Executor for death of both tenants in common

Hi
My dad died 8 years ago and my mum has recently died. My sister and I are both executors named in both of their wills and are both the only beneficiaries. We are currently selling her lease hold retirement property. We have been asked to provide a name for a trustee for the TR1 as there is a form A restriction due to tenants in common. 

1. Are my sister and I not classed as trustees as we are executors and beneficiaries?
2. If we are not classed as trustees, is the conveyancer/solicitor classed as a trustee?

many thanks

Hi Jackie - I am sorry to read of your loss.
The simple answer is No and No from a registration perspective but you need to discuss this with your legal rep/conveyancer
A form A restriction restricts a sole surviving registered owner. That would have been your Mother but as she has died Probate is needed for her and you have already obtained that.
Provided there are two named personal reps (executors), and your are both transferring (selling) the property, then the restriction does not 'bite' and the transfer/sale can go ahead and the form A restriction will be automatically removed when the purchaser registers the transfer
I'd suggest flagging that with whoever has asked you to provide a name for a trustee to clarify the reason(s) for doing so

Thank you so much for this clarification. I had read guidance that matched your answer and raised this with our conveyancer/solicitor

“I hope you don't mind me asking, Susanne and I are both executors and both selling mums property that was left to us in mum and dads will, would we be classed as the two trustees negating the requirement of a third trustee?“

and her answer was

”A second trustee is appointed in these circumstances to enable the beneficial interests in the property to be overreached in favour of the buyer and to satisfy the terms of the form A restriction which has been entered on the register to protect the beneficiaries” 

So I don’t know who she is classing as the first trustee me, my sister or herself

Jackie - nor do I and you may wish to refer the conveyancer to our PG 6 section 7 re Trusts and what happens following the death of a sole surviving owner where there is a form A restriction on the title Practice guide 6: devolution on the death of a registered proprietor - GOV.UK 
The third paragraph explains how if there are at least 2 personal reps then the sale can complete and the form A restriction is overreached

Thank you so much for your clarification and guidance.

If our conveyancer insists on doing it her way, will it have any legal repercussions?

Jackie - not for me to comment re legal repercussions but if you do appoint someone else, so three of you then transfer, it's not an issue from a registration point of view.
Do refer them to PG 6 section 7 though and if you don't want to be too challenging just add that you were researching what to do with a property when the owner dies for other reasons and came across PG 6 

Hey. Good call. Thank you ever so much for all your help

I have a different question related to this post. 
My mother died late 2024, and my father died shortly after in Spring 2025.
They owned their house as "tenants in common". I am listed as the sole executor in both their wills. 
My mother left everything to my father in her will. When he died I applied for (and was granted) probate for him. 
The solicitors that I have engaged to sell the property have told me two things: 
1. That a trustee needs to be appointed as a kind of co-signatory to enable me to sell the property because of the "tenants in common" designation. I think that this is answered in the chain above. 
2. That I now need to apply for a separate grant of probate on behalf of my mother in order to be able to sell the property. 

This does not seem right - dad left everything to her. There hasn't been time to update the Land Registry. But as he owned everything (albeit for a very short time) and there is a will to prove it, why would I need a separate grand of probate to be able to sell the property. Can anyone advise please?

Simon - I'm sorry to read of your losses
When a joint owner dies probate is not required, whether that are TIC or Joint tenants. The legal ownership of the property passes to the surviving owner to deal with.
Probate is though required for a sole owner when they die as the property/legal ownership does then form part of their estate.
From a purely registration perspective you will need your Mother's death certificate and Father's probate in order to sell 
The second issue is the TIC and if that is protected by a form A/joint ownership restriction on the register. If it is then it will catch any sale as you are a sole executor acting on behalf of a sole deceased owner.
You have two options with one being as the solicitor advises. Appoint someone else to act with you as a co-trustee and together you complete the sale/transfer
The second option is to apply to cancel the form A restriction using forms RX3/ST5 or your conveyancer can provide a certificate re the relevant facts if appropriate - see PG 6 section 8 for the guidance on the facts needed Practice guide 6: devolution on the death of a registered proprietor - GOV.UK