inherited house costs involved

Duffy99

My Mother wished for my sister to inherit the family home and other cash has been split between the other siblings. None of us have any objection to this as she always cared for my Mother but, What is the legal cost of having the family home put into her name? Will she have to get her own solicitor and pay him fees or does the solicitor who is doing the probate do all the legal work for her getting the house put in to her name. The executor is a family "FRIEND" who is close to my sister and I feel unable to ask him as it might sound as if I am objecting to all the costs coming from my Mothers estate.

coylemj

If the house is going to your sister and she doesn't intend selling it in the short term, she need do nothing. Apart from a sale, the only other circumstances in which she would need the house to be transferred into her name is if she wanted to raise a loan using the house as security in which case the prospective lender would insists that it's transferred into her name in order that she have the legal standing to mortgage the property.

I've been down this road myself, I was the executor of an estate where a property went to a family member but we didn't bother transferring it onto her name, mainly because I did the probate so we were avoiding solicitors as much as possible. About a year later when she wanted to raise a loan it was necessary to do so at which point we got a certified copy of the will and her solicitor (as in your case, a family 'friend') sorted it out.

Duffy99

Thank you for your answer. I would be on the side of not transferring it to her name but I have a feeling it is being done and the estate is going to pay. While I have no objection to the house going to my sister I feel it is wrong that the estate under the guidance of the executor is going to pay for the legal costs of it being transferred to her name. So if I understand you correctly, it is up to the executor to decide how much legal work is done for her?

Duffy99

The amount of Cash being divided amongst the other siblings is small and if this legal work gets done by the ESTATE, the amount with all legal cost will be tiny.

Triceratops Ballet

I recently had my mothers house transfered into my name as part of her will and all in all it's not costly. There are some fees to the land registry and the paperwork was covered in the costs of general will administration costs . If the cost is an issue though you could suggest your sister pays the land registry fees.

coylemj

Duffy99 wrote: »

So if I understand you correctly, it is up to the executor to decide how much legal work is done for her?

I didn't say that. In my case the family member was the residuary legatee meaning that that she got everything after specific cash bequests were met. That means that if we had decided to get the property transferred into her name, she would effectively have had to pay the legal fees. So she had no incentive to get the property transferred into her name until there was a reason to do so.

In your case it's different as the legal fees would be coming out of a cash pot that is being distributed to other people. I can't advise you either way.

goz83

The house can be willed to your sister without the name change. It would belong to her, but as mentioned above, for sale or loan security, she would then need it in her name. Unless the will says that the estate must pay to transfer the name, then there is no obligation to have the estate pay for something not included in the will.