Deed of Trust

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

Have NC'd and am being vague so please bear with me.......
Family member has died suddenly and without warning.
This relative was divorced and living with an old friend with whom he had bought a house.
Friend he lived with says that they were tenants in common.
There wasn't a deed of trust with the will so where might it be? Is there somewhere where these things are lodged?
At the moment there is no record of the % that family member and his friend own on the house.

[PeppermintPasty]

Possibly lodged with his solicitor, or with the mortgage company, if there is a mortgage on the property?

But if you simply require evidence that they purchased as tenants in common, this will be evident from the title document to the property which you can download for £3 from the Land Registry website, assuming the property is registered with Land Registry.

If the title says 'No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the Registrar or the court', the property is held by them as tenants in common.
In the absence of a deed or declaration of trust containing details of who has what share, it's likely they hold the property 50/50.

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

Fantastic, thank you. There is no mortgage and solicitors don't hold any documents but it does indeed say that on the title.
So because it doesn't mention the % share of both parties it is assumed to be 50/50?
I have another question now........
As one party has died his estate (and his share of the property) has passed to his heir are they now liable for a % of the upkeep of the property? I would assume so as they would benefit from any improvements/main undertaken when the property is sold.And does the heir need to do anything to protect their interest in the property?
The friend can live in the property as long as they wish so there could be some considerable time before the house is sold and the heir is not close to the friend.

[HereIAm20]

Has the other owner already agreed to sell the property because if not unfortunately the heir would possibly need to go to court to get an order for sale.

If they have agreed then items of a capital nature such as repairs snd buildings insurance would be joint but it would be usual for the party living there to pay utilities, council tax etc

[PeppermintPasty]

The heir/beneficiary should seek to have the title amended so that his/her name appears on the title alongside the survivor. This is reasonably straightforward. I just tried to post a link from the Land Registry website but it's disappeared. I'll try again in a minute.

If the heir wants to sell, they might buy the other party out, and vice versa.
And yes, they would be jointly responsible for upkeep etc.

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

Thanks, the deceasds will states that the house is only to be sold whenever the friend decides. It is their home so I don't think the heir would try and turf the friend out however they are very worried about the practicalities of the situation.

[PeppermintPasty]

For some bloody annoying reason I can't link the LR website. Broadly, heir needs to fill in a form and get himself on the title, though he is protected by the will, and the restriction on the title that I quoted above.

Perhaps call the public land Reg helpline, they will tell you what they need. Sorry I can't link what I want to show you!

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

Thanks for everything.
If the heir couldn't pay for upkeep what would happen?
What would happen if friend didn't maintain property?

Does heir have any right to insist that house is sold even though the will says property is only to be sold at a time decided by friend?

[scaryteacher]

If the property is held as tenants in common, then the heir cannot make the owner of the other 50% sell the property, as they own their 50% outright.

If the agreement is that it can only be sold when the survivor wishes, there may be an Interest in Possession trust drawn up, or something in the will that is effectively an IIP trust.

Depending on the terms of the IIP trust, the survivor may be solely responsible for the maintenance, insurance and upkeep of the property.

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

There isn't an IIP, just a very old and basic will.
Thanks for everyone's help though, it's been a great help.

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

Me again, this is no nearer getting sorted as the friend of the deceased who lives in the house is also the executor and has not released the details of the existing deed of trust that they had with the deceased.
The heir is trying to ascertain their responsibilities towards the house and also what share that they have in it (the share is not listed in the will).
However the friend/executor doesn't want to let the beneficiary know these details.
What should happen now? As there is a deed of trust written between the deceased and the friend/executor surely the executor must let the heir have sight of it as without that the heir has no knowledge of what their share of the house is nor their liabilities?

[DumbledoreBumbledore]

Goodness, sorry I didn't get a notification that anyone had replied! I wasn't ignoring you. Thanks for the advice, will get onto it. Thanks again