House selling queries after deaths of parents

Millsandovis

Hello, bit of a weird one and think I’m essentially overthinking but would just like some clarification.  

Looking to sell the home I have grown up in for the last 30 years as both my parents have died and I’m their sole child & beneficiary  They were unmarried and owned the property as tenants in common but Parent A paid the deposit, paid the mortgage after Parent B died & then paid the mortgage off in 2012. Parent B was only at the house for around a year before passing away. 

Parent B died in 1993 when I was a child with no will & no estate other than their stake in the property so that’s why I’m guessing no probate was needed at the time but there’s no one left to ask. It was me and Parent A in the house from then until their death in 2021. They died with a will where I was named as the sole beneficiary.  In 2013 the title was changed to gift me half the property as the house price had increased and they wanted to protect my inheritance. 

After they died in 2021 I filled out the IHT forms and HMRC were happy with everything and there were no IHT to pay as it was past 7 years, there was no reservation of benefit and the estate was under £500k.

i thought everything was dealt with in regards to Parent B at this point as it was just me and Parent A on the title. We tried to be joint tenants and after looking through paperwork our solicitor said it couldn’t be done but didn’t explain why. I’m guessing now it was because of Parent B’s beneficial interest in the house as he was acting on behalf of Parent A and not me. 

Until recently there was a Form A restriction on the property which I applied to LR to get removed. I told them that Parent A had died & I was their sole beneficiary. They asked me to explain what had happened to Parent B’s interest in the house. I told them I was the sole beneficiary of both parents and signed the ST5/RX3 and the restriction was removed. 

In my research into the form A restriction I had seen cases of people having money held back after a sale by solicitors if they were not satisfied that the matter had been dealt with properly. This may have been about people appointing other trustees after a recent death to get around the sole proprietor restriction and I may have got confused but it’s left me overthinking.

This has spooked me somewhat as I will be selling for 750~ and buying out of the city for less than that. I don’t want to be in a position where I’ve sold the home I’ve lived in for 30 years and then not be able to buy a new property or have the money (full amount or leftover) held until probate is granted for Parent B. They died when I was a child 30 years ago and had no savings or pensions and only owned half of a house that was worth around £80k. I’m guessing Parent A just left it as it was thinking I would one day inherit the other half when I became an adult as the beneficial interest was protected. 

Obviously in hindsight and if I was dealing with it now I would have looked at a trust to officially protect my interest in the house until I was an adult but that was never done. Is it as simple as just inheriting both halves automatically when I became an adult as the only child?

I am now the sole proprietor on the title without any restrictions on the title. There is no mortgage to pay and both my parents have died. Have they now completely been removed from the deeds without any lingering interest since the restriction was removed and am I free to sell the house now without having to explain anything to solicitors or get probate? 

I understand it’s been dealt with by Parent A in a back to front and confusing way but has the outcome left me to move on freely with my life? This has been a huge lesson in having a will and having paperwork sorted! 

Am I also correct in saying there’s no other tax to pay like CGT as it has always been my only residence and I am selling to buy my next home? 

Brie

Do you know if Parent B had any "next of kin" who might be eligible to inherit their portion of the house?  Is there anything that said what share of the house was Parent A's vs Parent B's?  I don't think who paid what or how long someone lived there is material but someone more knowledgeable than myself will.

Your solicitor is likely the best person to ask but my gut reaction is that potentially half of the £80k that was the value of the house with Parent B died should be set aside in case there are relatives with a claim to it.  Perhaps this was resolved when a portion of the house was gifted to you - certainly the solicitor at that time should have looked into the situation.  

Millsandovis

Brie said:

Do you know if Parent B had any "next of kin" who might be eligible to inherit their portion of the house?  Is there anything that said what share of the house was Parent A's vs Parent B's?  I don't think who paid what or how long someone lived there is material but someone more knowledgeable than myself will.

Your solicitor is likely the best person to ask but my gut reaction is that potentially half of the £80k that was the value of the house with Parent B died should be set aside in case there are relatives with a claim to it.  Perhaps this was resolved when a portion of the house was gifted to you - certainly the solicitor at that time should have looked into the situation.  

No idea, they were from a different city and I have never had any contact with anyone from that side of the family. Do I have to go looking or can I just sell and put some money aside just in case?

 Is there a time limit on things like this? I’ve seen online that there’s a 6 month limit when probate is granted but what is the 12 year limit on claims from estates? Would it be from when they died, when the house was gifted in 2013 or when the restriction was removed recently? 

sammyjammy

If parent B died unmarried with a child and no will, that is you surely you inherit their assets not someone else?

Millsandovis

sammyjammy said:

If parent B died unmarried with a child and no will, that is you surely you inherit their assets not someone else?

Yes that’s what I thought but think I’ve got myself confused. My only issue is that I was a child when they died so could I have inherited it then? LR tell people you don’t have to deal with it straight away so was there anything wrong with it being left until it had to be dealt with? 

Am I right in thinking I would only need to try and find people (if they even existed) if the property wasn’t mine already and I had to try and get probate for Parent B? I don’t need probate if the property is already mine and there’s no inheritance issues right? Because surely then everyone would have to do family trees and check to see if parents had other family every single time someone died?

In terms of me wanting to sell now, there’s nothing that would point towards any issues that would cause a solicitor to hold funds now that the Form A restriction has been removed? 

Apologies if this all sounds crazy by the way, I think I’ve just overthought everything and thought of the worst possible scenario after seeing things online. I thought all that stuff had been dealt with and it’s dregged up things I’ve had to revisit from 30 years ago so hasn’t been nice.  

badmemory

There would seem to me to only be two scenarios which would stop you being the sole beneficiary.

1.  There was a will leaving the property elsewhere - which seems extremely unlikely bearing in mind the time that has passed without a will turning up.

2.  You having sibling(s) that so far haven't come out of the woodwork - again extremely unlikely.

You would come before any parents they may have and also any siblings they may have.

Your only real problem may be if there is a legal spouse somewhere, which was often the reason for a child's parents not to be married.

Millsandovis

badmemory said:

There would seem to me to only be two scenarios which would stop you being the sole beneficiary.

1.  There was a will leaving the property elsewhere - which seems extremely unlikely bearing in mind the time that has passed without a will turning up.

2.  You having sibling(s) that so far haven't come out of the woodwork - again extremely unlikely.

You would come before any parents they may have and also any siblings they may have.

Your only real problem may be if there is a legal spouse somewhere, which was often the reason for a child's parents not to be married.

Yeah no worries about any of that, it’s been 30 years and we/I haven’t heard from anyone. No spouse to my knowledge and I am aware of why my parents didn’t get married - same reason why one parent put all the money in & didn’t want to be joint tenants. Why they didn’t get a trust or anything written up I have no idea! Maybe it wasn’t as big of a thing back then. But would have made everything a hell of a lot easier to deal with. 

The hard bit has been done with getting the restriction removed and actually having the house in my name. I understand having to search for next of kin and the like if I needed probate if the house wasn’t in my name & just theirs. But i won’t be poking that bear as there’s no one to look for and it’s very unlikely solicitors would even think to look for anyone else when it’s all squared off & I’m sole proprietor. A lesson in having paperwork sorted and not overthinking I think! 

Thanks for all your comments 

Albermarle

Why they didn’t get a trust or anything written up I have no idea! Maybe it wasn’t as big of a thing back then. But would have made everything a hell of a lot easier to deal with. 

Normally trusts make things more complicated rather than easier, but there can be exceptions.