Retrospective probate needed?

shiraz99

I don't know if this of interest to the OP, probably not if the parents were Joint Tenants.

My parents were Tenants in Common with a life interest to occupy the property when either one died, my mum in 2018 and my dad recently. I just got off a webchat with the Probate online service and the guy there suggested that I would need to apply for probate retrospectively for my mum's 50% share of the property after I got the grant for my dad's estate. I may have to make an appointment with a solicitor to confirm this as the wills state that the spouse would be the primary trustee of this life interest, so surely this makes them the owner of the full property value before it's passed down following his death?

getmore4less

shiraz99 said:

I don't know if this of interest to the OP, probably not if the parents were Joint Tenants.

My parents were Tenants in Common with a life interest to occupy the property when either one died, my mum in 2018 and my dad recently. I just got off a webchat with the Probate online service and the guy there suggested that I would need to apply for probate retrospectively for my mum's 50% share of the property after I got the grant for my dad's estate. I may have to make an appointment with a solicitor to confirm this as the wills state that the spouse would be the primary trustee of this life interest, so surely this makes them the owner of the full property value before it's passed down following his death?

That is wrong the land registry rep has confirmed this numerous time on MSE.

Probate is needed only for the last legal owner their executor can deal with the sale or the legal ownership assent to the beneficial owners.

If there is a from A restriction another person will still need to be involved to do the assent as it needs two trustees
(all property is held as a trust when there is more than one owner)

it does not really matter who was named as trustee in the wills, anyone can do it along with the executors, beneficiaries are often a good choice as they have an interest in getting it done right.

The key is those trustees are responsible for making sure the beneficial interests are looked after either new owners or distribution of proceeds

shiraz99

getmore4less said:

shiraz99 said:

I don't know if this of interest to the OP, probably not if the parents were Joint Tenants.

My parents were Tenants in Common with a life interest to occupy the property when either one died, my mum in 2018 and my dad recently. I just got off a webchat with the Probate online service and the guy there suggested that I would need to apply for probate retrospectively for my mum's 50% share of the property after I got the grant for my dad's estate. I may have to make an appointment with a solicitor to confirm this as the wills state that the spouse would be the primary trustee of this life interest, so surely this makes them the owner of the full property value before it's passed down following his death?

That is wrong the land registry rep has confirmed this numerous time on MSE.

Probate is needed only for the last legal owner their executor can deal with the sale or the legal ownership assent to the beneficial owners.

If there is a from A restriction another person will still need to be involved to do the assent as it needs two trustees
(all property is held as a trust when there is more than one owner)

it does not really matter who was named as trustee in the wills, anyone can do it along with the executors, beneficiaries are often a good choice as they have an interest in getting it done right.

The key is those trustees are responsible for making sure the beneficial interests are looked after either new owners or distribution of proceeds

But surely the point is my Dad, wouldn't have been the last legal owner of my mum's share of the property, he's merely holding it in trust for the beneficiaries set out in my mum's will. Now that he's passed a grant of probate for that share is required?

Also, who is the forum's land registry rep you speaking of and can you post a link to some of these posts.

JGB1955

shiraz99 said:

Also, who is the forum's land registry rep you speaking of and can you post a link to some of these posts.

Land Registry questions - Page 399 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

shiraz99

JGB1955 said:

shiraz99 said:

Also, who is the forum's land registry rep you speaking of and can you post a link to some of these posts.

Land Registry questions - Page 399 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

I managed to find it, thanks.

I think I'm starting to get my head around it now, I didn't understand the difference between legal and beneficial ownership, so only one probate required.

Just one think to clear up though now is what is the total value of my dad's estate for probate. Does this include the full property value or just his 50% share?