Help needed please

princess23

Sadly my father passed away recently (my mother has already passed) and as I am an only child I am executor of the will. The property is left to myself, I have already informed all relevant people (banks, utility bills etc etc ) of his passing. My question is regarding probate do I need a solicitor to carry this out or would it be simple to do myself. The property I just want transferred into my name as I am not planning on selling it yet can anyone give me some advice and where to start thank you in advance. I did read a post about valuation for tax purposes am I correct in saying as its left to me (his daughter) the valuation of everything can be as much as £500k  before tax inc contents of the house etc or am in wrong?

xylophone

My question is regarding probate do I need a solicitor to carry this out or would it be simple to do myself. 

You are the named executor and  a beneficiary  (sole beneficiary?) of your late father's will.

It is possible to obtain probate without the assistance of a solicitor and also to have  your father's  house transferred into your name once you have the grant of probate.

In terms of IHT read 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/inheritance-tax-transfer-of-threshold

You will see that in certain circumstances, it would be possible for an estate valued at up to £1mn to be passed on IHT free.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/guide-to-probate/

Now see https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate

https://help.landregistry.gov.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/27/~/transfer-property-to-the-beneficiary-after-the-sole-owner-has-died

Keep_pedalling

Do you already own your home? If not, don’t transfer your parents home to your name unless you plan to move in. Losing first time buyer status will cost you significant sums in stamp duty when you do come to buy a place of your own.

ahfat41

Regarding not losing first time buyer status.  If you have inherited a house and have not transferred it under your name, you can still claim first time buyer status but not if you transfer it!

Keep_pedalling

ahfat41 said:

Regarding not losing first time buyer status.  If you have inherited a house and have not transferred it under your name, you can still claim first time buyer status but not if you transfer it!

Correct, until transferred or sold the house belongs to the estate.

princess23

Thank you for your replies, I am both the executor and sole beneficiary and this would be my second home as I already have my own property. Would it still then be straightforward to get this changed into my name? Also in relation to the evaluation is this purely just on the property as it stands now (with or without contents) as when/if I chose to sell it after making alterations obviously the value of the property will rise.

xylophone

 Would it still then be straightforward to get this changed into my name? 

Yes - see post above.

 Also in relation to the evaluation is this purely just on the property as it stands now (with or without contents) as when/if I chose to sell it after making alterations obviously the value of the property will rise.

The property is valued at date of death.

The contents are valued at date of death.  This should not be too difficult unless father owned valuable antiques/paintings etc etc.

With regard to selling the property at some point in the future, it will be valued at point of sale - you will then need to consider your situation with regard to CGT.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-property-money-shares-you-inherit/property

princess23

xylophone said:

 Would it still then be straightforward to get this changed into my name? 

Yes - see post above.

 Also in relation to the evaluation is this purely just on the property as it stands now (with or without contents) as when/if I chose to sell it after making alterations obviously the value of the property will rise.

The property is valued at date of death.

The contents are valued at date of death.  This should not be too difficult unless father owned valuable antiques/paintings etc etc.

With regard to selling the property at some point in the future, it will be valued at point of sale - you will then need to consider your situation with regard to CGT.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-property-money-shares-you-inherit/property

Sorry I am a bit confused on the CGT. If lets say my Fathers property is worth £300,000 and in a year it is worth £400,000 (after updating)  and my own property is worth £400,000 how do I work out what tax if any I should be paying. Thank you in advance for any help this is quite confusing

p00hsticks

princess23 said:

xylophone said:

 Would it still then be straightforward to get this changed into my name? 

Yes - see post above.

 Also in relation to the evaluation is this purely just on the property as it stands now (with or without contents) as when/if I chose to sell it after making alterations obviously the value of the property will rise.

The property is valued at date of death.

The contents are valued at date of death.  This should not be too difficult unless father owned valuable antiques/paintings etc etc.

With regard to selling the property at some point in the future, it will be valued at point of sale - you will then need to consider your situation with regard to CGT.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-property-money-shares-you-inherit/property

Sorry I am a bit confused on the CGT. If lets say my Fathers property is worth £300,000 and in a year it is worth £400,000 (after updating)  and my own property is worth £400,000 how do I work out what tax if any I should be paying. Thank you in advance for any help this is quite confusing

The value of the property you are currently living in is irrelevant.

If your fathers property was worth £300,000 at the time of his death then that is what you declare for probate and use for calculation of any IHT due.

If you sell the property at some future date for £400, 000, having not lived in it as your primary residence, then you'll potentially be liable to pay CGT at your marginal rate of income tax on the rise in value, less expenses (cost of selling etc).  You have an annual CGT allowance of £12,300 (as in 2020-21) which you can set against the CGT.

I'm not an expert on what is allowable in terms of expenses etc - it may be worth looking into whether it is actually beneficial to sell the property now 'as is' rather than pay out money to improve it, and therefore end up paying more in CGT when you come to sell.

The people over on the 'Cutting Tax' board will probably have more knowledge on what sort of things you can and can't deduct.

If you are intending on not selling straight away for hatever reason you need to make sure you get a proper valuation of the property now, both for IHT purposes now, and CGT considerations later.

princess23

Hi everyone, need some help please with transferring my fathers property in mine and my husbands names we have decided to keep it for the foreseeable future. I have completed everything else and have now got probate but am unsure what forms need to be filled in and the cost it all seems a bit overwhelming to me tbh could someone break it down for me many thanks in advance 

xylophone

See

https://help.landregistry.gov.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/27/~/transfer-property-to-the-beneficiary-after-the-sole-owner-has-died