Thread: Will - Executor transferred house to his name?

Hello all,
Firstly, I am new to the forum and new to the UK,so apologies for my ignorance.My problem is a bit complicated, hence the reason for this long post..sorry

My uncle (UK resident) died in 1999 and in his will he left his house to be shared by me,my 2 brothers (non uk residents) and his brother(I'll refer to him as B). In his will,B and my aunt were appointed as executors. They are both UK residents.
At that time, my 2 brothers and I lived in a another country and we verbally agreed with B that he will stay in the house and that he will eventually buy our share of the house.Since then we haven't received anything from him.
Now, I recently came to the UK (living here now) and wanted to sort those things out on behalf of my brothers and myself.
B told me he hasn't done anything yet to transfer the house ownership from my late uncle to us, and will do so, but am still waiting.
My aunt, the other executor, doesn't know anything about the house papers either - when they executed the will, the tasks were divided among them and it was B who was supposed to sort out the house.
Now thanks to this forum I heard about the Land Registry and decided to download the title register for the house, and whom do I find as registered owner? Uncle B!
I don't really understand the terms on the register so am a bit confused - in the 'Proprietorship Register - title absolute' part, it states B is proprietor (dated in year 2000).
Shouldn't there be something stating when the transfer was made from my late uncle to uncle B?

What I want to know now before I jump to any wrong conclusion is how could B be the proprietor of the house, given that the will stated that the house be divided among us four? He shouldn't be able to put the house on his name, should he?
And if there has been foul play, what should I do? I need some advice from you guys before going to a solicitor and having to incur a lot of expenses.
Thanks a lot for helping others and giving useful advice!
AJ

I pressume there was no mortgage or other interest in the house and was owned outright by yuor deceased uncle. then the deeds would be in the property or bank. The change of ownership or registration would have to be done by a conyeyancer or solicitor and they would need to the see the will etc. to verify the proposed change together with the other papers death cert/probate etc. also any forms would need to be signed by both executers. Aunt and uncle!
If the will said to be jointly owned then you should all be on the register.
Was it to be sold then the proceeds divided?

If you have a copy of the will then you should check who did the conveyancing; ask you uncle.

Hi Raydetinu,

Thanks a lot for your reply.Yes my deceased uncle owned the house and there was no mortgage on it.
"Was it to be sold then the proceeds divided?"
Yes, but B said he will buy the house from us, and we agreed.
Although the executors sorted out the other things stated in the will (bank accounts etc..), they told me they haven't done anything about the house (like transferring the house ownership). That's why I was puzzled and worried to see B's name on the title register..
Another question, can a non uk resident become proprietor of a house in the UK?
"If you have a copy of the will then you should check who did the conveyancing; ask you uncle"
I will do, and will keep you updated.

Thanks for your help,
AJ

Check what value the house was given in 1999/2000 when Uncle B and Aunt filled in the probate forms. This should be the value used to pay you and your brothers share - not todays price (unless todays price is more!)

Good luck
John

Ok Johnhowell, thanks a lot for your advice.

AJ

It wouldn't matter if todays price is more, the price would be the amount due back when the original sale took place. There could be the addition of interest on the money's due as it has taken some time for the disbursements from the estate to be made.

There's probably nothing to worry about, as this way of working is cost effective assuming all parties are honest and above board. Since the property amount is a knon quantity, and the number of parties to divide the amount by, I would thing the current 'owner' may need to get a mortgage topay off the interests of the beneficiaries, so this may take a little time, but negotiations will need to be handed tactfully to prevent accusations of 'featherbedding' and the deal collapsing with calls of dirty deeds afoot!

I think you're right there John!
But without proper professional advice and investigation, I'm not jumping to any conclusion (yet)!

Raymond :
"I would thing the current 'owner' may need to get a mortgage topay off the interests of the beneficiaries, so this may take a little time, but negotiations will need to be handed tactfully to prevent accusations of 'featherbedding' and the deal collapsing with calls of dirty deeds afoot! "

We've waited for almost 10 years, we might as well wait a little bit longer as long as we know uncle B is willing to pay, and is making an effort towards that!
But for the time being, I think I'll go find a solicitor to make the house transfer and deal with things as they come..

I'll post my updates here, this might help people who finds themselves in a similar situation.


AJamal