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Posted Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:12:47 GMT by ALISON Carthy
I am helping my Aunt sort out her affairs after the death of my Uncle (her husband) in March 2024.  She is the sole beneficiary of his will.

They bought their house in the early 1960s as a new build so have been the only owners.  It is a detached house on a small estate with no boundary issues or other complications that we are aware of.  It is worth £450-500k.  They paid off the mortgage in the early 1990s and she has the deeds to the property in her possession.  We believe they were joint tenants, not tenants in common (but have yet to evidence this).  The estate requires no Inheritance Tax and we only require Probate to access some Premium Bonds he held in his sole name.

However, it appears that the property has never been registered with the Land Registry.  A search on your website confirms this.

She now wishes to register the property for the first time, in order to simplify things down the line for her sons.  From my initial research, this appears to require completion of form FR1 and the payment of a registration fee.  She is 85 and not good with 'admin' so I am having to help her extensively!

Before I start with this process, do you have any advice or steers on what to do.  As ever with matters like this, the process appears to cope with lots of exceptions and complications which are off-putting for what I believe to be a straightforward case.
Posted Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:18:42 GMT by Adam Hookway
Alison - it can be fairly straightforward although the forms and terminology will not be so familiar for many trying to do this themselves.
Our PG 1 explains what is required re an application to voluntarily register the property for the first time - Practice guide 1: first registrations - GOV.UK
If they bought in joint names then a certified copy of your Uncle's death certificate should also be lodged. Probate is not required as the legal ownership has passed to your Aunt.
The joint tenants/tenants in common you refer to relates to their beneficial ownerships and whilst important to check the conveyance from the 1960s and or wills etc since it does not mean Probate is required.
I would recommend reading PG1 and looking at form FR1 before deciding whether to do this yourselves.

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