Stamp duty nightmare!!

longbay69

Hi, just need to know where I stand on stamp duty. I have been advised that I may have to pay the higher rate as I stupidly decided to get married last year after 20 something years together! I am looking to buy out my sibling of an inherited house (after a massive inheritance tax bill!) I have never owned a house, but my husband owns half the house his mother lives in and as she is a pensioner and he is a decent person, he cannot sell the house! We want to live in the new house. After the inheritance tax and what I’m left with, I’m going to struggle to pay 25k on stamp duty as it seems they now deem me a higher rate tax payer. I’m at my wits end as I would dearly love to keep what was my grandads house that has been in the family since the 40’s and paid for many years ago. Where can I find a solicitor who will actually tell me where I stand as I have called and written to HMRC who will not give me a straight answer. Apologies for such a long story, but I am understandably quite emotional about this whole situation 

MWT

Have you jointly inherited this property with your sibling and has the property already been transferred into your joint names? 

Similarly has the cash in the estate also been transferred to you both or is it still undistributed?

Emmia

Is the house you want to live in your Grandfather's former house, or another property?

Does buying your sibling out involve a mortgage?

In terms of obtaining legal advice, you can use for advice, you can use  the "find a solicitor" function on the law society website.

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

longbay69

Thanks for the comments, the house was left to my sibling and I was left with the cash after the IHT. this is currently going through probate so nothing has been transferred as yet, but probate is due very soon. It was my grandads, then my uncles and is where I will be living. 

I need a mortgage to buy out the house from my sibling. 

Thanks for the link for solicitors, I just hope I can get a quote for the work to actually confirm the right way to do this without extra charged hours as the cost can add up and it’s going to be very tight money wise!

saajan_12

longbay69 said:

Thanks for the comments, the house was left to my sibling and I was left with the cash after the IHT. this is currently going through probate so nothing has been transferred as yet, but probate is due very soon. It was my grandads, then my uncles and is where I will be living. 

I need a mortgage to buy out the house from my sibling. 

Thanks for the link for solicitors, I just hope I can get a quote for the work to actually confirm the right way to do this without extra charged hours as the cost can add up and it’s going to be very tight money wise!

What exactly does the will say - does it specify which assets go to who, or just the whole amount divided in a certain % split? If the latter, why is the sibling getting the house if they actually want the cash, and vice versa for you? The beneficiaries may be able to be varied within probate rather than inheriting and then buying.

That's much more likely to be effective to actually solve your problem. After probate is granted, buying a house will incur certain taxes which are relatively straightforward but high.  

Keep_pedalling

How much is the house worth and how much cash have you been left? If there is sufficient cash A deed of variation can redistribute the estate so that you inherit the house and him the cash which will avoid you having any SDLT liability. Even if there is not a DOV can still be used to give you a substantial reduction iin SDLT.

longbay69

saajan_12 said:

longbay69 said:

Thanks for the comments, the house was left to my sibling and I was left with the cash after the IHT. this is currently going through probate so nothing has been transferred as yet, but probate is due very soon. It was my grandads, then my uncles and is where I will be living. 

I need a mortgage to buy out the house from my sibling. 

Thanks for the link for solicitors, I just hope I can get a quote for the work to actually confirm the right way to do this without extra charged hours as the cost can add up and it’s going to be very tight money wise!

What exactly does the will say - does it specify which assets go to who, or just the whole amount divided in a certain % split? If the latter, why is the sibling getting the house if they actually want the cash, and vice versa for you? The beneficiaries may be able to be varied within probate rather than inheriting and then buying.

That's much more likely to be effective to actually solve your problem. After probate is granted, buying a house will incur certain taxes which are relatively straightforward but high.  

The will is specific, the house to my sibling and the remainder to me and my other sibling. 

As the house is unfortunately worth double the cash I will get after IHT, then I need a mortgage to pay the rest. 

longbay69

Keep_pedalling said:

How much is the house worth and how much cash have you been left? If there is sufficient cash A deed of variation can redistribute the estate so that you inherit the house and him the cash which will avoid you having any SDLT liability. Even if there is not a DOV can still be used to give you a substantial reduction iin SDLT.

The difference between the house valuation and the cash is still 220k so I would have to pay SDLT on the difference, plus i would loose money that I’ve put into my LISA so that would be another 3k approx on top of about 11k SDLT. 

missile

Maybe it would be wiser to look for another house

Emmia

missile said:

Maybe it would be wiser to look for another house

The OP wants this house presumably due to the family connection.. .

missile

Emmia said:

missile said:

Maybe it would be wiser to look for another house

The OP wants this house presumably due to the family connection.. .

I did get that, but given her circumstances it seemed a very expensive option fraught with problems