I am in the process of trying to sell my mother's house. She is in residential care with dementia and no longer has mental capacity. I am her sole attorney and have the authority to act under a registered LPA.
My father died in 1979 and my mother's property passed into her sole ownership. It is the house they have lived in since it was built in 1956 and it has never changed hands. It has become apparent that my mother failed to register the property with the Land Registry in 1979 and it remains unregistered.
If necessary, can I, as her attorney, apply for registration on her behalf?
I don't seem to be able to find the answer anywhere. I believe that a purchaser can apply for first registration but may not be prepared to wait for the long time it is currently taking to process first time registration applications.
I should say that I have accepted an offer on the house but its non-registration only became evident when appointing my conveyancing solicitor who was able to identify the problem when I presented him with the deeds. There is plenty of evidence to fulfil the requirement to prove my mother has owned the property - both jointly and in widowhood - since 1956. I am asking in case this is a deal breaker for this sale (or any future offers on the property) and whether an expedited application from me in my capacity as my mother's attorney is possible to avoid this situation preventing a sale.
