Moving into a Probate Property

BigRedHat

Hi everyone. Is anybody able to tell me if I can move into a  property that is currently awaiting probate, if all parties are in agreement.

My brother & I are Executors of our late father's estate & also beneficiaries of the property along with my 2 children, one of whom is under 18.

I am  planning on selling our current home & would like to know if I can move into the property before probate is granted to avoid delaying a sale (if that situation was to arise).

What are the risks involved in doing this?

The proceeds of the estate will be distributed when Probate has been granted & it is below the inheritance tax threshold.

TIA

Marcon

BigRedHat said:

Hi everyone. Is anybody able to tell me if I can move into a  property that is currently awaiting probate, if all parties are in agreement.

My brother & I are Executors of our late father's estate & also beneficiaries of the property along with my 2 children, one of whom is under 18.

I am  planning on selling our current home & would like to know if I can move into the property before probate is granted to avoid delaying a sale (if that situation was to arise).

What are the risks involved in doing this?

The proceeds of the estate will be distributed when Probate has been granted & it is below the inheritance tax threshold.

TIA

No reason at all you can't do that if everyone is in agreement, but suggest you document in writing exactly what has been agreed re utilities, repairs etc (and of course you'll need to pay council tax yourself). Many executors like to have a property occupied by somebody while probate is in progress, to minimise the risk of squatters, undetected damage from burst pipes etc.

Keep_pedalling

No risks to you at all, not quite as risk free for your brother.

Dave_5150

Keep_pedalling said:

No risks to you at all, not quite as risk free for your brother.

Although it could be equally risk free for him too if there is enough equity from your property sale to buy out his share of your fathers house before you move in.

msb1234

What you can’t do is keep your children’s inheritance from them. So if the house is being split equally 4 ways and is worth, say, £400k, you’d give £100k to your brother and each of your children. Even if your children live in the house with you. 

Keep_pedalling

msb1234 said:

What you can’t do is keep your children’s inheritance from them. So if the house is being split equally 4 ways and is worth, say, £400k, you’d give £100k to your brother and each of your children. Even if your children live in the house with you. 

The adult child could agree to be made part owner but it would be a terrible mistake to do that as that would loose them their first time buyers status and would require them to pay an additional 3% tax when it came to buying their own home for the first time.

The minor cannot own property. It could be held in trust but that would cause the same issues as above, so please don’t go down this route.

BigRedHat

Thank you for your replies. 

The house is mainly being split between me & my brother with my children receiving a much smaller amount.

 There is enough equity in our current home to pay my brother & my children their share, but I didn't think it would be possible to distribute any funds until probate has been granted.

Hopefully, probate will be granted before the sale of our home is completed 🤞

msb1234

in that in that case, I would suggest you pay your brother rent equivalent to the % share of the estate he is receiving - if he’s due to receive 40% and the going rent for the property is £1000 pcm, then he should be paid £400 in rent until such time as you have sold your home. I would check though that HMRC don’t see it as you having 2 homes if you move into it before your current home is sold!

km1500

if you pay him rent then you will create an AST and he will have to comply with all the regulations of being a landlord.

unforeseen

Shouldnt the estate be paid the rent, not the other beneficiary? 

sol_87

We've done exactly this. As the housing market is so difficult at the moment, we didn't want to lose our sale so sold as no chain and moved into the probate property temporarily. (Our new property won't be built until end of Dec).
No idea about the rent implications as we are a very close knit family so it wasn't needed but others have given advice on that.
Just wanted to mention that when you move in and pay council tax, it voids the probate relief for council tax, so when you move out again you'll need to pay council tax for both properties until it sells / someone else moves in. Apparently you can plead with them and explain the situation but there's no guarantee they will let you off. (It's well over 300 pounds a month here in the South, so a considerable amount going out each month!)