Can anyone answer a quick question about Title Deeds for a House?

[ClothEaredBint]

Mom wants to move house, the title deeds are in both hers and my dads name, however dad died nearly 4 years ago.

Does mom need to get his name taken off the Title Deeds before she can sell?

Did your dad have a will?
Was the Will executed? Ie was there a grant of probate?
Was the house given to your mum in this will?

Assuming yes, then the solicitors should have no problem dealing with this at the time of the sale, though it's worth mentioning when you phone around for quotes.

I had a similar issue when selling my late father's house. Obviously, my name wasn't on the deeds. I had to provide my solicitor selling the house with details of probate and a copy of his will. It took a little longer than a straightforward sale but not by much. All very easy.

It is likely that they owned as joint tenants, in which case she just needs to provide his death certificate.

There was no Will. He died rather unexpectedly.

If the house was owned jointly, they just need to send the death certificate for your dad

Bumblesbees Not “owned jointly” but, as MrsBertBibby says, owned as joint tenants. If owned as tenants in common she’ll need to go through probate.

collaborate sorry that’s what I mean joint tenants. Usually if there was a mortgage on the property at some point it will be joint tenants. So the process is really straight forward 👍🏻

Usually if there was a mortgage on the property at some point it will be joint tenants.

Just, no. That's simple not so.

OP, you need to get a conveyancing solicitor to take a 5 minute look at the title and tell you whether you need to do anything before your mum can sell. If you give them the sale to handle, it should barely affect the overall cost.

I’ve been a conveyancer for 30 years....

Then you'll know that the decision to hold the property as joint tenants or as tenants in common has nothing to do with whether the parties are buying with a mortgage, and everything to do with what they want to happen when they die, and (If they are unmarried in particular) whether they want their share to reflect some unequal contribution.

Although tbh, judging by the many purchase files I have read in 20+ years as a family solicitor, conveyancers rarely seem to grasp the need to advise unmarried couples about this issue. So maybe your comment isn't as surprising as it should be.

Probably if you worked in conveyancing you’d know that it’s practically impossible to get a mortgage if you hold in common, but quite often once the mortgage is paid off people will sever their tenancy. It’s massively uncommon for a mortgaged property to be held as tenants in common, at least in my jurisdiction.

There’s no need to be rude about conveyancing solicitors really. You’ve obviously just come across some bad ones, just like I’ve come across some bad mat solicitors.

parents were married, mortgage paid off. house owned by parents.

wasn't enough in estate to need to go to probate. All mom wants to know is does she need to get his name removed from the title deeds before she sells up.

And it simply depends on how they owned. Tenants in common, or joint tenants. Get a solicitor to check the register, and they will tell you what, if anything, she needs to do.

We bought ours as TiC years ago with a massive mortgage (because I wanted to do a life interest trust), and the conveyancer didn't raise an eyebrow.
Also, a joint tenancy can be severed at any time, not only when the mortgage has been redeemed.

I couldn’t imagine the lender to be bothered one way or the other. Their security is still the same no matter what.

Usually we do a declaration of trust on the side of the mortgage. We really struggle to get mortgages as tenants in common here, but it may just be a peculiarity of where we are

What's the logic put forward by the lenders Bumblebees? Not questioning what you say, just struggling to see why the lenders care one way or the other?

Just got a mortgage with a 80/20 TIC. Lender didn't care / we're still jointly and severally liable!