Inheriting a property

Wiseman_Vaughn

Wiseman_Vaughn

Well-known member
Hi all - I'm looking for a bit of info regarding a property that my sister and I have inhereted.

It was my late dad's house and was passed down to us both. My sister doesn't want it so I'm planning on buying her share of it.

Is this something that we would need to get a solicitor for - ie. to change the deeds into my name only or is it a simple transaction that can be kept in the family?

As ever, many thanks in advance.

W_V
 
Wiseman_Vaughn said:
Hi all - I'm looking for a bit of info regarding a property that my sister and I have inhereted.

It was my late dad's house and was passed down to us both. My sister doesn't want it so I'm planning on buying her share of it.

Is this something that we would need to get a solicitor for - ie. to change the deeds into my name only or is it a simple transaction that can be kept in the family?

As ever, many thanks in advance.

W_V
Click to expand...
I would most definitely get a solicitor involved. I am doing the same with my brother at the moment he is getting the property and i am getting half the value of the house.
 
I dont see the need for a solicitor but maybe im naive?

If you and your sister own 50% of a house and you want to buy her share, why cant you just give her money and she agrees to give you her share, or agree to the deeds been given to you, your name on the deeds etc? You wouldn't get a solicitor to assist buying her half of a car? There will be costs for the land registry, deeds etc which you may wish to share but depending how much a solicitor would cost, not so sure really. Also, guess it depends how close you are with your sister and how amicable you are, trust her etc...
 
VestasBoro said:
I dont see the need for a solicitor but maybe im naive?

If you and your sister own 50% of a house and you want to buy her share, why cant you just give her money and she agrees to give you her share, or agree to the deeds been given to you, your name on the deeds etc? You wouldn't get a solicitor to assist buying her half of a car? There will be costs for the land registry, deeds etc which you may wish to share but depending how much a solicitor would cost, not so sure really. Also, guess it depends how close you are with your sister and how amicable you are, trust her etc...
Click to expand...
You have to think beyond the here and now. With no official agreement in place what happens to the property when one of either the brother or sister unfortunately dies, or goes bankrupt (sorry to be morbid). Dependents will see that they were officially owners of 50% of the property and may not recognise the unofficial agreement.

It will not cost a lot of money in legal fees to get thisd properly and legally sorted now.
 
Has everything being completed with the estate? If not and there are other assets as well as the property then your sister could take her share of the estate from the other assets and you could take your share entirely as property. This might mean that you own more than 50% of the property and so the cost of buying your sister's share is less.
Either way I'd agree with those who've advised you to use a solicitor.
 
There are a class of people called Licenced conveyancers too. So either one of them or a Solicitor.

You need to get a land certificate sorted. It may be as simple as a transfer but if it has never been registered then it is much more complicated.

The L. C.s tend to be a bit cheaper than a Solicitor. and often a bit quicker. Whilst it may be not possible to do much without the Probate, getting it set up and ready is always a good idea.

Probate need not take for ever ! I did it myself quite easily when my mother died. Nipping into Manchester with the completed form was about as hard as it got I did have to sit for a while whilst they had a look through and checked they did not need any more information is not that difficult. I do not know where you local probate office is
 
Rishworthian said:
There are a class of people called Licenced conveyancers too. So either one of them or a Solicitor.

You need to get a land certificate sorted. It may be as simple as a transfer but if it has never been registered then it is much more complicated.

The L. C.s tend to be a bit cheaper than a Solicitor. and often a bit quicker. Whilst it may be not possible to do much without the Probate, getting it set up and ready is always a good idea.

Probate need not take for ever ! I did it myself quite easily when my mother died. Nipping into Manchester with the completed form was about as hard as it got I did have to sit for a while whilst they had a look through and checked they did not need any more information is not that difficult. I do not know where you local probate office is
Click to expand...

Thanks for this - I'll take a look at Licensed Conveyancing.
 
You might be in for a bit of a wait . Beginning last Sept my solicitor applied for probate for me on my dad's estate and affairs with me as sole executor. It didn't get granted until late December and he didn't receive the doc's until Jan. We then were able to apply for the land registry change of title and that was sent off end of Jan, after 3 months I started ringing every fortnight, eventually after nearly 5 months I got the transfer notification that all was done. Did my nut in all that waiting , when pre covid I'd looked into these things to get an understanding and was informed a standard probate application 6 weeks, and a standard change of title about 6 weeks too.
 
VestasBoro said:
I dont see the need for a solicitor but maybe im naive?

If you and your sister own 50% of a house and you want to buy her share, why cant you just give her money and she agrees to give you her share, or agree to the deeds been given to you, your name on the deeds etc? You wouldn't get a solicitor to assist buying her half of a car? There will be costs for the land registry, deeds etc which you may wish to share but depending how much a solicitor would cost, not so sure really. Also, guess it depends how close you are with your sister and how amicable you are, trust her etc...
Click to expand...
That is so sweet & so naive.

I used to rent an office to a solicitor, he said the worst disputes that he ever dealt with were family arguments over money.

Everything else, there was some give & take, a move to the centre to settle the dispute.

Not families. They wanted their day in court & pound of flesh.
 
Boro_Interlinked said:
You might be in for a bit of a wait . Beginning last Sept my solicitor applied for probate for me on my dad's estate and affairs with me as sole executor. It didn't get granted until late December and he didn't receive the doc's until Jan. We then were able to apply for the land registry change of title and that was sent off end of Jan, after 3 months I started ringing every fortnight, eventually after nearly 5 months I got the transfer notification that all was done. Did my nut in all that waiting , when pre covid I'd looked into these things to get an understanding and was informed a standard probate application 6 weeks, and a standard change of title about 6 weeks too.
Click to expand...
Yep - Originally I was going to do Probate through the Solicitor. Luckily, Somebody pointed me in the right direction with the Gov website. They were very helpful and it will cost less than a quarter of what the Solicitor was going to charge. I submitted the docs and they sent me an update to say it was received and if they needed anything else they would let me know. I think it said 6-8 weeks to get the certificate.
 
I am not a lawyer, but know the transfer of land such as a house needs to recorded in writing, unlike say transferrring a car to some one else.

Conveyancing may cover the issue of legal documents of ownership and land registry, but if there is a later dispute about the price say or when payment is to be made, that needs another legal document.

I could see a situation where a value is agreed say £200k and you give sister £100k say 3 months later. In the meantime you do the house up a bit and put it on the market for £250k. Next you get a visit/call from a son or daughter of your sister saying who have ripped their Mum off. Possibly their mum is now saying she can't remember what she agreed.
 
Last edited:
Assuming the value of the house is <£325k, it should be very straightforward to have a lawyer draw up the paperwork for your sister to hand over her half of the house to you for half of the estimated value.

With that signed then you can have the Land Registry entry changed to show you as the owner. You can ask your lawyer to fast track the LR change. Of course you need probate first - it's about 6 weeks at present if it is straightforward. If your Dad's will has trusts, or overseas assets, or a lot of possessions like valuables or investment schemes it will take longer.

If the house is worth more than £325k, or if there are substantial other assets as well, then it's possible that you'll have an inheritance tax liability, although I think you would know from the probate application.

Whatever, use a lawyer to give you peace of mind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top