Transfer of part inherited property to Stepdad....

swissfil

Hi all

Hope someone can please shed some light on this situation.

Mum passed away last year. She had been married to my stepdad for 35 yrs, birth father passed away 1979.
Probate has been granted.
My brother and I have inherited 50% (25% each) of the property they both jointly owned.
My step father wishes to buy our half back, so he is the sole owner, which we have agreed to and is sensible. There is no mortgage and we also are aware that there may be some CGT to pay if price agreed is more than probate valuation.
I thought that this would be a simple process of a few forms to fill in and a transfer of title at land registry, whilst a monetary transfer would also take place from Stepdad to us. 
It now seems that the solicitor dealing with the estate is saying that our Stepdad would be liable for stamp duty on "the sale" and we would need to pay this as part of his funds transfer.

Can anyone enlighten me please if this is or is not the case as she has already admitted she is not a conveyancing solicitor which rather worries me! As I said earlier my understanding was that this could be done by the assent of the property from the estate and a transfer of ownership rather than a conveyancing/selling process.

Many thanks in advance !!

Phil

Keep_pedalling

What is the value of the house?

swissfil

Keep_pedalling said:

What is the value of the house?

About 800k or thereabouts

Keep_pedalling

So if he is buying you and your sibling for £400k the he will have £7,599 of SDLT to pay on the purchase. It is the buyer who pays the tax not the seller. The sellers would be responsible for any CGT.

Savvy_Sue

I think that there are a few questions I would ask:

is the solicitor the executor, or just helping with particular queries?

does her firm have a conveyancing department, and if not would it not be better to consult someone who has more experience in this field? Which she can do, or you can do, especially if she is NOT the executor.

What other assets did your mother have, in total? I'm just wondering if, for example, she had £400k in savings accounts which are passing to your stepfather, whether you could do a Deed of Variation, whereby he keeps all the house and you get cash from her savings instead. Please note this may not be possible, it's just an idea - I think it only works if your mother had sufficient cash assets.

I can sort of see where the solicitor is coming from, although not the way they've worded it. I'd say that if your stepfather buys half the house from you and your brother, then there is Stamp Duty to be paid, but it will be on HIS PURCHASE, ie he's liable to pay it. Effectively the solicitor is suggesting that because of this, he'll have to pay £400k to each of you, plus a wodge of Stamp Duty to HMRC, and that's not 'fair', so you and your brother should pay it - presumably by accepting less than £200k each. 

https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/mortgages-property/buying-a-home/stamp-duty-land-tax might tell you as much as you need to know about Stamp Duty. 

polar_pig

The SDLT payable in this situation is less than 1% of the value of the house. Alternatively, the costs of selling it on the open market are likely to exceed 1% of the value. It might take some time to sell it on the open market and  nobody can give you a valuation of the house accurate to 1%. Also note that putting cash in the bank would gain more in interest over a modest period than paying a proportion of the SDLT.

It seems you all agree that selling it to the step father is the best option. I recommend taking a pragmatic approach, sharing the SDLT if needs be, all keeping on good terms, take the money and move on with your lives.

Land_Registry

swissfil said:

Hi all

Hope someone can please shed some light on this situation.

Mum passed away last year. She had been married to my stepdad for 35 yrs, birth father passed away 1979.
Probate has been granted.
My brother and I have inherited 50% (25% each) of the property they both jointly owned.
My step father wishes to buy our half back, so he is the sole owner, which we have agreed to and is sensible. There is no mortgage and we also are aware that there may be some CGT to pay if price agreed is more than probate valuation.
I thought that this would be a simple process of a few forms to fill in and a transfer of title at land registry, whilst a monetary transfer would also take place from Stepdad to us. 
It now seems that the solicitor dealing with the estate is saying that our Stepdad would be liable for stamp duty on "the sale" and we would need to pay this as part of his funds transfer.

Can anyone enlighten me please if this is or is not the case as she has already admitted she is not a conveyancing solicitor which rather worries me! As I said earlier my understanding was that this could be done by the assent of the property from the estate and a transfer of ownership rather than a conveyancing/selling process.

Many thanks in advance !!

Phil

If I have read it correctly your late Mother was the sole registered owner and the three of you are the beneficiaries. 

If so then our online guidance explains how to transfer the legal ownership if one of the beneficiaries is buying the others out 
https://customerhelp.landregistry.gov.uk/guide-page-external/?stepid=2a7a55c0-8e82-eb11-a812-000d3ad48f95&kbonly=true&setanswer=

swissfil

Land_Registry said:

swissfil said:

Hi all

Hope someone can please shed some light on this situation.

Mum passed away last year. She had been married to my stepdad for 35 yrs, birth father passed away 1979.
Probate has been granted.
My brother and I have inherited 50% (25% each) of the property they both jointly owned.
My step father wishes to buy our half back, so he is the sole owner, which we have agreed to and is sensible. There is no mortgage and we also are aware that there may be some CGT to pay if price agreed is more than probate valuation.
I thought that this would be a simple process of a few forms to fill in and a transfer of title at land registry, whilst a monetary transfer would also take place from Stepdad to us. 
It now seems that the solicitor dealing with the estate is saying that our Stepdad would be liable for stamp duty on "the sale" and we would need to pay this as part of his funds transfer.

Can anyone enlighten me please if this is or is not the case as she has already admitted she is not a conveyancing solicitor which rather worries me! As I said earlier my understanding was that this could be done by the assent of the property from the estate and a transfer of ownership rather than a conveyancing/selling process.

Many thanks in advance !!

Phil

If I have read it correctly your late Mother was the sole registered owner and the three of you are the beneficiaries. 

If so then our online guidance explains how to transfer the legal ownership if one of the beneficiaries is buying the others out 
https://customerhelp.landregistry.gov.uk/guide-page-external/?stepid=2a7a55c0-8e82-eb11-a812-000d3ad48f95&kbonly=true&setanswer=

Thx for input, however you read wrong. My stepdad and mum were 50/50 in the ownership of the property.
But does beg the question: do I need legal representation for the transfer?

Land_Registry

swissfil said:

Land_Registry said:

swissfil said:

Hi all

Hope someone can please shed some light on this situation.

Mum passed away last year. She had been married to my stepdad for 35 yrs, birth father passed away 1979.
Probate has been granted.
My brother and I have inherited 50% (25% each) of the property they both jointly owned.
My step father wishes to buy our half back, so he is the sole owner, which we have agreed to and is sensible. There is no mortgage and we also are aware that there may be some CGT to pay if price agreed is more than probate valuation.
I thought that this would be a simple process of a few forms to fill in and a transfer of title at land registry, whilst a monetary transfer would also take place from Stepdad to us. 
It now seems that the solicitor dealing with the estate is saying that our Stepdad would be liable for stamp duty on "the sale" and we would need to pay this as part of his funds transfer.

Can anyone enlighten me please if this is or is not the case as she has already admitted she is not a conveyancing solicitor which rather worries me! As I said earlier my understanding was that this could be done by the assent of the property from the estate and a transfer of ownership rather than a conveyancing/selling process.

Many thanks in advance !!

Phil

If I have read it correctly your late Mother was the sole registered owner and the three of you are the beneficiaries. 

If so then our online guidance explains how to transfer the legal ownership if one of the beneficiaries is buying the others out 
https://customerhelp.landregistry.gov.uk/guide-page-external/?stepid=2a7a55c0-8e82-eb11-a812-000d3ad48f95&kbonly=true&setanswer=

Thx for input, however you read wrong. My stepdad and mum were 50/50 in the ownership of the property.
But does beg the question: do I need legal representation for the transfer?

Ok - so if they were joint owners then the legal ownership has passed to your step dad and no Transfer is required. 

The 50/50 shares relate to their beneficial ownerships so he can buy the share (pay you both off in effect) as a separate arrangement. 

I imagine that they had what’s known as a form A/joint proprietor restriction on the title to reflect the 50/50 arrangement. If so then once he’s paid you both off, so to speak, he can apply to update the register re the sad loss of your Mum/his wife and apply yo cancel the form A restriction - see PG 6 for guidance on how to do both 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/devolution-on-the-death-of-a-registered-proprietor