Do I need to do anything? (After Dads death)
Discussion
Dad died a few months ago. Mum still alive and in the marital home.
Dads will was clear everything went to mum, but his half of the house was left to his 3 children (I am one of them).
Mum can stay in the house forever of course, but it’s was some sort of trust he left us his half.
Do I need to do anything? Eg, do I need to go to the solicitors and get something changed on the land registry or anything else? For info, no visit has been made to the solicitor at all as there was no need for probate etc.
My mum is asking this, as in the next year or 2 she may want to sell and move to somewhere smaller, and does not want it to be complicated because we own half her house. If she does move, we will not want or expect our half of the sale, she can use all of it for the new house if she wishes.
Thanks
Dads will was clear everything went to mum, but his half of the house was left to his 3 children (I am one of them).
Mum can stay in the house forever of course, but it’s was some sort of trust he left us his half.
Do I need to do anything? Eg, do I need to go to the solicitors and get something changed on the land registry or anything else? For info, no visit has been made to the solicitor at all as there was no need for probate etc.
My mum is asking this, as in the next year or 2 she may want to sell and move to somewhere smaller, and does not want it to be complicated because we own half her house. If she does move, we will not want or expect our half of the sale, she can use all of it for the new house if she wishes.
Thanks
If I was you I would speak to a solicitor as trusts can make things complicated.
My Brother and I were in a similar position when my Dad died. The solicitor drew up a deed of variation and everything passed to my Mum and the house was transferred into her sole name.
It has been a while but my recollection is the will was written as it was as it pre-dated a change in IHT rules allowing assets to pass exempt from IHT to spouses.
The solicitor did warn us of the potential risk of our Mum remarrying or the house being used to pay for care but we went ahead as we knew our Dad’s primary concern was for our Mum’s comfort and security which we wholly agreed with.
My Brother and I were in a similar position when my Dad died. The solicitor drew up a deed of variation and everything passed to my Mum and the house was transferred into her sole name.
It has been a while but my recollection is the will was written as it was as it pre-dated a change in IHT rules allowing assets to pass exempt from IHT to spouses.
The solicitor did warn us of the potential risk of our Mum remarrying or the house being used to pay for care but we went ahead as we knew our Dad’s primary concern was for our Mum’s comfort and security which we wholly agreed with.
Edited by iansp on Tuesday 2nd August 07:42
This definitely feels like solicitor land to me. I had a bit of a pickle to sort out when my dad passed away. His share of the house he co owner with his partner (unmarried) was passed to me and my brother.
We had to get the covenant sorted as it had the wrong proportion of his ownership (it said half rather than the 2/7 they had agreed) also the conditions of who could decide to sell the house and to ring fence his share assist use for future career fees.
We had to bin off the family solicitors who were trying to sort it out, but had made the cockup in the first place and weren't willing to admit it. What a right royal pita!
We had to get the covenant sorted as it had the wrong proportion of his ownership (it said half rather than the 2/7 they had agreed) also the conditions of who could decide to sell the house and to ring fence his share assist use for future career fees.
We had to bin off the family solicitors who were trying to sort it out, but had made the cockup in the first place and weren't willing to admit it. What a right royal pita!
Would have thought this should be in "Finance Section"
However:
Having had my MiL die a few months ago and having similar questions raised by my FiL I'd honestly advise going to a decent Solicitor and get it all sorted correctly.
Things like Driving Licence and mirriad of other things can be sorted by the Gov.uk site "Tell us Once"
other things may require Probate even though they are specifically in a Will.
Larger sums in NS&I for instance will need Probate as will some share transfers etc.
If one matter requires Probate others will demand it as a matter of course.
There are a lot of things you can sort yourself but one error, even an address spelling can cause problems down the line and arranging Probate is a minefield for setting up in that respect apparently.
A Solicitor will cost but it could be money well spent.
It all seems so much more complicated than when I did a couple of "Deaths" back in the 1980's
However:
Having had my MiL die a few months ago and having similar questions raised by my FiL I'd honestly advise going to a decent Solicitor and get it all sorted correctly.
Things like Driving Licence and mirriad of other things can be sorted by the Gov.uk site "Tell us Once"
other things may require Probate even though they are specifically in a Will.
Larger sums in NS&I for instance will need Probate as will some share transfers etc.
If one matter requires Probate others will demand it as a matter of course.
There are a lot of things you can sort yourself but one error, even an address spelling can cause problems down the line and arranging Probate is a minefield for setting up in that respect apparently.
A Solicitor will cost but it could be money well spent.
It all seems so much more complicated than when I did a couple of "Deaths" back in the 1980's
megaphone said:
As I mentioned above, you need details of the trust. Who are the trustees? Try and find the documents, ask you mother.
I actually doubt that is a trust in the set up a specific trust sense. It's more likely to be the normal will wording about the assets held in trust until disposed of. There is no need to set up a specific trust for this kind of thing. The trustees and the executors will be one and the sameOP, I am in exactly the same situation, trust and all that and mum is in the process of moving to a smaller house. Yes, get a solicitor involved but ours says there is no problem with the whole situation and if there is any excess cash from trading down it can either be paid out to the beneficiaries of the trust (me and my sister's kids; possible tax liability) or reinvested in the trust.
Steviesam said:
Thank you all for the replies.
I have made an appointment at the solicitors in early Sept. Cant do it before then as my mother seems to have gone holiday mad and is going to USA for 4 weeks next week!
Good for her.
Sorry to hear about your dad and glad your mum is getting out there and taking life by the balls!I have made an appointment at the solicitors in early Sept. Cant do it before then as my mother seems to have gone holiday mad and is going to USA for 4 weeks next week!
Good for her.
This isn't my specialist area of law but it sounds like a fairly common arrangement aimed at minimising inheritance tax and liability for care home fees. Your dad's share doesn't belong to your mum so she can't be assessed for the value of that property if she needs to enter care, or for tax purposes when she dies.
I expect any competent high street private client (probate) solicitor will be able to review the will and confirm very quickly.
Might just need to check with land reg that the property was indeed registered as tenants in common but that should be straightforward.
PS edit to add that if you and your siblings want to surrender your share and let your mum use it as she sees fit, this is possible, but depending on the value of her assets, it might be an unwise move, again for tax and care home reasons. One to talk through with your lawyer.
Edited by R56Cooper on Wednesday 3rd August 10:26
R56Cooper said:
Sorry to hear about your dad and glad your mum is getting out there and taking life by the balls!
This isn't my specialist area of law but it sounds like a fairly common arrangement aimed at minimising inheritance tax and liability for care home fees. Your dad's share doesn't belong to your mum so she can't be assessed for the value of that property if she needs to enter care, or for tax purposes when she dies.
I expect any competent high street private client (probate) solicitor will be able to review the will and confirm very quickly.
Might just need to check with land reg that the property was indeed registered as tenants in common but that should be straightforward.
PS edit to add that if you and your siblings want to surrender your share and let your mum use it as she sees fit, this is possible, but depending on the value of her assets, it might be an unwise move, again for tax and care home reasons. One to talk through with your lawyer.
Exactly this I would expect. Interest in possession trust or life interest trust. To protect part of the estate from care home fee type issues. My parents had this. When dad passed , his share of house went to three sons but mum has / had life interest in the property. We ended up selling home under LPA to fund care home costs. Mum’s share, if you will, is used to pay care home. Dads share is invested now , under terms of the trust, to generate income to help pay for care home fees. This isn't my specialist area of law but it sounds like a fairly common arrangement aimed at minimising inheritance tax and liability for care home fees. Your dad's share doesn't belong to your mum so she can't be assessed for the value of that property if she needs to enter care, or for tax purposes when she dies.
I expect any competent high street private client (probate) solicitor will be able to review the will and confirm very quickly.
Might just need to check with land reg that the property was indeed registered as tenants in common but that should be straightforward.
PS edit to add that if you and your siblings want to surrender your share and let your mum use it as she sees fit, this is possible, but depending on the value of her assets, it might be an unwise move, again for tax and care home reasons. One to talk through with your lawyer.
Edited by R56Cooper on Wednesday 3rd August 10:26
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