Probate purchases or sales: your options explained
Deciding what to do with inherited property can be tough. You are dealing with bereavement, you may not be experienced in managing property and in any case, the last thing you want to have to do is trawl through mountains of paperwork. At Starck Uberoi, we understand how intimidating handling inherited property can be, as well as how difficult it can be to make a decision. Whatever your situation is, our specialist team of probate lawyers can help you weigh up your options and support you with the legal process of whichever path you choose.
What do I need to do first before I can deal with the inherited property?
Before you can do anything with the property, you first need to wait until probate or letters of administration have been granted to the executor or administrator. The grant of probate or letters of administration enables the executor or administrator to begin dealing with the deceased’s estate. If you are the executor or administrator, see our guide for executors and administrators for information on the probate process. Buying, selling or remortgaging? Use our online conveyancing quote calculator to obtain an instant conveyancing quote.
What options do I have regarding my inherited property?
Your choices include:
- Keeping the property
- Selling the property
- Transferring the property to another beneficiary
Keeping the inherited property
The beneficiary or beneficiaries may want to keep an inherited property as a residence or as an investment. The executors or administrators will need to sign an assent of transfer, which will legally transfer ownership of the property from the deceased to the beneficiaries. However, if the inherited property has an outstanding mortgage over it, this will need to be dealt with. If the property was left to the beneficiaries free of the mortgage, then the residue of the estate will be used to pay it off. If the property was left subject to its mortgage, then the beneficiaries will have to repay it themselves. You can either:
- Keep the probate property and take over the mortgage: The lender will need to perform an affordability check on you and ensure that you fulfil their requirements for that specific mortgage product. If you are eligible, the lender may transfer the mortgage into your name.
- Remortgage: You may be able to remortgage the property onto a more affordable option, if you cannot pass the eligibility check for the current mortgage on it.
Can I rent out inherited property?
Yes, although you will need to remortgage onto a buy to let mortgage if there is currently an outstanding residential mortgage over the property. This does mean you will have to fulfil the lender’s eligibility criteria for a buy to let mortgage. Eligibility for buy to let mortgages are usually calculated depending on how much rental income the inherited property is likely to make, so make sure to take into consideration whether the property is likely to be popular with renters. See our blog post on buy to let conveyancing for more information. Additionally, becoming a landlord is no light decision to make. Being a landlord requires you to dedicate a lot of time and money to finding suitable tenants, maintaining the property and managing the tenancies. Even handling just one rental property can be a lot of work – make sure you’ve taken all the work required into account before deciding to rent out your property.
Selling the inherited property
Selling an inherited property is not incredibly different to selling any other property and should not be any more expensive. If the beneficiaries decide to sell the property, the executors or administrators can sell it as part of carrying out probate. You will need a conveyancing solicitor to help you with this process. Our conveyancing team have vast experience in handling probate properties and will work proactively with you to make the conveyancing process as quick and easy as possible.
Will my probate solicitor have to handle conveyancing?
Not all probate solicitors are also able to carry out conveyancing. Probate and conveyancing are two very different areas of law which not all solicitors will be experienced in. At Starck Uberoi Solicitors, our conveyancing department and probate department work closely together, meaning they can combine their joint expertise to handle the sale of your inherited property efficiently and effectively.
How do I sell an inherited property?
The probate sale process is generally as follows:
- Our solicitors obtain a copy of the property’s registered title from the land registry – If the inherited property was unregistered, the executor or administrator will need to obtain the title deeds to the property before the property can be sold. If these cannot be found, the executor or administrator will need to prove that the property legally belonged to the deceased – find out more in our blog post on selling unregistered property.
- Assent of property is obtained – Assent of property is a document which acknowledges that the owner of the property has died and that the executor or administrator now has the right to deal with it. Your solicitor will obtain this by sending a copy of the death certificate and the deceased’s will (if they had a will) to the land registry, who will then send grant an Assent of Property in response.
- The conveyancing process begins – Once Assent of Property has been granted, our conveyancing solicitors can begin assisting with the sale as they would with any other property sale. Your solicitor will draft a contract of sale, answer enquiries from the buyer’s solicitor and then arrange for the contracts to be exchanged and signed.
Can I sell an inherited property if the deceased owned it with another person?
Your options will depend on how the property was owned with the other person. If the deceased was joint tenants with someone else who is still alive, then the surviving owner will have the right of survivorship to the property and ownership of the property will be transferred into their sole name, regardless of what the deceased’s Will or the rules of intestacy say. It will be up to the surviving owner to decide whether they want to sell the property or not. However, if there was a tenants in common restriction in place between the deceased and the other owners, then the deceased’s beneficiaries will not inherit the property as a whole, but the share in the property that the deceased had. The beneficiaries can sell their inherited share in the property to someone else if they would like, but generally cannot sell the property in its entirety except, in some circumstances, by a process called overreaching. Overreaching involves appointing a second trustee in order transferring the remaining tenants’ beneficial interests from the property onto the proceeds from the property’s sale – this can be quite a complicated transaction which our solicitors can advise you on further.
Is a Grant of Probate always necessary to sell an inherited property?
Technically, no. It is possible in some circumstances to sell an inherited property without a grant of probate through overreaching, but a Grant of Probatre or Letters of Administration will generally be necessary in order to sell the property.
Transferring the inherited property to someone else
If the property has been passed to you, you can create a deed of variation to pass the will on to someone else not named as a beneficiary in the Will. For example, some beneficiaries choose to pass on inherited property to their children immediately in order to reduce their inheritance tax liability, or vary the will to include estranged relatives not included in the will. This can also be done if the property has been passed down to multiple beneficiaries, such as if you and your siblings inherit a property in equal shares for example. All beneficiaries who would inherit the property must agree to the variation (though keep in mind that beneficiaries under the age of 18 cannot legally agree) and the deed of variation must be created within two years’ of the deceased’s death. Creating a deed of variation can be quite complicated, so it is important to seek legal advice if you are considering creating a deed of variation.
What if the beneficiaries cannot agree on what to do with the inherited property?
If you and the other beneficiaries cannot agree on what should be done with your inherited property, our Contentious Probate Solicitors could help. We can advise on the legal implications of the deceased’s will and help you settle negotiations with your fellow beneficiaries by providing a knowledgeable perspective on Wills and Probate law.
How Starck Uberoi Solicitors can help
Whatever you decide to do with your inherited property, Starck Uberoi Solicitors can help. Our probate and conveyancing solicitors have both received law society accreditation from the relevant schemes (the conveyancing quality scheme and the Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme) for providing a reliable and effective service in these areas of law. To book an appointment, please call 020 8840 6640 or email solicitor@starckuberoi.co.uk. Our offices are located in Brentford, Richmond, Ealing, London Belgravia and Canterbury, all within easy reach by public transport. Our partner, Raminder Uberoi, can provide a Notary Public Service at any of our London offices.
Read more
- Selling Unmortgageable Property
- How do I sell an Unregistered Property?
- A Conveyancer’s guide to Selling your leasehold flat
