Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

[Saoirse]

Myself and my brother are joint executors of our late mother's will and joint beneficiaries of her house. We have been granted probate and I have agreed that he can buy the house to move into but he is already renovating it and we haven't even told the land registry that it will now be in our names, never mind him not having brought my half from me yet! I am also concerned that, as he has to sell his own house before he can move in, he is altering the value of the house before it's even his. How much is he entitled to do at this early stage? How will the house be valued when he has a buyer for his own home and is ready to buy off me? Thank you for any help!

[bluebottle]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Hi Saoirse and welcome to Legal Beagles.

The answer to your question is best-answered by a legal professional specialising in Probate Law.

The house will need to be valued, but in the condition it was in as at the date of your mother's passing. Renovating it now is going to affect the value. I feel your brother needs to be gently but firmly told to put any further renovation work on hold until a valuation has been carried out.

However, as stated above, it would be best to seek professional advice from a Probate lawyer.

[Saoirse]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Hello Bluebottle, thank you for replying. The house (sorry, I should have said before) was valued, for probate, in February (if that makes any difference; it's the valuation when it comes to me selling to my brother that I don't understand how to action, now that he's changed so much of the interior, I don't know how I will judge how much to sell it to him for... I'm wondering whether he's even entitled to be making these changes before it's even registered in our names.. Thanks for suggesting it needs legal advice; I guess I'd better make the call tomorrow. :tinysmile_hmm_t2:

[bluebottle]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Hello Bluebottle, thank you for replying. The house (sorry, I should have said before) was valued, for probate, in February (if that makes any difference; it's the valuation when it comes to me selling to my brother that I don't understand how to action, now that he's changed so much of the interior, I don't know how I will judge how much to sell it to him for... I'm wondering whether he's even entitled to be making these changes before it's even registered in our names.. Thanks for suggesting it needs legal advice; I guess I'd better make the call tomorrow. :tinysmile_hmm_t2:

Hi again.

The valuation for probate is for the purposes of assessing liability to pay Inheritance Tax. From what you have now said, consulting a legal professional would, in all probability, be the best course.

[Saoirse]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Ah, ok. Thank you Bluebottle. :-)

[Sapphire]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Stop him doing anything until its all legally signed over, if anything goes wrong you could still be liable.

[MissFM]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Although you need to change the Land Registry entry as soon as, I can't see any problem here (unless your brother's renovations are actually reducing the value of the property:tinysmile_aha_t. But I may be being thick.

Assuming the valuation you had for probate was approved by the District Valuer and HMRC (if inheritance tax applies), then you would quite legitimately say that the renovations were in line with your duty as executors to preserve the value of the Estate (ie remedy delapidation and prevent further dilapidation) should his work cause a huge rise in value with consequent tax implications.

As regards the valuation when he buys you out, then it would seem reasonable to deduct his expenses from any consequent increase in market value, before division, when the time comes (which probably should be as soon as possible from your point of view). A rise in the overall value of the property would surely be to your advantage?

As joint executors/beneficiaries it's required that you have the agreement of the other to take any action. As long as you are on friendly terms and trust each other, I can't see any problem.

[bluebottle]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Although you need to change the Land Registry entry as soon as, I can't see any problem here (unless your brother's renovations are actually reducing the value of the property:tinysmile_aha_t. But I may be being thick.

Assuming the valuation you had for probate was approved by the District Valuer and HMRC (if inheritance tax applies), then you would quite legitimately say that the renovations were in line with your duty as executors to preserve the value of the Estate (ie remedy delapidation and prevent further dilapidation) should his work cause a huge rise in value with consequent tax implications.

As regards the valuation when he buys you out, then it would seem reasonable to deduct his expenses from any consequent increase in market value, before division, when the time comes (which probably should be as soon as possible from your point of view). A rise in the overall value of the property would surely be to your advantage?

As joint executors/beneficiaries it's required that you have the agreement of the other to take any action. As long as you are on friendly terms and trust each other, I can't see any problem.

I agree, MissFM. Remedying dilapidation would probably fall under the headings of "Routine Maintenance" and "Essential Repairs" which, I believe, are allowed, but this does need to be confirmed by a legal professional. In a situation such as this, input from a lawyer would probably save any complications further down the line.

[enquirer]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Update the Land Registry entry to both your names immediately. If you don't, he might jump the gun and register himself as sole owner.

If he does, you will be in a pretty pickle.

[Sapphire]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Update the Land Registry entry to both your names immediately. If you don't, he might jump the gun and register himself as sole owner.

If he does, you will be in a pretty pickle.

EXACTLY what I was getting at, thank you enquirer for re-iterrating that point.

[wales01man]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

130K at stake advise the OP to seek legal help ?

[PlanB]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Myself and my brother are joint executors of our late mother's will and joint beneficiaries of her house. We have been granted probate and I have agreed that he can buy the house to move into but he is already renovating it and we haven't even told the land registry that it will now be in our names, never mind him not having brought my half from me yet! I am also concerned that, as he has to sell his own house before he can move in, he is altering the value of the house before it's even his. How much is he entitled to do at this early stage?

Is there a reason why you haven't registered the change of ownership at Land Registry? Since you've already got probate it's an easy form filling exercise although I'd use a solicitor to be safe. See here:

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/publi...public-guide-9

You are currently joint owners so I can see no legal reason why either or both of you can't do work on the property. You can't stop him and vice versa. Is there *history* between you two brothers which is making you suspicious?

You've had the property valued for probate so I presume you own a 50/50 share from that point which would determine the price. Make a formal offer to him in writing and get a formal acceptance from him in writing based on that figure. Instruct a solicitor to draw up the contracts. Then exchange the contracts with a future date (up to a maximum of 12 months I think) for completion written into the contract to give him time to sell his house. Once you've exchanged contracts there is no going back in law. The price stated in the contract is the price he will have to pay you however long it takes to complete. You can write the completion date into the contract adding the words "or before by agreement" or something similar. All this can be done in 7 days. I've seen it done in 24 hours. Why wait?

Sorted

[PlanB]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Update the Land Registry entry to both your names immediately. If you don't, he might jump the gun and register himself as sole owner.

If the OP's brother registered the property with him as the sole legal owner when he blatantly isn't (and this can be proved) then that would be fraud and a matter for the police :mod:

If the OP is suspicious that his brother might be planning this deception all he has to do is register a Form RQ restriction at Land Registry which would prevent the property being sold or any mortgage lender placing a charge on the property without lawyer intervention. Better safe than sorry.

Here's how to do it

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/publi...nswers-form-rq

[PlanB]

Re: Can my brother renovate my late mother's house already?!

Myself and my brother are joint executors of our late mother's will and joint beneficiaries of her house. We have been granted probate and I have agreed that he can buy the house . .

. . . How will the house be valued when he has a buyer for his own home and is ready to buy off me?

There's something else important you have to consider here. You are currently the joint owner of this property. Do you own your own home too? If so when your brother buys you out I believe you will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the money he pays you since you won't be entitled to Private Residence Relief :sorry:

However, if you get a pre-calculation of the amount of CGT you'll owe to HMRC you can factor that into the purchase/sale price In turn he may want to off-set that against the Stamp Duty he will have to pay when he registers it (for the second time) at Land Registry.

Here's some CGT tax information:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/property/sell-own-home.htm