Transfer of House Left in Will/Buy Out Sister

Godiva

Hi, can anyone point me in the right direction to understand how the following works please?

My parents died (Dad2021 and Mum 2024) and their will states they leave the house 50/50 to my sister and myself.
Because of one thing or another, this hasn't been processed yet (has not gone through probate?).

I wish to pay my sister half of the house value and own it myself outright.
The money will be sourced from selling my current property (which is just going through, so I will have the funds this week).

My sister and I, agreed on the value of my parents' house as £300k, so as I would own half the house from the will already, I need to give her £150k (from the sale of my own property).

The sale price of my old house was £170k, but after estate agent fees/paying back any discount I had, along with my savings, I am left with just enough to pay my sister half.

My questions are:

1. How would I need to go about this process?
   
2. Assuming I would need a solicitor, what type (conveyancing, wills/probate, both?) and what documents and details would they need?
   I don't want to use the solicitor used to sell my house - they are terrible for explaining things or being contacted.
   
3. What is the likely cost of doing this?
   
4. Are there any surprise charges I will have to pay e.g. land registry, stamp duty etc.?
   
5. Is there anything to look out for i.e. rules to abide, traps/catches etc.?
   
6. Also, how long should the process take of putting the house in to my name?
   

Thank you in advance for any advice/guidance.

Keep_pedalling

You can’t really do anything until you have obtained probate so that should be your top priority. Probate should be straight forward and you really don’t want to get a solicitor involved in that as it will only add expense and delay. If you need any help with the probate process ask over on the Deaths, funerals and probate board.

Transferring the property can be done without using a solicitor once you have probate.

Are you and your sibling the executors of your mother’s will?

poseidon1

Your post does not quite make sense since you failed to state the exact terms of father's will.

At a guess his will may not have left his half of the house direct to you both, but in a trust where your mother had the right to live in the house rent free, and only on her death did the father's half share pass to you and your sibling ( supply his exact will wording for clarification).

If he did (unwisely) leave his share direct to you both, then your sister may have a CGT liability when selling that quarter share to you. A valuation of the house on your father's death may therefore be required in that scenario.

If however, the other suggestion of a trust is correct then at this point in time you likely have your father's property trust that has never been reported to HMRC but has now terminated in favour of you and your sister, plus your mother's half share of the house where presumably ( for one reason or other) probate has also not been applied for. On the plus side the trust scenario likely removes the CGT exposure mentioned above, although there maybe some gain since your mother' death.

If an unadministered trust is involved here, then undoubtedly you will need a STEP qualified solicitor to untangle both parents' estates that you have failed to administer or obtain probate over the last 4-5 years, prior to dealing with the property sale transaction with your sister. STEP is the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and specialise in trust related estate matters.

No one here can give you any idea of costs or timescales since by your own admission you have done nothing with either estates to get you anywhere near the point of an intra sibling house sale/purchase.

The only saving grace here is IHT does not appear to be an issue.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81875909#Comment_81875909

Could the parents not have had mirror wills? Leaving the house to the surviving partner ( Mum in this case) on first death, and the house 50:50 to the Sisters on second death. Assuming the Dad did not change his will, then no need for trusts ?

Keep_pedalling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81875924#Comment_81875924

They could, and I had rather assumed that is what the OP ment, but they do do need to confirm this.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81875924#Comment_81875924

Certainly a possibility ( especially for smaller estates). However OP needs to clarify.

p00hsticks

The OP also needs to say who the executor of the mother's will is, as they'll be the ones applying for probate and handling the distribution of the estate.

I'm not sure, but depending on how the property was held and what the terms of the father's will were, it may be that probate is also needed for the father's estate if not already obtained…..

Land_Registry

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81876085#Comment_81876085

If the property was in their joint names OP will only need probate for the late Mother as the legal ownership of the property passed to her following Dad's death. The property won't have formed part of his estate when he died.

How the property was 'held' would most likely only impact on how the beneficial ownerships were then dealt with post-transaction by the late Mother's executors. For example how any sale monies were then distributed/shared to beneficiaries