Probate problems

bcsod1

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone could help me with this. I am attempting to do my aunts probate myself but have come across a bit of a problem. Land which was left to my aunt in a previous will was never transferred in to her name by the solicitors...grrrr!!
So what happened was another relative of ours was the limited owner of the land for their lifetime and my aunt was the remainder woman but the title was never transferred.
Everyone is telling me I should just leave it to a solicitor because it will be quite difficult and no doubt I may have to do that, however I would like to give this is a go myself, would anyone know what the next step for me would be....who I should contact( other than a solicitor of course!!). I just need a bit of advice and can't seem to get any at all!

Thanks

coylemj

Was the land left by your aunt to a single person in the will you're attempting to administer? If so then the probate office may let you away with it but they do have the right to force you to use a solicitor and the situation you described may be such an instance.

If the land has been left to more than one person or will need to be sold to distribute the legacies then I can't see any way to avoid using a solicitor as the title will have to be sorted out before the land is split into two or more parts or sold on.

Heads the ball

coylemj wrote: »

Was the land left by your aunt to a single person in the will you're attempting to administer? If so then the probate office may let you away with it but they do have the right to force you to use a solicitor and the situation you described may be such an instance.

If the land has been left to more than one person or will need to be sold to distribute the legacies then I can't see any way to avoid using a solicitor as the title will have to be sorted out before the land is split into two or more parts or sold on.

Can I ask you a question to see if my rough understanding of probate was correct:

Isnt probate merely the power to administer the estate of the testator/rix?
Isnt this step 1 in executing a will?
Once he gets a grant of probate, he can now administer the estate, the whole estate, correct?
If yes, then surely it DOES make sense to get the probate part done yourself, so if you decide that part of the estate (the land in this case) needs to be sold or needs someone professional to regularise the title, then one would go to a solicitor for that discreet piece of work? Whilst he (the lay person) can administer the "easier" part of the estate?

If thats correct, then you would be paying a solicitor for "X" only. ("X" being the regularising of title and sale of land if necessary). Wouldnt that be better than paying for "X" PLUS a probate fee?


So you could summarize my question i guess by saying the following:

Isnt the granting of probate just the first step in administering the estate; one gets the power/legal permission to deal with the estate. Then you have step 2 which is the actual execution of the will?

Is that right or is it all wrong?

Addle

If you have a folio no. and the limited owner is registered on that folio, then it could just be a matter of finding the correct form.
There is a flowchart on the land registry website to tell you what form to use in every situation.

Addle

http://www.prai.ie/eng/Legal_Professional_Customers/Legal_Practices_Procedures/Practice_Directions/9_Devolution_And_Transmission/

Section 5 and appendix 2.

Wheelnut

bcsod1 wrote: »

... Land which was left to my aunt in a previous will was never transferred in to her name by the solicitors...grrrr!!
So what happened was another relative of ours was the limited owner of the land for their lifetime and my aunt was the remainder woman ...

I would have thought that the land would have been registered to your aunt when she inherited and your relative would have been granted a right of occupancy for his life. Then when your relative died the land would already belong to your aunt and she would take full possession. Has that relative died? If he is still alive and occupying the land things could become complicated and you would definitely need a solicitor.

sawdoubters

go to land registry and register it

bcsod1

Thank you all for your replies, it's extremely helpful.
Honestly felt like just giving it ALL to the solicitors yesterday, was so sick of the sight of it, made so many calls in the last few days and got absolutely nowhere so its great to get some information here. I'll try answer all your questions individually and thanks again!

bcsod1

coylemj wrote: »

Was the land left by your aunt to a single person in the will you're attempting to administer? If so then the probate office may let you away with it but they do have the right to force you to use a solicitor and the situation you described may be such an instance.

If the land has been left to more than one person or will need to be sold to distribute the legacies then I can't see any way to avoid using a solicitor as the title will have to be sorted out before the land is split into two or more parts or sold on.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply
No the land has been left to my 2 cousins and myself so unfortunately not so straightforward, we have been left other lands as well and have been advised to split those lands so that we are each the owner of the different lands separately rather than 3 of us being the owners of all of them, not sure if we will do that or not yet but it's another thing to look in to.

bcsod1

Addle wrote: »

If you have a folio no. and the limited owner is registered on that folio, then it could just be a matter of finding the correct form.
There is a flowchart on the land registry website to tell you what form to use in every situation.

Hi,
Thank you for this link, just from looking at it quickly I think it might be form 39?..could be COMPLETELY wrong( unfortunately is happening alot lately!) but will sit down and read it properly tomorrow.
Thanks again

bcsod1

Wheelnut wrote: »

I would have thought that the land would have been registered to your aunt when she inherited and your relative would have been granted a right of occupancy for his life. Then when your relative died the land would already belong to your aunt and she would take full possession. Has that relative died? If he is still alive and occupying the land things could become complicated and you would definitely need a solicitor.

Hi,

Yes that relative died many years ago. He was given limited ownership of the land for his lifetime and then it was meant to pass to my Aunt. So in my grandfathers will the land was left to my Uncle for his lifetime and then was meant to pass to my Aunt. It should have been transferred in to my Aunts name when probate was completed for my Uncle, we presumed it had been as it was carried out by a solicitor but for some reason it was never done:rolleyes:, I only discovered this after my Aunt died as my Uncle is still named as the registered owner even though he has been dead for over 10 years now.... I approached the solicitors who dealt with it but they didn't want to take any responsibility or help fix it, so just going to try get on with it myself.