Removing dead spouse name on deed and adding beneficiaries

cherry76

cherry76 wrote: »

Yes that's right.

If I understand correctly the transfer needs only be done on second death. Am I right?

Yorkshireman99

cherry76 wrote: »

If I understand correctly the transfer needs only be done on second death. Am I right?

It is better to get it changed now so that it is readily known what the position is. No need then to keep all the supporting documentation and it will never be cheaper. Even more important if the property is not registered.

poppystar

cherry76 wrote: »

If I understand correctly the transfer needs only be done on second death. Am I right?

That was the advice we had.

It is a balance of interests either way with the will as the main trust document.

If you don't change it then the beneficiaries need the will to show their claim. If you do change it the surviving spouse needs the will to show they have a life interest.

We chose in the end to change the names but that was a personal choice that surviving parent felt comfortable with. And he was happy to pay the solicitor to do it. (Although they made a hash of it and that had to be forcefully pointed out to them and they had to go back to the land Registry and make the necessary changes!!)

cherry76

poppystar wrote: »

That was the advice we had.

It is a balance of interests either way with the will as the main trust document.

If you don't change it then the beneficiaries need the will to show their claim. If you do change it the surviving spouse needs the will to show they have a life interest.

We chose in the end to change the names but that was a personal choice that surviving parent felt comfortable with. And he was happy to pay the solicitor to do it. (Although they made a hash of it and that had to be forcefully pointed out to them and they had to go back to the land Registry and make the necessary changes!!)

Any idea of solicitor's cost? Thanks

Yorkshireman99

A few hundred pounds. Make sure it is a STEP member who will be a trust expert.

poppystar

cherry76 wrote: »

Any idea of solicitor's cost? Thanks

I think it was about £400/500 but can't remember now. I honestly think that the solicitor my parents have always used is expensive.

Afterwards I found a very good video done by the Land Registry covering the filling in of forms. Their support line/email is also very good. These allowed me to have and confirm my suspicions that the solicitor (probably a job handed to a junior) had made errors. I'm unlikely to be in that position again but if I were I would certainly be very tempted to do it ourselves using these support resources.

(sorry can't remember if the video is linked from Land Registry site or is on Youtube - but it was an official video I'm sure) Maybe Land Registry rep can confirm?

cherry76

poppystar wrote: »

I think it was about £400/500 but can't remember now. I honestly think that the solicitor my parents have always used is expensive.

Afterwards I found a very good video done by the Land Registry covering the filling in of forms. Their support line/email is also very good. These allowed me to have and confirm my suspicions that the solicitor (probably a job handed to a junior) had made errors. I'm unlikely to be in that position again but if I were I would certainly be very tempted to do it ourselves using these support resources.

(sorry can't remember if the video is linked from Land Registry site or is on Youtube - but it was an official video I'm sure) Maybe Land Registry rep can confirm?

I think £400 to £500 is the going rate. Have watched the video and should be quite easy to fill the forms there is also help and advice from LR forum but getting a solicitor to certify id might be costly. I am also thinking I can fill form asi to remove dead spouse name on the deed. As his share of the house goes into trust therefore the beneficiaries are not legal owners until second death. According to your post the solicitors advised you to change on first death.

Yorkshireman99

cherry76 wrote: »

I think £400 to £500 is the going rate. Have watched the video and should be quite easy to fill the forms there is also help and advice from LR forum but getting a solicitor to certify id might be costly. I am also thinking I can fill form asi to remove dead spouse name on the deed. As his share of the house goes into trust therefore the beneficiaries are not legal owners until second death. According to your post the solicitors advised you to change on first death.

Always remember that "free advice is worth what you pay for it". Although much good advice is given here there ais also a fair amount of bad. Ask yourself what the consequences will cost if you do DIY it and get it wrong? The costs of uncrambling a botched DIY job will be much more and not just in money.

Land_Registry

poppystar wrote: »

I think it was about £400/500 but can't remember now. I honestly think that the solicitor my parents have always used is expensive.

Afterwards I found a very good video done by the Land Registry covering the filling in of forms. Their support line/email is also very good. These allowed me to have and confirm my suspicions that the solicitor (probably a job handed to a junior) had made errors. I'm unlikely to be in that position again but if I were I would certainly be very tempted to do it ourselves using these support resources.

(sorry can't remember if the video is linked from Land Registry site or is on Youtube - but it was an official video I'm sure) Maybe Land Registry rep can confirm?

The videos you mention are on You Tube but linked to from our online guidance for the AP1 and TR1 for example. https://www.gov.uk/registering-land-or-property-with-land-registry/transfer-ownership-of-your-property

Land_Registry

cherry76 wrote: »

The forms could be filled by surviving spouse but providing id will be quite a hassle to get all three together for identification. The only option is to use a solicitor which will be costly. Can the registry be left unchanged with dead spouse name still on the deed or does it have to be update as soon as possible? On death of second spouse the trust ends and the property goes to the two beneficiaries in equal shares as tenants in common. Thanks for your advice.

Brighty has offered a correct alternative to the ID 'hassle'

The register can be left unchanged. We don't update re a death until we are notified by someone making an application. Not doing so does not alter the fact that they are dead but notifying us does not change your psition anyway .

It would be form DJP plus official copy death certificate to update the register on death. Not an AS1

Solicitors are rarely experts in every field of the law. Their firms might be but for example one who specialises in trusts or wills or probate may not be a conveyancing solicitor. That's not to disparage solicitors as it's the same for us. We can hopefully cover off the registration, legal ownership, issues. But our expertise does not then stretch to the beneficial ownership covered by the life interest, wills, trusts involved here.

Sage advice from other posters re getting professional advice and bearing that cost. I would perhaps have expected the 'what happens next' scenarios to have been covered when the wills/life interest/trust were set up but as I said our expertise is not in that area so may be reasons why that was not included at the time?