Tenants in Common & Probate

Finlay58

My parents are Tenants in Common for their property. Dad recently passed away. Everything is left to my mum, his wife, as written in his will. Any other assets (eg bank accounts, are joint or have very small amounts in).
Does probate apply?
If not, then is it sufficient to inform land registry of his death on the relevant forms (DJP form?) and place the property solely in her name? 
We don’t want to apply for probate if it is not needed and if it is straightforward to provide the death certificate which will remove his ownership.

poseidon1

Yes probate will be required precisely because the property was held as tenants in common and passed under terms of your father's will ( position would have been different had they held as simple Joint Tenants ).

Estate sounds as if it should qualify as an excepted estate for iht purposes, so no iht forms required. However in applying for Probate on line the excutor will need to provide values for the assets your mother inherited.

Keep_pedalling

poseidon1 said:

Yes probate will be required precisely because the property was held as tenants in common and passed under terms of your father's will ( position would have been different had they held as simple Joint Tenants ).

I do not think that is not correct, probate is not required where the surviving owner inherits the other share regardless of how the ownership was split. 

poseidon1

Finlay58 said:

My parents are Tenants in Common for their property. Dad recently passed away. Everything is left to my mum, his wife, as written in his will. Any other assets (eg bank accounts, are joint or have very small amounts in).
Does probate apply?
If not, then is it sufficient to inform land registry of his death on the relevant forms (DJP form?) and place the property solely in her name? 
We don’t want to apply for probate if it is not needed and if it is straightforward to provide the death certificate which will remove his ownership.

You have made mention of form DJP and will therefore have noted  on the form you have three options open to you. Assuming you will be doing this yourself and not using a certified conveyancer ( option C ) then only options A and B are in point. 

Option A ( presentation of death certificate) would have been OK in the event your parents had held the property as joint tenants. Your mother would therefore have acquired your father's interest by automatic operation of law on his demise and the death cert would have served as adequate evidence of this.

However, as you have indicated your mother inherited as surviving tenant in common under the terms of your father's will, you are stuck with option B - presentation of probate/letters of administration.

Should you instead decide to you use a licensed conveyancer, they are similarly  faced with either options A or B on your mother's behalf in declaring the basis for the removal of the deceased joint proprietor.

If in doubt you could seek legal advice or  fire off an enquiry to the land registry before taking matters further.

Swiss_Danny67

I did this recently.  I sent Land Registry forms DJP, along RX3 and ST5 to remove the tenancy in common and revert to simple joint ownerhip, a death certificate and certified copy of the will. It was all done within about four weeks iirc and Land Registry sent new deeds in just Dad's name. No probate was required.

poseidon1

Swiss_Danny67 said:

I did this recently.  I sent Land Registry forms DJP, along RX3 and ST5 to remove the tenancy in common and revert to simple joint ownerhip, a death certificate and certified copy of the will. It was all done within about four weeks iirc and Land Registry sent new deeds in just Dad's name. No probate was required.

Fair comment, I had overlooked  the land registry RX3 process to sever the tenancy in common and remove the Form A restriction on title. So yes, a combination of Land registry forms DJP, RX3 and ST5 together with death cert and certified will, would work in OP's circumstances to side step probate.

Finlay58

Thank you. Your comments have really helped.
I contacted Land Registry (they were very prompt and helpful with their reply too) who confirmed  forms DJP, a RX3 and ST5 were needed to remove the tenancy in common and revert to simple joint ownership.