Transfer of property

purplecrocus · 14 October 2016 at 8:11PM

In the 1950's my parents brought some land and had a house built. They have lived there ever since. Sadly my dad died recently and in his Will everything was left to my mum. However the house was in his name and it seems we are unable to simply put it in my mums name because it is not listed on the land registry? I am looking for some advice as to whether we are able to do this ourselves or should we be looking at involving a solicitor. Thanks

Yorkshireman99 · 14 October 2016 at 8:24PM

purplecrocus wrote: »

In the 1950's my parents brought some land and had a house built. They have lived there ever since. Sadly my dad died recently and in his Will everything was left to my mum. However the house was in his name and it seems we are unable to simply put it in my mums name because it is not listed on the land registry? I am looking for some advice as to whether we are able to do this ourselves or should we be looking at involving a solicitor. Thanks

If it is unregistered then it will need first time registration using the deeds. You really need to use a solicitor to do this as well as getting probate. You may be able to do probate yourself.

purplecrocus · 14 October 2016 at 8:46PM

Thank you for the prompt reply. We already have probate, and my mother has the deeds. I have been looking online at the land registry site and see they have forms you can fill in for first time registration, although it does look quite complicated! I was hoping to save my mother the expense of solicitors fees.

Yorkshireman99 · 14 October 2016 at 9:34PM

purplecrocus wrote: »

Thank you for the prompt reply. We already have probate, and my mother has the deeds. I have been looking online at the land registry site and see they have forms you can fill in for first time registration, although it does look quite complicated! I was hoping to save my mother the expense of solicitors fees.

The important thing is to make sure that the title is adequate. You can DIY but there is a risk that you will get it wrong and upon a subsequent sale the cost of correcting it may be much higher.

FreeBear · 15 October 2016 at 12:14AM

I was in a similar position myself late last year - Fortunately, I had found the original deeds and all conveyancing documents (along with a multitude of searches) showing a clear chain of ownership. With this bundle in hand, I completed the TR1 and FR1 forms myself and submitted the whole lot to the Land Registry. Having a grant to probate avoided the need to complete the ID1 as my identity had been confirmed by the courts.

I made a couple of minor errors on the FR1 form, which LR sent back to me for correction... Yes, the forms are a little confusing, but with the aid of the accompanying notes and the LR help line, they are not that difficult to complete.
Tip - Download the forms and change the file permissions to read/write and then you can use open Office (or similar) to type in the text.

purplecrocus · 15 October 2016 at 8:34AM

FreeBear wrote: »

I was in a similar position myself late last year - Fortunately, I had found the original deeds and all conveyancing documents (along with a multitude of searches) showing a clear chain of ownership. With this bundle in hand, I completed the TR1 and FR1 forms myself and submitted the whole lot to the Land Registry. Having a grant to probate avoided the need to complete the ID1 as my identity had been confirmed by the courts.

I made a couple of minor errors on the FR1 form, which LR sent back to me for correction... Yes, the forms are a little confusing, but with the aid of the accompanying notes and the LR help line, they are not that difficult to complete.
Tip - Download the forms and change the file permissions to read/write and then you can use open Office (or similar) to type in the text.

Thank you for the helpful reply, I know we have the original deeds, and i'm sure that there will be paperwork relating to the purchase of the land. I have downloaded the forms and will take my time going through them. Have had a good look at the land registry site, and as you mention it seems very helpful, and I will contact them if I get stuck.

G_M · 17 October 2016 at 11:31PM

If the property were registered, transferring ownership to your mum would be a straight-forward DIY process.

With an unregistered property requiring First Registration, it is more complex.

If the Deeds (and Plans!) are complete and unambiguous, without too many associated documents containing complex covenants, then it is still DIY-doable, though you'll need a bit more time and nouse (is that a word?).

Otherwise use a solicitor (not a cheap online conveyancing warehouse!)

Transfer of property

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