How to act on a will

Heather2012

Thank you. It has been owned for more than 40 years but I'll check anyway. Thanks!

getmore4less

Chances are it's not been registered, 

Backlog at land reg for first reg.

Time to track down paperwork if not registered.

p00hsticks

Heather2012 said:

Thank you. It has been owned for more than 40 years but I'll check anyway. Thanks!

You may find it's there - I was expecting my parents not to be, but it was. Although they'd owned it since well before the online Land Registry came into being, it looks like it must have got updated when they eventually paid off the morrtgage, presumably as part of the process of removing the charge of the mortgage company.

If it isn't there, then as getmore4less says, you need to track down the deeds to the property and look into getting it registered in order to avoid delays and complications further down the line.

TBagpuss

getmore4less said:

Chances are it's not been registered, 

Backlog at land reg for first reg.

Time to track down paperwork if not registered.

It varies al lot depending on where you live. Compulsory registration took effect in different parts of the country at different times, so in some areas, it's been compulsory since 1926, in others it didint become comulsory until very much later. - I think the last date was 1990, so anything that has been sold in the last 32 years will now be registered. 
 Also the triggers for registration have changed over time - Originally it didn't need to be reigstered if it changed hands due to inheritance, for instance, only if it was sold. From 1998 trnasfers via inheritance also trigger first registration. 

Currently, around 14% of land remains unregistered. It's likely that a lot of that is land which is owned by trusts or big organisations suich as the Church of England, as Land generally only has to be registered when it changes hands. Simiiialrly you may find land beloning to Local Council's isn't registered (As I discovered some years ago whn I needed to find out who owned the land which wa creating flooding in my house evey time we had heavy rain!) 

GDB2222

FWIW, I've never come across a property that hasn't been registered, and one way or another I've dealt with around 100.

Mojisola

GDB2222 said:

FWIW, I've never come across a property that hasn't been registered, and one way or another I've dealt with around 100.

My parents' house wasn't registered and neither was ours.

After doing a voluntary registration before selling Dad's, we also got ours sorted out.