Beneficiary of house – tenants in common

louhar247

I wonder if someone can offer any advice. My Mum owned her house with her partner and they were tenants in common. My Mum passed away last year and left her share of the house to me and my sister. Her partner still lives there.

We are unsure if we need to do anything about transferring ownership. We thought we needed to fill in a form for the assent of part of a registered property with the land registry but I've now found something online that says we don't need to do anything as it is the beneficial interest passing to us, not the transfer of legal ownership. Does this sound correct?

It seems strange that nothing 'on paper'. I guess we need to keep Mum's original will safe?

Mojisola

Register an interest in the property with the Land Registry -

www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert

doodling

Hi,

Whilst @Mojisola' s advice is worth following, it doesn't register your interest in the house - anyone can sign up to receive property alerts on any property they want.

Who is the executor of your Mum's will?  I think they'll need probate to deal with this

Is there a trust involved (Ii.e. did your Mum leave her partner with the right to remain in the property)?

If there is no trust involved then you and your sister need to be registered as legal owners at the land registry.. I expect that @Land_Registry can tell you which forms you need to fill in if you want to DIY.  Alternatively a local solicitor that does conveyancing would be my recommendation.

As the three of you will be holding the property as tenants in common then thought should be given to how the split will be recorded.  Do you know how the split between your Mum and her partner was recorded? If it was recorded in a deed of trust between your mother and her partner then that together with the will should be sufficient.  If the split isn’t currently recorded then you might want to get a deed of trust created to avoid the possibility that in future the partner decides that they actually own 80% of the house and you and your sister have 10% each.

What are you and your sister's intentions with respect to the house?  If you are planning to allow the partner to live there until they die then including that in the deed of trust might provide the partner with some welcome certainty

If there is a trust involved then you and your sister probably own your Mum's 50% jointly as trustees until her partner passes away.  If you want to record this at the land registry then the normal way of doing this is to record the house as being owned by your Mum's partner and "The Trustees of [Mum] Deceased" although having you and your sister's names as owners is also acceptable (but can make things more complex if you or your sister die or someone questions the nature of your ownership).  Changing the land registry ownership is not essential but if a change is not made now then the executor of your Mum's will needs to be available to deal with the house when your Mum's partner passes away.

Sarahspangles

If there is a trust involved then you and your sister probably own your Mum's 50% jointly as trustees until her partner passes away.  If you want to record this at the land registry then the normal way of doing this is to record the house as being owned by your Mum's partner and "The Trustees of [Mum] Deceased" although having you and your sister's names as owners is also acceptable (but can make things more complex if you or your sister die or someone questions the nature of your ownership).  Changing the land registry ownership is not essential but if a change is not made now then the executor of your Mum's will needs to be available to deal with the house when your Mum's partner passes away.

As a guide, the executors of FIL’s Will opted to amend the Land Registry records to reflect ownership as trustees, solicitors costs were c. £800 but this did include costs of Landlord notice (leasehold property).  They hadn’t registered the Trust with HMRC at the point MIL also passed away so I’m unsure if there is a fee for this in addition.

With hindsight they could have avoided this cost given the likelihood MIL would closely follow FIL but I can see why it would be useful if two sets of executors will be involved or significant time may pass between the first and second death.

Land_Registry

louhar247 said:

I wonder if someone can offer any advice. My Mum owned her house with her partner and they were tenants in common. My Mum passed away last year and left her share of the house to me and my sister. Her partner still lives there.

We are unsure if we need to do anything about transferring ownership. We thought we needed to fill in a form for the assent of part of a registered property with the land registry but I've now found something online that says we don't need to do anything as it is the beneficial interest passing to us, not the transfer of legal ownership. Does this sound correct?

It seems strange that nothing 'on paper'. I guess we need to keep Mum's original will safe?

What you have found online is correct. You can’t for example Assent a half share so IF the legal ownership (the title we register) is to be transferred then her partner would need to transfer the whole to say the three of you. 

You say nothing on paper but it reads that you have that - register with a Form A restriction to protect the will/trust arrangements that got you to ‘tenants in common’. The form A restriction protects your beneficial interest 
Plus the will and presumably the partner’s too. The arrangement/trust may for example allow the partner to carry on living there until death or sale. 

Property Alert is useful but only to ensure you are notified of any significant application to us. Unlikely to be one if above is true but offers some reassurance. 

Mojisola

doodling said:

Whilst @Mojisola' s advice is worth following, it doesn't register your interest in the house - anyone can sign up to receive property alerts on any property they want.

It doesn't - but it does mean that the property can't be sold or have a mortgage raised against it without the OP knowing and can be done in a few minutes.

It's worth doing while the other options are considered.