Deed of gift - costs, timelines and DIY?

OrangeFrog4321

I have a 50% share of a house I need to gift to my mother, who already owns 25%, within 6 weeks - in order to obtain a stamp duty refund. I have had a few quotes for this from solicitors of around £900. This seems excessive for what looks like a simple process - does a solicitor need to be involved? They have also advised it could take a couple of months, but does this include time for Land Registry to process it, which doesn't delay the effective date for the stamp duty refund?

The 75% of the property was transferred to my mother and me 10 years ago for £300 + VAT, and the transfer was submitted and dated within a week! Not sure how long it took to be finalised though.

Thanks

SDLT_Geek

OrangeFrog4321 said:

I have a 50% share of a house I need to gift to my mother, who already owns 25%, within 6 weeks - in order to obtain a stamp duty refund. I have had a few quotes for this from solicitors of around £900. This seems excessive for what looks like a simple process - does a solicitor need to be involved? They have also advised it could take a couple of months, but does this include time for Land Registry to process it, which doesn't delay the effective date for the stamp duty refund?

The 75% of the property was transferred to my mother and me 10 years ago for £300 + VAT, and the transfer was submitted and dated within a week! Not sure how long it took to be finalised though.

Thanks

Going off at a bit of a tangent here: had you lived in the house as your only or main residence within the three years before you bought your present home (the one on which you paid the stamp duty)?

Is the property you bought in England, so the relevant stamp duty is stamp duty land tax?  The property owned with your mother is also in England?

Is the property owned with your mother free of mortgage?

You have worked out whether any capital gains tax is due on the gift?  (There is a market value rule here.)

OrangeFrog4321

SDLT_Geek said:

OrangeFrog4321 said:

I have a 50% share of a house I need to gift to my mother, who already owns 25%, within 6 weeks - in order to obtain a stamp duty refund. I have had a few quotes for this from solicitors of around £900. This seems excessive for what looks like a simple process - does a solicitor need to be involved? They have also advised it could take a couple of months, but does this include time for Land Registry to process it, which doesn't delay the effective date for the stamp duty refund?

The 75% of the property was transferred to my mother and me 10 years ago for £300 + VAT, and the transfer was submitted and dated within a week! Not sure how long it took to be finalised though.

Thanks

Going off at a bit of a tangent here: had you lived in the house as your only or main residence within the three years before you bought your present home (the one on which you paid the stamp duty)?

Is the property you bought in England, so the relevant stamp duty is stamp duty land tax?  The property owned with your mother is also in England?

Is the property owned with your mother free of mortgage?

You have worked out whether any capital gains tax is due on the gift?  (There is a market value rule here.)

Yes, yes, yes. And I'm not sure how much CGT will be due this time. We didn't get the property valued 3 years ago when the new property was purchased, so would you do it using the house price index for the area? In any case the CGT on any increase over the last 3 years will be due at some point anyway, whether we pay it now or in the future?

silvercar

OrangeFrog4321 said:

SDLT_Geek said:

OrangeFrog4321 said:

I have a 50% share of a house I need to gift to my mother, who already owns 25%, within 6 weeks - in order to obtain a stamp duty refund. I have had a few quotes for this from solicitors of around £900. This seems excessive for what looks like a simple process - does a solicitor need to be involved? They have also advised it could take a couple of months, but does this include time for Land Registry to process it, which doesn't delay the effective date for the stamp duty refund?

The 75% of the property was transferred to my mother and me 10 years ago for £300 + VAT, and the transfer was submitted and dated within a week! Not sure how long it took to be finalised though.

Thanks

Going off at a bit of a tangent here: had you lived in the house as your only or main residence within the three years before you bought your present home (the one on which you paid the stamp duty)?

Is the property you bought in England, so the relevant stamp duty is stamp duty land tax?  The property owned with your mother is also in England?

Is the property owned with your mother free of mortgage?

You have worked out whether any capital gains tax is due on the gift?  (There is a market value rule here.)

Yes, yes, yes. And I'm not sure how much CGT will be due this time. We didn't get the property valued 3 years ago when the new property was purchased, so would you do it using the house price index for the area? In any case the CGT on any increase over the last 3 years will be due at some point anyway, whether we pay it now or in the future?

On your last point, CGT isn’t paid on death, though there may be an IHT liability.