Land registry challenge

petelondon

I am not sure if this should be in this forum , or in Wills,probate etc but thought i would try here first.
The situation is my sister is being threatened by a co-executor that he will challenge the land registry transfer of a property left to her by her ex-partner to stop her from selling said property.

Brief summary.
My sister and her ex-partner were (are?) joint proprietors of a property they bought together in the mid 90s. Although they split up ( never married) she always remained on the deeds.
Her ex partner died last year and left the house to her in his will.
She is one of the executors , the other I shall call M  (who was a friend of the deceased) .My sister is the main executor and has handled all the probate herself.
She has since provided the land registry with the DJP forms, copy of probate , will , death certificate and proof of identity. With all these details, the land registry has signed the deeds to her in her sole name now.

The house was put up for sale, and is now close to exchange but M  has threatened to challenge the transfer to my sister  - our belief is that he wants to use this as leverage to extort some money out of her as his business is in a bit of financial trouble.

He is now refusing to hand over a set of keys he has for the property , although my sister has asked multiple times for them to be returned. She will now have to change the locks as she lives there on her own and is a bit concerned that M may just let himself in. He also has a wardrobe and tools in her garage which she has asked him on multiple occasions to remove - again he has not done this.

My question is , what will his challenge to the land registry do in terms of delaying the exchange of contracts ? 
I would have thought that as she has provided LR with everything they need, and signed the deeds over, it would be a fait accompli 

Any advice is gratefully received.

greatcrested

I doubt it will delay things at all.

I assume she applied for Probate in her sole name, and M was registered on the Probate form as "Executer with Powers Reserved"? Correct?

If there’s more than one executor

If more than one person is named as an executor, you must all agree who makes the application for probate.

Up to 4 executors can be named on the application.

If only one executor is named on the application they’ll need to prove that they tried to contact all executors named in the will before they applied.

Did this happen? Or:

You do not want to be an executor

You can do one of the following:

• completely give up your right to apply for probate (‘renunciation’) - fill in form PA15: give up your right as an executor and send it with the probate application form
• reserve your right to apply for probate later if another executor cannot deal with the estate (holding ‘power reserved’)
• appoint an attorney to act on your behalf - fill in an attorney form and send it with the probate application.

Did M 'give up his right'...?

But I'm assuming that is now water under the bridge since

a) Probate has been granted to your sister in her sole name (correct?), and

b) she has already used her authority as Executer with Grant of Probate to transfer the property from the deceased's name, into the name of the amed Beneficiary (herself).

I shall ignore the question as to why she did this rather than simply selling the property if that was always her intention since, again, it's water under the bridge now. Finally

c) I assume the Estate has been wound up, correct? All debts/taxes paid and all assets distributed - correct?

So the property is now hers to do with as she wishes, as Beneficiary, not as Executer.

The Land Registry will not be interested in anything M claims as an Executer with regard to a property that is no longer part of the Estate.

I suspect the only course of action M could possibly take would be to claim in court that she was in some way fraudulant in what she did. This would be a costly claim to make, and almost certain to fail unless there is something signficant you have not mentioned here.

edit: Is M just an Executer or is M also a Beneficiary? If Beeficiary, is it clear from the will that the property was left to sister, or might there be some doubt as to whether M received the full amount he was due as Beneficiary, whether a specific bequest amount, or 'residue' of the Estate after distribution of the property and other bequests?

https://www.richardnelsonllp.co.uk/service/contentious-probate-solicitors/claims-against-executors/

petelondon

hi Greatcreasted ,
Firstly many thanks for your reply much appreciated.
I don't have all the answers to your followup but:
Probate has been granted in accordance with the wishes of the will. There were 3 beneficiaries, my sister, the deceased's brother , and M who was given a very small token amount ( £1000) .  This has been paid to him already as the estate has been wound up.
So it seems his only recourse is the courts -  my sister is a Financial director and has been thorough in her dealings on this - personal and professional pride, and also wanted to do her ex-partner justice as well - so i know she has been as honest as the day is long in this matter.
Really appreciate your reply, and the link as well.  It has gone a long way to putting her mind at rest.

Land_Registry

If the property was registered in their joint names then the legal ownership, which we register, passed to her on his death. No transfer was needed and nor was probate to deal with the property as it didn’t form part of his estate. 

I assume therefore probate was needed for other matters. And the application to us simply caused the register to be updated to refer to her as the sole legal registered owner. 

So did a transfer really happen? And even if one did and it was completed correctly then any challenge will really be through the courts to either make her transfer it again or, if it is sold, to deal with the proceeds of sale in some way. 

Any challenge re will/estate would be separate issues to the ownership of the property although his digging in his heels re moving out/keys etc clearly have an impact 

greatcrested

He is now refusing to hand over a set of keys he has for the property , although my sister has asked multiple times for them to be returned. She will now have to change the locks as she lives there on her own and is a bit concerned that M may just let himself in. He also has a wardrobe and tools in her garage which she has asked him on multiple occasions to remove - again he has not done this.

Regarding this, it really is not a problem. If she has a screwdriver she can change the locks for £5 - £20 (depending on lock type). Sorted.

Regarding the goods, she has a duty of care under theTorts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.

She should

* pack up the goods

* either keep them in the property or place them in paid storage

* write to the good's owner telling him where/how to collect and giving him 28 days to remove them. If they are in paid storage, do not release them to him till he has paid the removal and storage costs you incurred

* if he does not remove them, you can sell them. Any money received can be used for your removal and storage cost. Any addiionalmoney is his

* or you can take them to the charity shop/tip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXAo7zSN-9o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIPyqtOmprE

dimbo61

Your sister needs to change the locks.
I would also arrange for a man and a van to remove the items belonging to M and have them delivered to his home.
Has she got the property on the market ?
Maybe change the locks ASAP and consider Alarm /CCTV.
Sell property and return items belonging to M on the day of exchange/completion ! 

Thrugelmir

petelondon said:

My sister is the main executor and has handled all the probate herself.

Executorship is joint between those named in the will. There's no main executor. Did the other executor(s) agree to have powers reserved to them?