Transfer of house title - double probate?

barnfield17

When my father died everything went to my mother. There was no will as far as I can tell.

Now that my mother has died, I am sole beneficiary in her will, but have discovered that the house is still registered in my fathers name.

My first thoughts are that I apply for "letters of administration" for my father and transfer the house to my mother which I subsequently inherit. I then apply for "probate" to manage her estate.

My second thoughts, as the only living relative, are that I apply to transfer the house directly to myself.

Both options seem to need and application for "letters of administration" for my father and "probate" for my mother.

Am I missing something here? Is there a simpler way to sort this out.

Keep_pedalling

You should not need LoA for your father, it would not be required to transfer ownership to the surviving spouse whether the property was owned as Joint tenants or tenants in common. it is quite common for the land registry not to be updated on the death of the first spouse. 

Once you have probate for your mother ‘s estate you will b3 able to sell the house or transfer it to your name if you plan to keep it.

Land_Registry

Keep-pedalling is correct if your parents were joint legal owners - so when Dad died the legal ownership didn’t form part of his estate so neither LofA (no recorded will) or Probate (recorded will) were needed for the property 
You OP doesn’t actually state whether Dad was the sole owner although I have read it that way and if so applying for LofA for him would be a way to go but you can’t transfer to Mum as sadly she too is dead. 

So check with Probate whether there was a recorded will - if there was then you may need to consider what’s known as a ‘chain of representation’ (the double probate scenario you painted) to link Dad’s estate to your Mum’s to you as her Administrator/Executor. 

So is the property registered in his sole name? And if it was check further re a will. 

Keep_pedalling

Yes sorry, I should have considered the possibility that your father was the sole owner. If he was and he died before 1st Jan 2022, you will also need to submit an IHT return using form IHT 205.

barnfield17

Yes, there is only my fathers name on the "Land Certificate"

I'm clear now on what needs to be done.

Many Thanks.