House selling with complications!

JohnAndrew

chanz4 wrote: »

Has it been rented out?

No, but my son has lived there. He was my mother's principle carer and lived there several years before she passed.

JohnAndrew

AdrianC wrote: »

You haven't even started marketing it yet?
Do you have tenants in place? Have you given them notice yet? Will s21 notice be valid?
(If so, how has her share of the rent been paid, and how has she been paying for her share of maintenance etc costs?)

Not yet, my son lives there and intends to move out this year. He has lived in the house for several years before my mother passed. He was her carer. Rent has not been paid in lieu of considerable upgrading to the premises and continual maintenance.

AdrianC

He is still your tenant, legally. You are still just as liable as any other landlord for provision of gas safety certificates etc.

AnotherJoe

JohnAndrew wrote: »

Thanks for the replies so far!

The house was passed to us over 5 years ago and no inheritance tax was due - I guess the tax will be capital gains - if the house sells at the top estimate there will be a profit of around 30k. It was valued for probate at just under 130k 5 years ago.


Well then you'd have to pay some CGT, on the difference between your CGT allowance of about £12k and the £15k, eg CGT on £3k. Won't be too much, No idea about your sister re US tax.


My sister is coming to the uk in march/april time so we can sort out through a solicitor - would they see to the money transfer?.

Get her to give you power of attorney (or the solicitor) so you/them can then sign documents without a big delay every time one is needed. Yes they will transfer the money to wherever she asks.

JohnAndrew wrote: »

Would she be able to open her own bank account here? She has spoken about buying a property in the uk.

Probably not and buying a house here unless its for her own use is most likely a bad idea, especially if she thinking of buying it to be a landlord? All sorts of tax complexity and hassle.

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/capital-gains-tax-for-non-residents-uk-residential-property seems relevant.

In the OP's situation it would seem wise for the sale to be handled through a solicitor and for the solicitor to make the payment to the non resident from his client account.

G_M

JohnAndrew wrote: »

Not yet, my son lives there and intends to move out this year. He has lived in the house for several years before my mother passed. He was her carer. Rent has not been paid in lieu of considerable upgrading to the premises and continual maintenance.

So

1) since neither you nor your sister (the joint owners) used the house as your main residence, CGT is payable as per my post above.

2) rent was paid by your son. 'Upgrading' in lieu of cash = rent. The value /cost of the upgrading should be declared to HMRC for income tax purposes.

3) as landlords, you and sister should comply with all tenancy regulations. See

* New landlords: advice, information & links

JohnAndrew

AdrianC wrote: »

He is still your tenant, legally. You are still just as liable as any other landlord for provision of gas safety certificates etc.

Yes, thank you! I have all the gas certs and energy stuff along with landlord insurances etc...

ThePants999

G_M wrote: »

Not necessarily. If there is no mortgage, there is no legal reason the OP cannot do the conveyancing himself if he feels competent. The money would then go direct to him.

There might be no legal reason, but we regularly hear from frustrated people who have tried to go this route only to find that the other party's solicitor refuses to deal with them and insists that they're represented. In particular, the buyer's solicitor will not have ID checked the OP, and will likely be uncomfortable (at least!) transferring money to an account of the OP's choosing. Even more so when they realise that the property is currently owned by two proprietors. And even MORE so when they realise that one of them isn't UK resident.