (Her will was written in 2004)

Her husband, my stepfather, is now in long term care and has advanced dementia which means he has been assessed as lacking capacity. He has no family apart from us, his adult step children. They moved house in 2020, and all previous properties were bought solely in my mothers name. In June 2021, for some reason unknown to me, she added him to the property deeds and had a tenants in common trust set up which declares that her husband has 20% and she 80%. This does not yet show up on the land registry title. In addition, there is a small mortgage on the property as she took out equity release in 2016. 
I have applied for probate as executor of her will. 

I have read a great deal of information which is rather confusing. I’d like to understand the steps I need to take in order to ensure the land registry deeds shows the correct info re tenants in common, also do I need to do anything to change the names on the deeds to get to the point that we are able to sell the house and give my stepfather his share of the estate in order to pay his care home fees (although he won’t have much). Also, does the fact that the property address on the will is different to the property she now owns matter?

msb1234

I forgot to add the Land Registry reference!
GM551660

Slithery

@msb1234
This is something you'll need to pay for a solicitor to sort out for you as it's not in the land registries remit.
All that the LR is responsible for is recording the ownership of property when provided with the correct documents. Yours is a complicated case which will require legal advice.

northernstar007

hi all hope this is the right place to put this question
back in 2018 i paid the mortgage off with virgin, still have all there paperwork confirming this
they said they will inform the land reg, i heard nothing from them since
forward to 2020 decided to buy the freehold then at long last letter this week started to arrive from landowner solicitors with official copy of the land reg looking through it stating its now freehold, question is where would a mortgage or any charges on the house where would it be on the official reg, only thing it states is charges on reg is long lists about drains and any minerals which direction house is looking etc etc, and then at the end of the reg only 1 notice its the original lease date 
and then i also got a letter from land reg direct from them this week also saying we have completed the reg of a transfer of part in respect of my property

can someone help me

Land_Registry

northernstar007 said:

hi all hope this is the right place to put this question
back in 2018 i paid the mortgage off with virgin, still have all there paperwork confirming this
they said they will inform the land reg, i heard nothing from them since
forward to 2020 decided to buy the freehold then at long last letter this week started to arrive from landowner solicitors with official copy of the land reg looking through it stating its now freehold, question is where would a mortgage or any charges on the house where would it be on the official reg, only thing it states is charges on reg is long lists about drains and any minerals which direction house is looking etc etc, and then at the end of the reg only 1 notice its the original lease date 
and then i also got a letter from land reg direct from them this week also saying we have completed the reg of a transfer of part in respect of my property

can someone help me

The freehold register would have only referred to your lease, not your mortgage. If the transfer of part of the freehold has completed then the freehold title now won’t refer to your lease. 

It reads as if you now own both the leasehold and freehold, so two titles. That’s fine
if your conveyancer requested the lease be determined then the leasehold register may have been closed and you only have a freehold title now. 

So to answer your actual question any mortgage would appear in the C Charges Register of a title owned by you. So only look at the register that names you in the B Proprietorship Register 

GangsaGuy

Enquiry reference: 211123-005824   Application reference: Y160TBS  Title number: NYK451667                                                  

Re the above Application reference: Y160TBS which was expedited by me November 2021 or possibly earlier by the developer. The application refers to a change in Freeholder of converted office block to flats. My lender won't complete until above application is recorded by Land Registry. There were up to 30 other flats sold prior to the Freehold change  and these must be registered first.  I have been monitoring the search results for the address and about a dozen flats have now been register but most of these were recorded before Christmas and since then only two or three more have been added. There has been no activity at all in the last month. I'm now very close the mortgage offer expiry date. Can you explain why no more flats have been added in the last month, how many more flats need to be registered ahead of this application, and an estimate of the time remaining to complete the application? Many Thanks.

p00hsticks

msb1234 said:

 Also, does the fact that the property address on the will is different to the property she now owns matter?

You might be best posting over on the Death, wills and probate board about this, but my (non-expert) understanding is that - asuming we are talking about England/Wales - it matters a great deal. If you mother left a specific named property in her will and she no longer owned it at the time of her death,  then the bequest fails. If she owns another/more property that isn't specifically mentioned ,then who gets it will depend on the exact wording of the will, but will probably go to whoever is mentioned in the will as receiving whatever else is in her estate (the 'residual beneficiaries').    

Was it a homemade will or one drawn up by a solicitor ?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/deaths-funerals-probate