Title Absolute

retiredandskint

Both my husband's and my name are listed as proprietor on the Land Registry document. How can I find out if we were joint tenants or tenants in common. I've looked all through the documents when we purchased the house but nothing indicates what it is.

We both made Wills leaving everything to each other and sadly my husband has passed away. Do/should I be doing anything regarding the house.

Keep_pedalling

It is most likely that the house is held as joint tennants but if it is held as TiC section B of the LR will following restriction listed.

RESTRICTION: NO DISPOSITION BY A SOLE PROPRIETOR OR THE REGISTERED ESTATE (EXCEPT A TRUST CORPORATION) UNDER WHICH CAPITAL MONEY ARISES IS TO BE
REGISTERED UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY AN ORDER OF THE COURT’.

SevenOfNine

My condolences.

Does it say under section B: Proprietorship Register
Proprietor: Fred Bloggs and Fanny Bloggs of <<<full address>>>
Restriction: No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.

We severed our joint tenancy ownership & that was the section confirming the change to Tenants in Common.

https://www.gov.uk/update-property-records-someone-dies
This covers updating if you are joint tenants, & I think for T in C you would be following the process there for "Transferring to a Beneficiary".

Someone who knows for sure will confirm soon, hopefully.

retiredandskint

It says

Title Absolute

1. (date) PROPRIETOR: Mr Retired and Mrs Retired of (address)
2. The price paid
3. The transfer to the proprietor ...........

retiredandskint

There is no reference to disposal.

Keep_pedalling

All you need to do is send the land registry form DJP to remove his name from the registry.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deceased-joint-proprietor-djp

retiredandskint

Thank you. When speaking to the solicitor who had done our Wills he made it sound as though it was complicated and I need to make an appointment to see him.

System

So sorry to hear of your husband's passing.

It shouldn't be complicated but if you are dealing with this yourself, rather than appoint a solicitor to do it for you, you will probably need to make a visit to the solicitors office to get a certified copy of the Will and also a few certified copies of the Death Certificate.

Land_Registry

Two things to add

With regards the current registered ownership you can apply to update the register using a form DJP and an official copy of his death certificate. There is no fee. The legal ownership, which we register, passes to you automatically as the surviving joint legal owner. There is no legal requirement to update the register now as it can be done at any time.

The Tenants in common aspect you refer to relates to your beneficial ownership, rather than the legal ownership. The register is not definitive re such detail and the term 'tenants in common' is not referred to on the register either.

Joint owners may indicate that they wish to hold the property as tenants in common when they are registered or may decide to sever their joint tenancy at some stage, scenarios others had referred to in their posts

When this happens, and where the land is registered, we can register a Form A restriction on the registered title, namely
'No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court'

The Form A restriction does not itself change the ownership from beneficial joint tenancy to tenancy in common. The restriction only reflects the request or change made and does not, as suggested, confirm you are TIC for example.

For further information see Joint property ownership available on the GOV.UK website

So if you both made wills leaving everything to one another then I am unclear as to what would be complicated unless the wills suggested otherwise. Updating the register is a straightforward matter.