Removing a covenant!

cmhbyandco

I am at present remortgaging my property. My husband died three years ago & the house was in joint names. I removed his name from the deeds after his death & now I'm the sole owner.

The solicitors dealing with the remortgage say there is a restrictive covenant on the property stating there can not be a sole owner of the house!  They are saying I need to have this removed before they can proceed with the remortgage.  They have also stated that I have to contact the original solicitors when we purchased the house to get them to do it, but they are no longer in business.

All a bit of a nightmare!  Any advice would be gratefully received!

SDLT_Geek

cmhbyandco said:

I am at present remortgaging my property. My husband died three years ago & the house was in joint names. I removed his name from the deeds after his death & now I'm the sole owner.

The solicitors dealing with the remortgage say there is a restrictive covenant on the property stating there can not be a sole owner of the house!  They are saying I need to have this removed before they can proceed with the remortgage.  They have also stated that I have to contact the original solicitors when we purchased the house to get them to do it, but they are no longer in business.

All a bit of a nightmare!  Any advice would be gratefully received!

I expect what you have is not a "restrictive covenant" but a "restriction" on the proprietorship register of the property.  If you can put up the text of relevant title entry, people will be able to help. 

My guess is that it is a "Form A restriction".  You can read about them here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notices-restrictions-and-the-protection-of-third-party-interests-in-the-register/practice-guide-19-notices-restrictions-and-the-protection-of-third-party-interests-in-the-register

cmhbyandco

1         (06.06.2007) RESTRICTION: No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.

2         (06.06.2007) The Transfer to the proprietor contains a covenant to observe and perform the covenants referred to in the Charges Register and of indemnity in respect thereof.

Yes, you are correct. It is a restriction.  

Could I remove this myself without the need for a solicitor?

Flugelhorn

Is the date on this significant? were you living in the property then? If so then likely the first one meant you were tenants in common

cmhbyandco

Flugelhorn said:

Is the date on this significant? were you living in the property then? If so then likely the first one meant you were tenants in common

The date is when we bought the house.  

Flugelhorn

so looks like you may have opted to be tenants in common when you bought the house - this enables each owner to leave their share of the property to whoever they wish - whereas if it is jointly owned it it goes directly to the surviving partner 

did your husband leave a will?

cmhbyandco

Flugelhorn said:

so looks like you may have opted to be tenants in common when you bought the house - this enables each owner to leave their share of the property to whoever they wish - whereas if it is jointly owned it it goes directly to the surviving partner 

did your husband leave a will?

Yes, he did & every thing was left to me.

theartfullodger

Find someone prepared to agree to own 1%, you the remaining.

loubel

The solicitors dealing with your remortgage should be able to sort this out for you. They might charge you extra to do so though.

Tiglet2

Your solicitor should be advising you, but as the property was held as Tenants in Common and you now wish to remortgage the property following the death of your husband, as the property’s legal owner, you have the right to do this.

You will be asked to appoint an additional trustee in place of your late husband to give "good receipt" for the remortgage monies and enable the remortgage to proceed.  

Once the remortgage has taken place, the restriction (1) can be removed from the title.

cmhbyandco

The solicitor dealing with the remortgage has now said I will need to apply to the HM Land Registry to remove the restriction.

I have downloaded the forms, so I will review them.

Many thanks for the replies