Property left in will, legally Who is the "Seller"

bjr123

My mum passed away and left her half of my parents estate to be shared equally between my father, myself and two siblings, we all wish to sell the property, but who is the seller legally, just my father or all four of us?.
Mum is still named on the deeds, does that need to be changed?
Advice most welcome!

theartfullodger

The estate of Mrs ....  Solicitor should understand this.  Who is handling probate please?

Sorry to hear of your loss.

doodling

Hi,

How was the house owned?  Was it owned solely by your Mum or by both your Mum and Dad?  Assuming that only your Mum and Dad are possible owners then there are the following possibilities:

1. The house was owned solely by your Mum.  In that case the house is now owned by the executor (on trust for the beneficiaries of the will) and the executor can sell it (but they won't be able to progress the sale until probate has been obtained).
2. The house was owned by your Mum and Dad as Joint Tenants.  In that case the house is now owned by your Dad and that is it.  The house is not part of your Mum's estate, what is written in the will has no effect on the ownership of the house and the executor and beneficiaries have nothing to do with it.  (Note that the house falling outside the purview of the will doesn't necessarily mean that it falls outside the scope of inheritance tax (although it will in this case if your Mum and Dad were married)).
3. The house was owned by your Mum and Dad as Tenants in Common.  In that case the house is now owned by the executor (on trust for the beneficiaries) and your Dad with the ownership split in whatever proportions they were between your Mum and Dad (by default 50/50).  The executor and your Dad will need to agree a way forward which might include transferring the property to the beneficiaries (which assuming equal shares between the 4 of you and your Dad owning 50% to start with would leave your Dad with 5/8 of the property and the children with 1/8 each), selling the property or your Dad buying out the executor's share so that money can be distributed to beneficiaries of the will.  As with (1) the executor cannot do much until probate has been obtained.

Hope the above helps.

getmore4less

My mum passed away and left her half of my parents estate to be shared equally between my father, myself and two siblings

On the assumption the house was owned by both mum and dad.

The legal ownership passes to dad as the SOLE remaining legal owner

Does not matter if TIC or joint, legal ownership is always joint.

Does not need a grant(probate) for the deceased for dad to sell  the property


Dad becomes the legal seller but will need to appoint a second trustee if there is a form A restriction(TIC).
typically that would be executor of a previous deceased owner or someone with a beneficial interest but can be anyone.

Executor and beneficiaries don't need to be involved but can be as courtesy to them, and potentially help out.


Also if there was a life interest for your dad that could change things 
Presumably your dad does not need to live in the property.
if he does not live there now there could be CGT issues as well.
 

AdrianC

bjr123 said:

My mum passed away and left her half of my parents estate to be shared equally between my father, myself and two siblings, we all wish to sell the property, but who is the seller legally, just my father or all four of us?.
Mum is still named on the deeds, does that need to be changed?

Then the vendor of your mother's share is the executor of her will on behalf of the estate.

But is the house even part of her estate?

If joint tenants, her ownership simply ceased the second she breathed her last, and your father is 100% owner.

If tenants-in-common, then her share is still owned by her estate. The executor and your father will be joint vendors.

getmore4less

AdrianC said:

bjr123 said:

My mum passed away and left her half of my parents estate to be shared equally between my father, myself and two siblings, we all wish to sell the property, but who is the seller legally, just my father or all four of us?.
Mum is still named on the deeds, does that need to be changed?

Then the vendor of your mother's share is the executor of her will on behalf of the estate.

But is the house even part of her estate?

If joint tenants, her ownership simply ceased the second she breathed her last, and your father is 100% owner.

If tenants-in-common, then her share is still owned by her estate. The executor and your father will be joint vendors.

That's not how legal ownership works even with TIC.

The estate only has a beneficial interest.

The legal interest the right to sell remains with a living owner.