house deeds

[stowaway]

Before my mother died she had a trust deed drawn up saying myself and my husband were the owners of her house and that she was just the tenent of the property. The property has a small mortgage in her name and the deeds of the property ,which the mortgage company have, are in her name too. Now that she has died I need to transfer the house deeds into mine and my husbands names, How do I go about doing this?

[Maude]

You must consult a solicitor, I,m afraid. It is not possible to give advice without seeing the precise terms of the trust, knowing the period it has run, knowing why the ownership is not with the trustees, and checking the will to ensure that it has in fact been left to you as you say. If there are insufficient funds from any source to pay off the mortgagee it will have to be sold anyway so that the mortgage can be cleared. And if the "trust" was some sort of trick to avoid IHT, there may be trouble ahead.

[Harley]

You will need to get a Grant of Probate unless your mother had already nominated a trustee before she died ( in her will).See http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm.I did this for my father in law's estate. It's a fairly simple proceedure of form filling and a quick visit to the Probate Office in your nearest town/city.You don't need a solicitor.The present Inheritance Tax threshold is �263,000 (for a death between 6 April 2003 and 5 April 2004 the threshold was �255,000). Very broadly, if the net value of the assets owned by deceased, together with their share of any assets owned jointly, any assets held in trust from which they had the right to benefit, any assets they had given away in the 7 years before they died, and any assets which they had given to someone else, but in which they retained an interest or benefit does not exceed this figure, there should be no Inheritance Tax to pay as a result of the death. Where the tax threshold is exceeded, you will have to pay at least some of the inheritance tax that is due before you can get a grant.

[stowaway]

Thank you all for your advice. It does look as though I will have to consult a solicitor about getting the deeds changed into our names.

[Maude]

I can tell you how to do it, but firstly I need to know that you truly have the right to the title, otherwise there are problems if you commence a false claim. I do not understand your reference to a trust and will be interested in your further explanation. Basically by a trust A puts control of something into the hands of B with the obligation that B shall hold it or exercise power over it for the benefit of C. How does this fit with your trust?

[stowaway]

i hope this explains it a bit clearer for you maude. Basically, about 13 years ago my mother bought her house from the council with financial help from my husband and I, after the purchase she went to a solicitors and they drew up this legal document that says the house belongs to me and my husband and that my mother has the right to live there for the remainder of her life. To buy the house my mother had to obtain a small mortgage but as she was only on a pension the mortgage company asked for my husband to be put on the mortgage as the guarantor. The deeds to the house were registered in my mothers name, and this is where the problem now lies, as now she has died we want the deeds in our names and didn't know how to proceed with this.

[Maude]

Apologies for delay - I was called away suddenly and have only just switched the computer on again (9pm Thurs). Referring in part to Harley's very helpful posting, (1) please confirm that the property is registered (2) did your mother leave a will (3) was the house referred to in it (if so, in what terms), (4) did your mother nominate a trustee (5) or do you have probate. What I am trying to find is a clear route whereby you can establish with the Land Registry that you are truly the proprietors, and it is not clear to me at the moment. On its own, the solicitors document to which you refer would not be sufficient. If you have a copy of this document could you tell me, please, whether the words "Settled Lands Act" appear in it in some form or another?

[stowaway]

Thank you for your help Maude. I do have a copy of the document and it doesn't contain the words you mention anywhere in it. My mother did leave a will and she made me the executor of the will , we did not need to go to probate. The house was refered to in the will, it said "I give to my daughter and her husband all my estate and effects if any in the freehold property situate at and known as --(the address of the house ). In the solicitors document, it says on the front of it "Trust Deed" then inside it says all our names then goes on to say that my mother will be known as the "nominee" and my husband and I will be known as "the purchasers". It then goes on to say " The consideration for the transfer and all costs and other expenses incurred in connection with the premises were provided by the purchasers and the property was transfered to (my mothers name) as the nominee of the purchasers". It then goes on "Now this deed witnesseth as follows- The nominee hereby acknowledges that she holds the said property upon trust for the purchasers as beneficial joint tenants and agrees that at the request of the purchasers she will transfer the same to the purchasers or such other person or persons at such time or time and in such manner or otherwise deal with the property as the purchasers shall in writing direct or appoint". Lastly it says "The purchaser hereby jointly and severally covenant with the nominee that they will at all time keep the nominee and her estate and effects indemnified against all outgoings costs damages claims proceedings and amounts in respect of the said property". Sorry its so long but I thought it best to copy most of it and that way it should give you a better idea of what the document is ! Hope its helped ,and thank you for your help.

[anansi2001]

I have built a new house on my own private land in east dublin, ga. I would like to know how to I title my house or get a deed for it. I used my own funds for the house so I owe no one. I would like to rent the house. In addition, I would like to get a loan on the house so I can use the funds to build another home.

[Maude]

stowaway. Thank you. I understand now. I will conclude this by a series of short paragraph posts simply because a while ago I typed a long answer for someone and on pressing Submit it catapulted off into the ether never to be seen again!

[Maude]

Phone your local District Land Registry Office and ask Customer Sevices to send you Forms AS 1, AP 1 and, if the mortgage is to continue, D 1. If you have Adobe Reader you can download these from www.landreg.gov.uk (publications/forms, drop down menu forms).

[Maude]

AS 1 is straightforward, but at 10 you have to decide whether you and your husband wish to hold in joint tenancy or tenancy in common. If you are not clear about this I will post a brief summary of each and help you decide if you wish. Your signatures at 12 must be witnessed by anybody other than yourselves.

[Maude]

AP 1 is also straightforward. At 5 the fees payable are based on the current value of the property - do not use a seriously low figure otherwise LR and Revenue will spot it and challenge you. Customer Services as above will tell you the fees, or use the website calculator (Fees and from the drop down menu calculator). The documents at 6 are (1) your original deeds/land certicate (2) a copy of the will and (3) a copy of your "trust". On the bottom of each page of the copied documents write "Certified true copy" and sign and date.

[Maude]

D 1 is also straightforward. At 6 commence with "There is a charge on the property" and after by virtue of continue with "by way of a mortgage with" and then give the full details of the mortgagee.

[Maude]

If you have the original deeds/land certificate just send it with the other documents, forms and cheque to your local LR. After about 5 weeks you will receive back a new Land Certificate. If the mortgagee has the original, send the forms, documents and cheque to them, say what you are doing, and ssk them to attach the original and forward to the Local LR. The new certificate will be sent to the mortgagee, not you.

Allof the foregoing is based upon the assumption that your property is registered. If not, it will be necessary to have it registered first.

[Maude]

And thats it.

[Maude]

anasi2001. There are two systems in use in the ROI, Land Registry and Registry of Deeds. If you have neither then you must conduct a First Registration Under The Land Registry Acts. Forms, instructions and fees via www.landregistry.ie

[Maude]

stowawy. I omitted to mention that if you conduct the application through the mortgagee whilst on to the Land Registry get also Form 109. For a fee of �3 or �4 you can thereby obtain for yourself a copy of the new certificate sent to the mortgagee for checking and safekeeping.

[stowaway]

Maude, Thank you so much for your help. your instructions are very clear and easy to follow,I am going to get on to it straight away. once again a BIG THANK YOU. best wishes,