Advice on jointly inherited house

greatcrested

davidmcn said:

CaptainChao5 said:

greatcrested said:

CaptainChao5 said:

Thanks all. Just catching up on responses.  My siblings are not first time buyers, they have their own houses. I spoke to the solicitor and they are trying to justify the cost by saying they have to handle the 'sale' of the house between me and my siblings. I'm still not convinced this is necessary.  

If you instruct solicitors to handle the sale, they will, of course, do so according to the proper procedures. Indeed they have a duty to do so. That means getting searches done, drawing up a contract blah blah blah. Yes, that justifies teir fee. If they did not, they would not be acting professionally.

However it seems unlikely you need searches done (you presumably know the property!?), and you don't need a contract (provided you and siblings trust each other!). As advised, just transfer the Title and pay the money.

Of course, if there is a risk that you might transfer the Title and then refuse to pay the siblings, well, the siblings would want a contract in place, just as an unrelated buyer would. But does that apply here........?

Note: as pointed out, SDLT will need dealing wth as well:

Yeah, I appreciate they need to follow the process. What they have not explained is that not all of these things are required.  She did mention today that stamp duty would be payable, but if I sell my house within 3 years I can reclaim it.  I'll look at the links you shared, thanks!  I was not sure how to transfer the property title and pay the money without incurring charges to them. I read that you can only gift a small amount without it being taxable, but I was not sure how this applied when dealing with the estate.

I wouldn't say it was accurate to say that if a solicitor is instructed they'll insist on there being a contract or searches (though they may feel obliged to point out the risks of not doing so) - there's little point in either here as far as I can see.

Juat trying to explain why the solicitors might be charging £1K+.

DOV? I don't see the point! Just another complication.