is DIY Deed reconstitution possible?

[michelle90]

Hi there first posting here.
When my father passed away I acquired probate and that went fine. My father purchased his house in 1988 and did not update the title at the land registry. (It only became compulsory from 1990 so he didn't bother I suppose)

My problem is that we cannot find a paper deed anywhere and the online land registry still shows title ownership of the previous owner in 1987.

I have contacted a solicitor and they have suggested Deed Reconstitution. They have warned it will be very expensive though. After paying off debts and funeral expenses there really isn't anything left.

Getting a copy of the deed will not be possible as the building society went bankrupt.
Has anyone had experience or any suggestions what to do?

[dslippy]

This is puzzling. Once a title is registered registration of a transfer o the title is not optional but required.

You say there are no assets - does that include the house? Or is there nothimg left after the house.

What is possible depends upon what is available, by way of history of the title and other documents.

[atticus]

I think he means the title is not registered.

[dslippy]

I took it that the title was registered but not the transfer to the OP's father. I agree it is ambiguous.

[atticus]

can any information be obtained from the seller?

[michelle90]

After 1990 all sales and transfers have to involve notifying/updating the land registry. Sale occurred 1988 so my dad likely just kept the paper deed as proof of ownership and that's all.
When I look up the property on the land registry website I just see the previous owners details from 1987.

Without the deed then a special appeal has to be made to the land registry with as much information as we can collect (utility bills, council tax bills etc) to prove my deceased father owned the property and then it can be transferred to me.

We have been warned that solicitor fees will be very high.
Just hoping someone else has had experience with this

[dslippy]

The title is registered or you would not be able to see the details of the previous owner.
Registration of a transfer of registered land was never optional.
Recovering the value of the house must be worth the expense.

[des8]

I can't understand how a change of ownership went unregistered when there was a building society involved.
Surely they would have required their charge be registered?

[dslippy]

Correct - I assumed that no loan was involved. If one was there should be an accopunt showing a history of payments.

[dslippy]

Michelle90 - we are lost here. That you can see the title of the previous owner strongly suggests that the property title was registered. That that person remains registered means that the transfer to your father was not registered.
If a lender was involved, that lender would have insisted that the transfer of the property and its title be registered.

Despite the fact that the lender may have gone bankrupt, the records of its dealings should still be available even if only with difficulty.

To answer the question in your heading, yes you can in principle do anything that a soilicitor can do in this context. However the value of the house being at stake, it must be worth getting it right.

If he borrowed money against the property, the lender will have been represented by a solicitor paid to complete the registration. Thus there would have been no possibility of your father deciding not to register the transfer.
Was the loan paid off? Again there will have been paperwork to complete the title.
You have the story wrong somewhere. Where we cannot say from here.

[michelle90]

I have to apologize. I did not download all the records available at the Land Registry. My father's name appears as a leaseholder. I feel so foolish. Everything else involving my father's financial affairs has been so complicated that I jumped the gun and made the wrong assumption.
I have wasted everyone's time and I apologise.

[dslippy]

No problem