Changing Property Title Deeds

Janeh68

Hello


I'm looking for advice about the following situation.


My mother and her partner own their property on a 60/40 basis as Tenants in Common. The reason they split it in this way is that my mother has 3 children and her partner has 2, so when they pass on, the property will be split equally between the 5 of us.

My mother!!!8217;s partner died October 2017 and his daughters have decided to get a solicitor involved to have their names added to the deeds of the house.

I!!!8217;d like to try to find out if we are under any legal obligation to go ahead with this?

I feel that it is unnecessary as when my mother either passes or sell's the house, as far as I!!!8217;m aware they are legally entitled to the 40% their father owned as his next of kin as we are to my mothers 60%. I also feel it is very unfair to expect my mother to pay out for a solicitor for something that will give her no benefit.

I hope you can help or possibly point us in the right direction.


Many Thanks in advance


Jane

Flugelhorn

what did your mother's partner's will say about who his 40% of the property was left to?

Janeh68

Unfortunately he didn't leave a will. The agreement was as Partners in Common so it could be split 60/40, so his 40% will automatically pass to his daughters but I see no reason to have the deeds amended to show their names and his name is just as good. My problem is with the cost to my mum. Legally I don't know how it stands.

Keep_pedalling

What the will says is crucial (assuming he made one) the proper way to do it would be to leave your share to your children, with a life interest trust in place for the survivor

If he simply left his share to his children or died intestate then they now own that share outright, and it would seem reasonable that they register their ownership of it, especially as they could actually force a sale if they wished to do so.

Keep_pedalling

Janeh68 wrote: »

Unfortunately he didn't leave a will. The agreement was as Partners in Common so it could be split 60/40, so his 40% will automatically pass to his daughters but I see no reason to have the deeds amended to show their names and his name is just as good. My problem is with the cost to my mum. Legally I don't know how it stands.

Good grief why do so many unmarried couples fail to make wills?

Why would your mother be the one to pay? This should come out of his estate. Are his children administering it or is your mother?

Once letters of administration are obtained changing the ownership is straight forward and should not need solicitors.

-taff

If he didn't leave a will, you'd better check the intestacy rules, because they could force a sale if they wanted to because your mother and her partner were not married, and if she doesn't have the money to buy them out.


That's worse case scenario though....

Keep_pedalling

-taff wrote: »

If he didn't leave a will, you'd better check the intestacy rules, because they could force a sale if they wanted to because your mother and her partner were not married.

It does sound like they just want to have the ownership recorded, so the OPs mother needs to keep it friendly. Apart from being able to force a sale they could resonably be asking for rent for their share as well.

She probably should not mention that because of the lack of a lifetime trust being in place, her partners daughters may face a capital gains tax bill when the property is eventually sold. Her children however won’t.

-taff

I thought I'd add that in there just because the OP is complaining about quite reasonable request, just to show how far things could go if they wanted to be stubborn....

Keep_pedalling

If the deceased persons children are perfectly happy to receive their inheritance after the OPs mother has died or no longer needs the house because of require care or sheltered housing then seeing a solicitor might be useful for every one.

If all agreed it should be possible to do a deed of variation to set up a lifetime trust for the
OPs mother. This would give her the security of knowing she cannot be forced out of her home, and it would protect her partners children from paying CGT if the value of the house increased significantly between now and the eventual sale date.

Keep_pedalling

-taff wrote: »

I thought I'd add that in there just because the OP is complaining about quite reasonable request, just to show how far things could go if they wanted to be stubborn....

They should also consider that even if the children are quite happy for her mother to stay rent free, she still won’t have any real security as a divorce or bankruptcy of one of those children could force a sale anytime in the future.

Flugelhorn

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

If all agreed it should be possible to do a deed of variation to set up a lifetime trust for the
OPs mother. This would give her the security of knowing she cannot be forced out of her home, and it would protect her partners children from paying CGT if the value of the house increased significantly between now and the eventual sale date.

that's very interesting - I was wondering if this was possible. Could be money very well spent