House deeds

Angie200963

I am new to the forum and hopefully have posted in the right section.

My question is about house deeds which were thought lost but have now been found.

My dad passed away in 2017, because my mum suffers dementia I got a letter of administration to transfer my dads money into my mums account, I asked about the deeds to mum she said it was in joint names. We had a look for them at the time but they could not be found, my mums 85 and just lives downstairs in a terrace house, upstairs is full of junk accumulated over the years, she would get very upset if we tried to go upstairs.

I contacted the land registry but the property is not on the register.

Recently she had a chest infection and was taken into hospital, which gave us a chance to sort all the junk out, old bottles, caps, wood chip wallpaper, the list goes on, but still no deeds to be found. We could not find them anywhere, then my hubby got into the loft and in an old tin he found the deeds.

But they were in my dads name only, they were letters of a joint account from the building society when they remortgaged in 1980 for home improvement, which my mum must have confused with deed ownership.

How easy is it to get the deeds put into my mums name, do I need a solicitor to do it.

If the dementia gets worse she may have to go into a care home, she has about £150,000 in her account so she will be self funded and the care homes are not cheap so the house may also have to be sold to fund this as well.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

bengalknights

Did your father write a will that handed all assets down to your mother?

If so it should be a straightforward transfer.

Mojisola

Angie200963 wrote: »

I contacted the land registry but the property is not on the register.

How easy is it to get the deeds put into my mums name, do I need a solicitor to do it.

A change of ownership means you will have to register the property with the LR.

Some people do this themselves but we paid our solicitor to do it.

Yorkshireman99

bengalknights wrote: »

Did your father write a will that handed all assets down to your mother?

If so it should be a straightforward transfer.

Not straightforward for a novice but a solicitor can do it easily. Do you intend to sell the property after your mother dies? If so it can be done then. You need to check the insurance is in her name not your dads

Angie200963

Thank you for all the swift replies.

My dad did not leave a will, that is why I had to apply for a letter of administration to handle his affairs, but surely that doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want with the house. My mum was married to my dad for 60 years everything should and will go to her. She has also not written a will and because of the dementia will not do now.
So when she does pass away probably in a care home, whatever is left will be divided by blood, myself, my sister and my brothers two children as he passed away.

As for insurance my parents never believed in it I know seems stupid, but there is no insurance on the house or contents and I have told her many times to do it, but she won’t and I was told only my mum can apply for it and she won’t.

Yorkshireman99

Angie200963 wrote: »

Thank you for all the swift replies.

My dad did not leave a will, that is why I had to apply for a letter of administration to handle his affairs, but surely that doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want with the house. My mum was married to my dad for 60 years everything should and will go to her. She has also not written a will and because of the dementia will not do now.
So when she does pass away probably in a care home, whatever is left will be divided by blood, myself, my sister and my brothers two children as he passed away.

How big is the total estate likely to be? The intestacy rules will apply so the house will probably need to be sold so the estate can be divided accordingly. I was was bot suggesting it should be sold before.

getmore4less

Angie200963 wrote: »

Thank you for all the swift replies.

My dad did not leave a will, that is why I had to apply for a letter of administration to handle his affairs, but surely that doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want with the house. My mum was married to my dad for 60 years everything should and will go to her. She has also not written a will and because of the dementia will not do now.
So when she does pass away probably in a care home, whatever is left will be divided by blood, myself, my sister and my brothers two children as he passed away.

that is not the case.

Only the first £250k + 1/2 the rest of the estate
The other 1/2 goes to the kids.

Mojisola

Angie200963 wrote: »

My mum was married to my dad for 60 years everything should and will go to her.

getmore4less wrote: »

that is not the case.

Only the first £250k + 1/2 the rest of the estate
The other 1/2 goes to the kids.

Although the kids can do a deed of variation and give their shares of the estate back to their mother.

Yorkshireman99

getmore4less wrote: »

that is not the case.

Only the first £250k + 1/2 the rest of the estate
The other 1/2 goes to the kids.

But it sounds as if this was never done as the was no will which com-locates matters to say the least.

getmore4less

Mojisola wrote: »

Although the kids can do a deed of variation and give their shares of the estate back to their mother.

Depends on the age of the grandkids.

Mojisola

Angie200963 wrote: »

my mums 85

getmore4less wrote: »

Depends on the age of the grandkids.

Going by Mum's age, I don't think any of the kids will be minors.

I don't see why the grandkids would have any say in what's happening.