Property help..

Shezzy1

My partner (executor) has now been granted probate after a huge battle with a family member. 

The family home is occupied by his brother, as specified in the will can live there until death. However, the executor has to transfer the property into his name and oversee that the property is kept in good repair (by brother). The property has a leasehold of 99 years 25 expired. We have asked probate to change the deeds but they have declined stating it is too complicated with a leasehold property. Can anyone advice the best way forward? Would we need a solicitor to do this or is this something we can do? Any help would be much appreciated 

SeniorSam

The Land Registry will need to see the Will and Probate details before they could make any changes, but provided all is in order, they should accept the instructions of the Executor of the Will. Contact the Land Registry and they should provide you with details. A solicitor could undertake this for the Trustees if you wish, but they will have costs for this.

Shezzy1

is this is this relatively straight forward and do you know what form we need to complete to begin the process? Thank you 

RAS

if there are less than 80 years left on the lease, you need to take advice on extending the lease or the property will become al most impossible to sell.

Keep_pedalling

Extending the lease while the property is held in trust is going to be difficult at the best of times but with the difficult family relationships you have it is likely to be even more difficult.

The brother occupying the property probably could not care less about the continuous dropping of value over the years as he will be dead by the time it is sold. The trustees could do it two years after the property has been transferred, but where is the money to do it going to come from?

Shezzy1

Keep_pedalling said:

Extending the lease while the property is held in trust is going to be difficult at the best of times but with the difficult family relationships you have it is likely to be even more difficult.

The brother occupying the property probably could not care less about the continuous dropping of value over the years as he will be dead by the time it is sold. The trustees could do it two years after the property has been transferred, but where is the money to do it going to come from?

and that is the big issue! It’s so difficult with 3 out of the 6 siblings not willing to communicate. My partner has no documents for the property as these were all taken by ‘the sister’ who says she hasn’t got them! We really don’t know where to start. How do we find exactly what is left on the lease (info we have is hearsay) who do we contact about purchasing the lease before the money in the estate is contributed out to siblings? Thank you so much 

Keep_pedalling

As a starting point you can obtain the property details from the land registry which will provide you with details on who the freeholder is and the actual length the lease has to run.

Do you have children? If not and you have no plans to have any then I would not worry to much about extending the lease as realistically you are not going to benefit from this asset until the occupier dies or goes into care which may never happen in your lifetime.

Shezzy1

The property has been left on death of the brother to the grandchildren - so the executors have now contacted a solicitor to sort out the land registry stuff at cost of  £1000 but at least they haven’t got the hassle. 

They’ll just be happy when it’s all over…it’s made partners brother Ill with stress. Sort it, pay out and say sod off to half the vile siblings!! 

Keep_pedalling

Shezzy1 said:

The property has been left on death of the brother to the grandchildren - so the executors have now contacted a solicitor to sort out the land registry stuff at cost of  £1000 but at least they haven’t got the hassle. 

They’ll just be happy when it’s all over…it’s made partners brother Ill with stress. Sort it, pay out and say sod off to half the vile siblings!! 

Unfortunately with part of the assets tied up in a life interest trust the final winding up does not happen until the death of the life tenant or when they move into a care home. That will be the responsibility of the trustees. The trustees will often be the executors, but if I was one in this case I would not want to be involved beyond distributing the remaining assets. They should talk to the solicitor about this. If any of the GC are adults maybe as ultimate beneficiaries they would take it on.

As for the lease, I can’t see how that can be resolved without the agreement of all beneficiaries so probably best to forget it.  

Gavin83

Shezzy1 said:

My partner (executor) has now been granted probate after a huge battle with a family member. 

The family home is occupied by his brother, as specified in the will can live there until death. However, the executor has to transfer the property into his name and oversee that the property is kept in good repair (by brother). The property has a leasehold of 99 years 25 expired. We have asked probate to change the deeds but they have declined stating it is too complicated with a leasehold property. Can anyone advice the best way forward? Would we need a solicitor to do this or is this something we can do? Any help would be much appreciated 

Are you saying that the property has to be transferred into the name of the executor (so your partner) but the brother can continue living there for life? If so this is a terrible deal for your partner and has a lot of potential issues. If this is the case I suggest your partner renounces his claim on this, steps down as executor and lets anyone left who wants to get on with it.

Keep_pedalling

Gavin83 said:

Shezzy1 said:

My partner (executor) has now been granted probate after a huge battle with a family member. 

The family home is occupied by his brother, as specified in the will can live there until death. However, the executor has to transfer the property into his name and oversee that the property is kept in good repair (by brother). The property has a leasehold of 99 years 25 expired. We have asked probate to change the deeds but they have declined stating it is too complicated with a leasehold property. Can anyone advice the best way forward? Would we need a solicitor to do this or is this something we can do? Any help would be much appreciated 

Are you saying that the property has to be transferred into the name of the executor (so your partner) but the brother can continue living there for life? If so this is a terrible deal for your partner and has a lot of potential issues. If this is the case I suggest your partner renounces his claim on this, steps down as executor and lets anyone left who wants to get on with it.

The house will go into a trust it will be held in the name of the trustees who are do not have to be the same people as the executors. It is far to late to renounce being an executor, but the executors can refuse to be trustees.

Life interest trusts are not unusual, they are useful for providing a surviving spouse or partner long term security and protecting the asset for the next generation. Providing one for a child is going to be detrimental to that child’s siblings and really should only be done if a particular child needs special provision. In this case it is complicated by the property being leasehold and children who seem to hate each other,