Legal procedure after inheriting half a house?

[Mr_Brightside]

My mum died a few weeks ago and I am her executor.

My dad is still alive, but is in a care home and lacks capacity. Last year the Court of Protection granted me Deputyship over his affairs.

In her will, my mum left her half of the house to me, my sister and my brother. She was a 'tenant in common' with my dad.

The total value of the estate, including 50% of the house, requires Probate to be granted - but is below the tax threshold. The banks released, to me, all the cash in Mum's accounts - as the value was so small. I will soon be sending off the probate form, listing the total assets of Mum's estate.

However, what I am wondering about now is - what do I have to do to register my, my sister, and my brother's ownership of 50% of my parent's property. I have absolutely no clue about how this is done. Can I do this myself? If so, what legal procedures apply? Will I need to employ a solicitor?

This is wholly alien territory to me and I would be very grateful to any advice received.

Many thanks,

John

[des8]

If you diy you will need to complete and submit form API (https://www.gov.uk/government/public...e-register-ap1) to Land Registry with certified copies of certain documents such as the grant of probate, proof of identity.
the form is reasonably easy to follow, and there is a guide (https://www.gov.uk/government/public...eting-form-ap1)

[Sam101]

Hi John, sorry for your sad loss.

As DES8 has said, the Probate procedure can be followed yourself without to much difficulty.

Regarding the property ownership, no rush, but once the Probate has been sorted out you can contact the Land Registry and they can guide you through the paperwork.

However, this seems like your Mum left her half of the house to you and your sister and brother, but the other half would still be in your Dad's name. So as he lacks capacity, his part of the house would remain in his name under your guidance and the other half could be put in the names of you and your siblings, but could just wait until your Dad passes.

In case your are not aware, the care home fees for your Father need to be met from his assets, but not the assets of 50% of the property left to you and your siblings. If you need more information on this, then do ask about it and me or the other members of the forum would be able to help clarify.

Do you know if your Dad has made a Will and what he intends to do with his half of the property? If it is to be split between the children, then there should not be any problems, as the property could be sold and split between you three. AS I said, there is no rush to make changes straight away, the half will still be there at a later date as it is determined in the Will and the Land Registry can be notified later.

[dslippy]

In part this depends upon the exact wording of the will.
The HMLR title will include a a restriction requiring there to be two trustees. Your father, you say, can no longer act, so in reality at least one additional trustee needs to be appointed. May I suggest your sister and brother.

There is indeed no rush to do anything, but if you read a few of the posts here you should fairly readily see the damage caused by not making progress.

[Mr_Brightside]

If you diy you will need to complete and submit form API (https://www.gov.uk/government/public...e-register-ap1) to Land Registry with certified copies of certain documents such as the grant of probate, proof of identity.
the form is reasonably easy to follow, and there is a guide (https://www.gov.uk/government/public...eting-form-ap1)

Many thanks for your advice des8 . That looks relatively straightforward. I'm not even sure whether my parent's ownership is currently registered. I did a search on the land registry website and nothing came up for that address - on the public-facing database, at least

[Mr_Brightside]

would still be in your Dad's name. So as he lacks capacity, his part of the house would remain in his name under your guidance and the other half could be put in the names of you and your siblings, but could just wait until your Dad passes.

In case your are not aware, the care home fees for your Father need to be met from his assets, but not the assets of 50% of the property left to you and your siblings. If you need more information on this, then do ask about it and me or the other members of the forum would be able to help clarify.

Do you know if your Dad has made a Will and what he intends to do with his half of the property? If it is to be split between the children, then there should not be any problems, as the property could be sold and split between you three. AS I said, there is no rush to make changes straight away, the half will still be there at a later date as it is determined in the Will and the Land Registry can be notified later.

Many thanks for the advice Sam101

Yes, we are fully expecting the council to come after his half of the house. At present, his care is part-funded by the council as his assets fell below the threshold for self-funding and my mum was still living in the family home. However, with my mum's passing, they will, no doubt, count his half of the house as assets, forcing him to be self-funded once more. I believe (and please correct me if I am wrong here), if we do not sell the house, the council will essentially loan him the monies involved and collect on the loan, from his estate, when he passes. In order to sell the house I would need permission from the Court of Protection.

He left a will and the bottom line is, with my mum's passing, his estate will be equally divided between his surviving children.

[dslippy]

If it is not registered it is an entirely different kettle of fish.
You need a proper solicitor to deal with it.

[Mr_Brightside]

In part this depends upon the exact wording of the will.
The HMLR title will include a a restriction requiring there to be two trustees. Your father, you say, can no longer act, so in reality at least one additional trustee needs to be appointed. May I suggest your sister and brother.

There is indeed no rush to do anything, but if you read a few of the posts here you should fairly readily see the damage caused by not making progress.

Thanks dslippy That point about trustees is really useful to know!

[des8]

You can do a first registration yourself (https://www.gov.uk/registering-land-...the-first-time) but viewing your circumstances you might prefer to instruct a solicitor

[twohoots]

Many thanks for the advice Sam101

Yes, we are fully expecting the council to come after his half of the house. At present, his care is part-funded by the council as his assets fell below the threshold for self-funding and my mum was still living in the family home. However, with my mum's passing, they will, no doubt, count his half of the house as assets, forcing him to be self-funded once more. I believe (and please correct me if I am wrong here), if we do not sell the house, the council will essentially loan him the monies involved and collect on the loan, from his estate, when he passes. In order to sell the house I would need permission from the Court of Protection.

He left a will and the bottom line is, with my mum's passing, his estate will be equally divided between his surviving children.

It’s called a deferred payment when the council pay your care home bill but collect it when you die. They charge interest on it by the way.