Do we own the house?

CabotCove

My siblings and I inherited a house between us. Long story short, I am now the administrator of the will, and hold the title deeds of the house, which are still in my father's name.

My question is, what do I do now? Do I have to go to a solicitor and have the name on the deeds changed (and if so, to what???) or do I wait until we decide to put the place on the market or what? and, do we actually legally own the house at the moment?

I'd really appreciate any help you guys can give me on this one, I should have sorted this out ages ago, but hey....

Total noob here as you can see btw, so sorry if this is inappropriate or in the wrong place or anything!

Peregrinus

You're the nominal owner of the house, but you hold it on trust for yourself and your siblings in (unless the will says otherwise, in equal shares). Meaning that you have to account to your siblings for how you deal with the house; you have to transfer it to everyone's name if demanded; you have to pay sale proceeds to them, etc.

You and your siblings need to decide what you want done with the house. On the assumption that you decide to sell it, it probably makes sense that you should remain in immediate control, deal with the sale of the house, and then distribute the sale proceeds to yourself and your siblings. You will need to involve a solicitor.

CabotCove

Thank you so much! Just to clarify though, am I the 'nominal owner' even though the title deeds have the deceased's name on them? Or can the deeds stay in his name until after the sale? ....sorry, very confused.....maybe I should have waited till the morning to start this thread lol!!

Peregrinus

If you haven't already got it, you'll need to get a grant of probate, which confirms your right to deal with the assets of the deceased (all the assets, not just the house).

Once you've got that you can, if you want, transfer the house into your own name.

But you probably don't need to. If, as seems likely, the family decision will be to sell the house sooner rather than later, you can start marketing the house, find a buyer and then instruct a solicitor to give effect to the sale. The solicitor will deal with all the paperwork, and the transfer will probably result in title going directly from the deceased's name into the purchaser's name.

CabotCove

Ahhhh, I see!! Thanks a million!

Ken.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/death/the_deceaseds_estate/dealing_with_the_deceaseds_estate.html

Have a look here Cabotcove. It'll get you started with what you need to do to get the ball rolling.


My condolences on the passing of your father.

CabotCove

Thanks guys,

I've already got the grant of probate (which took AGES!!), and I'm now the administrator...we got the executors to renounce and all that, for some stupid reason, and intend on selling the house and splitting the proceeds.

CabotCove

ken wrote: »

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/death/the_deceaseds_estate/dealing_with_the_deceaseds_estate.html

Have a look here Cabotcove. It'll get you started with what you need to do to get the ball rolling.


My condolences on the passing of your father.

Wow! I can't believe how much proper information they've added to this site...I wish it had been like that a few years ago!!