Selling fathers house

mutley66

Hi , my father has passed away; he didn’t leave a will, and the house deeds are only in his name. My mum is moving into rented sheltered accommodation and wants the house sold but doesn’t want the deeds changing into her name. I’m arranging probate (in her name) and wonder if -
• we can sell the house with the deeds still in my deceased fathers name?

• and if so, do we need to do anything different for probate? 

• moving forward, if my mum ended up in a care home (within the next 7years?) would this process automatically mean the council would include the value of the house sale when assessing her finances for care home costs? 
Regards. 

Keep_pedalling

There is no need to transfer the house to her name you can sell as the administrator, once you have letters of administration.

As your father died intestate, your mother will inherit the first £270k of his estate plus 50% of anything over that. The remainder will by you and your siblings if you have any. Should you mother require care then the assets she inherits will be required to self fund, even if she gave them away as that is classed as deliberate deprivation of assets. 

p00hsticks

How much is the house worth ?

Is the property registered with the land registry ?

As your father didn't leave a will then the intestacy rules apply to determine how much of his estate goes to your mother and how much (if anything) goes to you and any siblings.

Yes, the local authority will include your mothers inheritance when assessing her finances.

Mojisola

mutley66 said:

if my mum ended up in a care home (within the next 7years?) would this process automatically mean the council would include the value of the house sale when assessing her finances for care home costs?

Ignore the 7 years - that only applies to inheritance tax.

As she is moving into sheltered accommodation, it's clear that she needs extra help and may have to move into residential care at some point in the future.  To make sure that she can choose where she'd like to be, it's much better for her to keep all her assets.

Does she qualify for Attendance Allowance?  That isn't means tested so she could claim it now.

getmore4less

mutley66 said:

Hi , my father has passed away; he didn’t leave a will, and the house deeds are only in his name. My mum is moving into rented sheltered accommodation and wants the house sold but doesn’t want the deeds changing into her name. I’m arranging probate (in her name) and wonder if -
• we can sell the house with the deeds still in my deceased fathers name?

• and if so, do we need to do anything different for probate? 

• moving forward, if my mum ended up in a care home (within the next 7years?) would this process automatically mean the council would include the value of the house sale when assessing her finances for care home costs? 
Regards. 

Who is going to do the work?

if you much easier if you are named on the grant

xylophone

Rules of Intestacy here
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

You will need Letters of Administration - if you are doing all the work it would be better for you (rather than your mother) to apply?

Once you have LoA you can sell the property as Administrator - it does not have to be transferred into the name of your mother.

This will give your mother cash to save/invest - her capital will be taken into account in any means test.

74jax

Only the amount of the house inherited by your mother will be included if she needs care. Not the whole house (if some goes to you /siblings). 
It's not 7 years, they can go back much longer, 7 years is for inheritance tax. 
If I was you, I'd do the probate rather than in your mother's name. Do you have PoA for her?