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Posted 3 months ago by Amna Arshad
Two brothers own a property and both passed away within months of each other.

They passed their estate to their wives. Two set of probate need to processed by different executors 

Can you process the transfer of deed for one party at at time or so you need both probate to complete deed title transfer?

Also what forms need to be completed to transfer the titles
Posted 3 months ago by Adam Hookway
Amna - when a joint owner dies, irrespective of whether they are joint tenants or TIC, the legal ownership passes to the surviving owner to deal with. The legal ownership does not form part of the estate of the deceased so probate is not required with regards the property.
If the surviving joint owner also dies then probate for them is then needed and it is their executor(s) who then deal with the property 
Our online assisted guidance explains what is required to then transfer the legal ownership as appropriate
HMLR Guide: Start - External  · HM Land Registry
Posted 2 months ago by Annette White
" When a joint owner dies, irrespective of whether they are joint tenants or TIC, the legal ownership passes to the surviving owner to deal with"  Is it correct to say that the surviving TIC becomes the legal owner of both parts and remains the beneficial owner of his part? Does the spouse of the deceased owner become the beneficial owner of the deceased? What steps should be taken to include the new beneficial owner on the title document? The link above takes me to TR1, is that the correct route?
Posted 2 months ago by Adam Hookway
Annette - the distinction between the legal and beneficial ownerships can be complex and as we register the legal ownership, and not the specifics re the beneficial ones, it can be difficult to put into words and wider legal advice is always recommended.
It is correct to say that the legal ownership passes to the surviving TIC as the legal ownership cannot be split and must always be dealt with as a whole. 
The beneficial ownerships don't change on death so it would be correct to say that the surviving owner remains the beneficial owner of his part. The deceased's beneficial part still exists and can be dealt with as appropriate.
We don't register the specific beneficial ownership details so can't advise on what should happen next or what's 'best' for example. We can only advise on how to apply to update the register once those decisions have been made.
For example if A and B are the joint owners, there is a form A restriction on the register and A dies what happens next is dependent on what the surviving owner/beneficiaries want to happen
Sometimes the intention is that the surviving owner can stay in the property until they too die and then the property is sold and the beneficial shares divided as appropriate and according to both A and Bs wishes - in that case an application to update the register re the death might be all that's needed
But you might decide to update the register re the death and also Transfer the legal ownership to new owners. If you do that then any Transfer would be in form TR1 and by the surviving owner B as Transferor to the new owners as Transferees, namely surviving B plus A's beneficiaries
Before deciding on which registration route to take please do seek legal/wider advice as appropriate - what needs to happen now and what impact future events (death, care, buying other properties etc) all need to be considered before you decide on the 'best' option
 

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