Probate - grateful for a sanity check !

spongebobbrownpants

Scenario: Parent A and Parent B now deceased. The house deeds show them as 'Tenants in Common' with a life interest trust if I've understood the terminology correctly. Somewhat simplified by having a single beneficiary (child) who is also the executor and trustee.

When Parent A died (Feb 2026), as far as I can see no action was taken by Parent B to update land registry etc, basic assets such as bank cash transferred as surviving partner.

Parent B sadly now also deceased (Sep 2026), hence now looking at this board …

So, as far as I can work out I need to do the following:

• Apply for probate for Parent A, using house value as at Feb 2026 (50% value)
• Also apply for probate for Parent B using current valuation (100%)
• Both sets of probate should then give the authority to sell the property / deal with assets etc. No need to update the Land registry as this will be released on sale anyway.

Have I missed anything ? Seem relatively straightforward and will be no IHT tax to pay (house estimate £250000, other assets mostly cash, approx £30000). I think I can just apply for probate as an 'excepted estate'.

Very grateful for any comments etc - cheers

Land_Registry

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6684528/probate-grateful-for-a-sanity-check

Probate is not required for Parent A as the legal ownership did not form part of their estate. It passed to Parent B and probate will be required for Parent B as a result

The TIC aspect relates to their beneficial ownerships and will be wrapped up in the trust/their wills and can be dealt with by the executor for Parent B once the sale is completed

The buyers will need certified copies of Parent A's death certificate and Parent B's probate. The executor can then sell (transfer) the property as appropriate. Any form A (TIC) restriction will be overreached and automatically cancelled when the buyer registers their purchase

No need to update the land register before selling

spongebobbrownpants

Great, thanks for the clarification - been going round in circles a bit trying to understand the process.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82166096#Comment_82166096

Note that when obtaining probate for parent B you will be using 100% of the market value of the property at date of death in September, and not just the 50% they owned personally. They are also deemed to own the 50% in trust.

On the numbers you quote this should be a straight forward Excepted Estate as described in the link below, enabling you to obtain probate via the online process -

https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died/check-type-of-estate

Finally, strictly speaking the trust should have been registered with HMRC following parent A 's death in February. However the following thread explains how you can quickly discharge that obligation and move on.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6685795/gross-probate-value

spongebobbrownpants

Thanks for the details and the linked thread. Trust would not have been registered at time of parent A’s death, I’ll have a look at the process.

I’ve been reading all sorts and thought I’d seen some mention that the trust registration is unnecessary as only exists for the 6 odd months between A + B, think a 2 year limit was mentioned. No harm in doing it anyway though I guess - time for some more reading !

NedS

My understanding is that all trusts must be registered unless it is excluded from registration as a Schedule 3A trust, unless liable for UK tax:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-need-to-register-a-trust

As the trust isn't liable for any UK taxes, it does not need to be registered if it is excluded under Schedule 3A, otherwise it needs registering within 90 days:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-need-to-register-a-trust#when-to-register-a-trust

My solicitor mentioned that at present they do not appear to be issuing fines for late registration, but they can issue a fine of £5,000 I believe.

Keep_pedalling

Providing the assets within the trust are not earning income then the trust does not need to be registered if it is wound up with two years of of the settler’s death.

https://www.thackraywilliams.com/insights/advice/does-a-life-interest-will-trust-need-to-be-registered-with-hmrc

spongebobbrownpants

Thanks for the comments all, I think I'll look at registering the trust anyway. I don't think there is any income generation, but just in case and all I'm really doing is trying to avoid the future probate application being flagged.

NedS

For those who like to read HMRC manuals, the Trust Registration Service Manual is here:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm10030

and TRSM23020 is also particularly relevant:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm23020

spongebobbrownpants

Just to close off the thread, submitted probate application 28/10 and approved today 05/11 - so only one week which was unexpected. I'm hoping that is it, will hold off registering the 7 month trust and review if there is any CGT due when the property is sold.

Thanks to all who responded.