Letters of Administration de Bon is non

pothole71

My wife’s father died 2016, my wife’s mum was suffering from dementia, she could not sign any legal documents so my wife got the letter of a administration for her father with her mum being the person she was sorting his estate out for. 

We were told  at the time by her that the house was in both of their names, when she passed we were clearing the house and found the deeds in a tin in the attic with only her fathers name on, she passed away in 2023. As neither of them had a will my wife got the letter administration for her and her estate which we assumed included the house. We’ve discovered that the house was in her dad’s name to make sure the sale of the house was legal we spoke to a firm of solicitors to look over the documents and ask them if it was illegal to sell the house and that everything in place they told us yes we have all the documents we need so we left the deeds with them and put the house on the market last May.

 Perhaps I should mention that the house is an unregistered property and in August someone had changed the locks  people were being shown round in groups, we found out an estate agent who has since closed down was working a scam. We were then advised by the solicitor to register it with the land register the solicitor sorted this out for us for £2200 this was last August. After many silly offers and sticking out for the price  we finally got a cash buyer for the property on December 27 for the asking price and we thought it was just in the hands of the solicitors now.

But the solicitor has come back to us saying the land register require letters of administration de bonis non, which their probate department can deal with for an estimated £2200. 

I did ask the question why when I first brought the paper work to them back in April did they not make us aware of this, and when  they applied for first registration into my wife’s name were they not aware that this letter was required all I got told was they only do the conveyance I need to speak to their probate department.

So it’s going to cost more solicitors fees, probably lose the sale, then the solicitor will charge us for their time spent on the sale so far, this all just started with a conveyance fee quote.

She also did mention there may be capital gains tax to pay once the house is sold, so now we shall look for an accountant.

Long rant over thanks for staying till the end.

Keep_pedalling

You will certainly need letters of administration for his estate and because he died 10 years ago you will also need to file an IHT return using IHT 205.

You do not need a solicitor to do this, and you can get  plenty of help in how to do this on the deaths funerals and probate board. I have asked the mods to move this thread to that board as I think that is the most appropriate place for you to get help.

poseidon1

pothole71 said:

My wife’s father died 2016, my wife’s mum was suffering from dementia, she could not sign any legal documents so my wife got the letter of a administration for her father with her mum being the person she was sorting his estate out for. 

We were told  at the time by her that the house was in both of their names, when she passed we were clearing the house and found the deeds in a tin in the attic with only her fathers name on, she passed away in 2023. As neither of them had a will my wife got the letter administration for her and her estate which we assumed included the house. We’ve discovered that the house was in her dad’s name to make sure the sale of the house was legal we spoke to a firm of solicitors to look over the documents and ask them if it was illegal to sell the house and that everything in place they told us yes we have all the documents we need so we left the deeds with them and put the house on the market last May.

 Perhaps I should mention that the house is an unregistered property and in August someone had changed the locks  people were being shown round in groups, we found out an estate agent who has since closed down was working a scam. We were then advised by the solicitor to register it with the land register the solicitor sorted this out for us for £2200 this was last August. After many silly offers and sticking out for the price  we finally got a cash buyer for the property on December 27 for the asking price and we thought it was just in the hands of the solicitors now.

But the solicitor has come back to us saying the land register require letters of administration de bonis non, which their probate department can deal with for an estimated £2200. 

I did ask the question why when I first brought the paper work to them back in April did they not make us aware of this, and when  they applied for first registration into my wife’s name were they not aware that this letter was required all I got told was they only do the conveyance I need to speak to their probate department.

So it’s going to cost more solicitors fees, probably lose the sale, then the solicitor will charge us for their time spent on the sale so far, this all just started with a conveyance fee quote.

She also did mention there may be capital gains tax to pay once the house is sold, so now we shall look for an accountant.

Long rant over thanks for staying till the end.

Some useful guidance below on letters of administration de bonis non -

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm05102

Seems you will now have to make a request for  form Cap A5C from the Probate and Inheritance tax helpline. However, as indicated by a thread from the trust discussion forum ( below) back in 2022, solicitors were experiencing problems in obtaining the form in a timely manner, and were trying to obtain copies from each other!

https://trustsdiscussionforum.co.uk/t/hmrc-form-cap-a5c-needed/15828

This was a continuing problem all the way into July 2025 wherein you will see the forum moderator finally posted a link to a pdf copy within the thread which you can download. 

However once duly armed with the A5C , if you intend to DIY this process you may struggle to find anyone on the deaths funeral and probate board who have successfully done so.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81835078#Comment_81835078?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=grant+de+bonis+non


EDIT:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/inheritance-tax-forms-not-available-online

Link confirms Cap A5C not available from HMRC online.

Land_Registry

I've also posted on your other thread and wonder if the specifics involved re the two deaths and two letters of administration obtained have left a 'gap' as yet not closed with us at HMLR
The assumptions referred to suggest to me at least that perhaps an application has been made to register the property but the submitted paperwork is 'missing' something.
Letters de bonis non are generally required to create what's known as a chain of representation between letters of administration. But if the property was in her late Father's name, and your wife is his administrator she would presumably be able to transfer the property to herself and then register before selling
However some clarity might be required as to what has actually been applied for and/or requested by us at HMLR and I have suggested you DM the title number, if willing.