Executor and beneficiary of a leasehold flat - questions about notice of transfer

liveandlearn_2

As the title suggests, I have recently inherited a leasehold property in the UK. I am both the executor and the beneficiary.

I don't live in the UK so am trying to deal with this from abroad, with the odd trip home.
I phoned around to see if any local conveyancers could help but none seemed interested so I decided to just get on with things.

I've managed to fill in the required Land Registry forms, and am in contact with the management company's solicitor (who seems displeased that I am acting for myself and not going through a solicitor) because the lease  says I need a Certificate of Compliance.

So far, so good. 

The solicitor now informs me that I need to provide him with a notice of transfer, and I'm stuck.

Has anyone else dealt with this without the help of a solicitor and can talk me through it? If so, I'd be very grateful.

My questions are:

1) Can I do this myself, or do I really need a conveyancing solicitor?
    I've looked on line for templates but they only seem to be available to solicitors.

2) What timescale do I have to respect? 

3) If I do need a solicitor, could you give me a rough idea of the fees? I'm not in the country and haven't been for a very long time so have no idea.

Thank you in advance for any help.

anselld

What are you actually trying to do?  Do you wish to retain the property in your own name or do you wish to sell?  If you are planning to sell then there is no point transferring it to yourself first, you can just sell it from the Estate as Executor.  

Is Probate required / granted?  You can't usually transfer a property without Grant of Probate.

liveandlearn_2

I'm keeping the flat, and yes, Probate has been granted;

liveandlearn_2

From what I can make out from reading on line and from talking on the phone to the landlord's/Management company's solicitor, the conveyancing process when buying a property is complicated.

However as it is just an assent I thought it would be straightforward. The guidance on the Land Registry website is clear, the AP1 and AS1 forms have been filled in, ID1 also with a solicitor local to where my father lived (who is not interested in dealing with the conveyancing!).

The notice of transfer seems to be a formality, but obviously has to be done correctly. 

eddddy

A notice of transfer is a letter or note telling the freeholder who the new leaseholder is, so they can update their records. You can write it yourself.

Maybe give it a title of 'Notice of Transfer', and specify the leasehold flat, give your name and the date it was transferred.

And maybe send 2 copies with a space at the bottom for the freeholder to sign acknowledging receipt, and request that they return a signed copy to you.

The freeholder will charge a fee for dealing with the notice. If they want any more information, I expect they'll get back to you. (And chase them, if you don't hear anything back.)

Hoenir

The fact that you are abroad conducting the transaction at arms length may well prove problematic. 

liveandlearn_2

Thank you, edddy. That's really helpful.

yes, Hoenir, it absolutely is!

eddddy

...Also, if you're based abroad, you need to make sure you have 'rock solid' arrangements for receiving post from the freeholder / management  company, etc.

Get written acknowledgement that they will send service charge bills, ground rent bills and other notices  either to your foreign address or by email.

By default, the law says correspondence will be sent to the leasehold flat, unless you request otherwise in writing. So that correspondence would include:

• Service charge bills and ground rent bills

• Reminder letters about unpaid service charge bills and ground rent bills

• Solicitors'  letters about unpaid service charge bills and ground rent bills

• Debt Collectors'  letters about unpaid service charge bills and ground rent bills

• Court papers about unpaid service charge bills and ground rent bills

• Court papers about  forfeiting your lease (i.e. having your flat repossessed for non-payment of service charge bills and ground rent bills)

So you could run up thousands of pounds worth of fees, and ultimately lose the flat, if you don't get those letters.


FWIW, here's details of exactly that happening to a woman who moved to Canada, and letters from her freeholder weren't reaching her. She lost her £400k flat:

https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/moskovitz-forfeits-400k-camden-flat-from-24-year-old-woman-whose-brother-did-not-forward-correspondence-for-two-years/

liveandlearn_2

Omg, what a nightmare!

Thanks for the info.

liveandlearn_2

Quick update.
A conveyancer friend of a friend helped me out with the wording. All done and dusted. Thanks for your help.

electromonkie

Would be great if you could give me a clue as to how you worded this yourself as I need to do this for my Mum's flat that she bought over 12 years ago - apparently her solicitors at the time didn't actually do it!