STRAIGHTFORWARD CHANGE OF OWNER'S DETAILS FOR FREEHOLD PROPERTY IN ENGLAND

Amsler123

My wife and her sister are the executors and sole beneficiaries of their uncle's will. He passed away in May this year and, having paid the IHT due on his estate, they have now been granted Probate. He lived in a 2 bed freehold property in his sole name, which was mortgage free, and we have the Charge Certificate and all accompanying documents.

Our plan is to pay my wife's sister half the agreed value of the property, then transfer the property into the joint ownership of my wife and I, and then for our daughter to move into, and live in the property.

My question is, how do we transfer the property into our sole names? Is this something we can do ourselves, or will we need a solicitor/conveyancer? And grateful for any ideas of the costs (Land Registry, solictor/conveyancer) of doing so.

Many thanks in anticipation....

Keep_pedalling

Are you going to need a mortgage?

Amsler123

No - we're going to use savings to cover my sister-in-law's half of the property

poseidon1

Amsler123 said:

My wife and her sister are the executors and sole beneficiaries of their uncle's will. He passed away in May this year and, having paid the IHT due on his estate, they have now been granted Probate. He lived in a 2 bed freehold property in his sole name, which was mortgage free, and we have the Charge Certificate and all accompanying documents.

Our plan is to pay my wife's sister half the agreed value of the property, then transfer the property into the joint ownership of my wife and I, and then for our daughter to move into, and live in the property.

My question is, how do we transfer the property into our sole names? Is this something we can do ourselves, or will we need a solicitor/conveyancer? And grateful for any ideas of the costs (Land Registry, solictor/conveyancer) of doing so.

Many thanks in anticipation....

Probably best for your query to be reposted to the house buying forum, where representatives from the Land Registry occasionally monitor and respond to queries.

In the meantime the recent thread below from that forum, provides useful pointers re TR1 transfers, AP1 registration and formal proof of ID procedures.
It's possible to DIY, but a solicitor will be required for ID, there are online firms that provide that particular service.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6626049/transfer-of-property-ownership-diy#latest

EDIT :

On reflection I believe a solicitor will be required since SDLT on the  purchase from the sister will be in point, with 2nd property stamp duty being an issue since you already own your own property.

Hopefully there has been no measurable increase in the house value since death so capital gains tax should not be an issue.

Amsler123

Thanks very much poseidon1.  I've had a good read of the thread you suggested, and also had a look at the relevant Land Registry and HMRC pages regarding SDLT. In this case, do you think the SDLT chargeable would be on the full value of the property, or the 50% we would be paying to my wife's sister for her half?

poseidon1

Amsler123 said:

Thanks very much poseidon1.  I've had a good read of the thread you suggested, and also had a look at the relevant Land Registry and HMRC pages regarding SDLT. In this case, do you think the SDLT chargeable would be on the full value of the property, or the 50% we would be paying to my wife's sister for her half?

Just the 50%, your wife is already de facto owner of the other half.

Keep_pedalling

If the estate had other assets you could avoid some of the SDLT by distributing more of them to your sibling and taking a larger share of the house.

Amsler123

poseidon1 said:

Amsler123 said:

Thanks very much poseidon1.  I've had a good read of the thread you suggested, and also had a look at the relevant Land Registry and HMRC pages regarding SDLT. In this case, do you think the SDLT chargeable would be on the full value of the property, or the 50% we would be paying to my wife's sister for her half?

Just the 50%, your wife is already de facto owner of the other half.

Many thanks poseidon1 - that's a relief - using HMG's SDLT Calculator, that brings to total down from £26,500 to 'just' £9,750!

If we were to remove my wife's details from our current property (freehold house, no mortgage) so it would just be in my name, and then proceed with the new property, just in her name, the SDLT Calculator says the tax due would be only £1,000. Obvs there will be sols costs involved in this, but does it seem a possible way to save £8,750 of tax? 

Amsler123

Keep_pedalling said:

If the estate had other assets you could avoid some of the SDLT by distributing more of them to your sibling and taking a larger share of the house.

Thanks Keep_pedalling. Sadly most of the other assets went on funeral costs and settling the £22k Inheritance Tax bill....

poseidon1

Amsler123 said:

poseidon1 said:

Amsler123 said:

Thanks very much poseidon1.  I've had a good read of the thread you suggested, and also had a look at the relevant Land Registry and HMRC pages regarding SDLT. In this case, do you think the SDLT chargeable would be on the full value of the property, or the 50% we would be paying to my wife's sister for her half?

Just the 50%, your wife is already de facto owner of the other half.

Many thanks poseidon1 - that's a relief - using HMG's SDLT Calculator, that brings to total down from £26,500 to 'just' £9,750!

If we were to remove my wife's details from our current property (freehold house, no mortgage) so it would just be in my name, and then proceed with the new property, just in her name, the SDLT Calculator says the tax due would be only £1,000. Obvs there will be sols costs involved in this, but does it seem a possible way to save £8,750 of tax? 

Nice idea, but doesn't work unless you are also prepared to divorce!  Married couples treated as a single unit for SDLT purposes regardless of who actually owns the marital home - see article below

https://www.ramptonbaseley.com/articles/stamp-duty-on-second-home

Amsler123

poseidon1 said:

Amsler123 said:

poseidon1 said:

Amsler123 said:

Thanks very much poseidon1.  I've had a good read of the thread you suggested, and also had a look at the relevant Land Registry and HMRC pages regarding SDLT. In this case, do you think the SDLT chargeable would be on the full value of the property, or the 50% we would be paying to my wife's sister for her half?

Just the 50%, your wife is already de facto owner of the other half.

Many thanks poseidon1 - that's a relief - using HMG's SDLT Calculator, that brings to total down from £26,500 to 'just' £9,750!

If we were to remove my wife's details from our current property (freehold house, no mortgage) so it would just be in my name, and then proceed with the new property, just in her name, the SDLT Calculator says the tax due would be only £1,000. Obvs there will be sols costs involved in this, but does it seem a possible way to save £8,750 of tax? 

Nice idea, but doesn't work unless you are also prepared to divorce!  Married couples treated as a single unit for SDLT purposes regardless of who actually owns the marital home - see article below

https://www.ramptonbaseley.com/articles/stamp-duty-on-second-home

Thanks very much - thought it was a bit too easy.....