Left a house in the will between 2 of us

[GreySheep]

Myself and a sibling have been left a house in a will. 75/25% split. I am the executor. We have agreed to sell the house and split the proceeds 75/25.

My question is... does the house first have to be legally transferred into our names - then sold?

Or can I as executor just sell it once I’ve got probate and then split the cash afterwards... without ever transferring the house into our names.

We just want to do it as easy and fast as possible.

We sold as executors so as not to miss out on first time buyer discounts when we bought ourselves. The solicitor dealing the the probate will help.

When my dh did this after his df died, he just sold it, and split money.

As executor you can sell house. No need to transfer to your names. We have just sold a house in these circumstances.

Thank you all. That’s a relief.

I sold my mother's house without transferring to my name. What is important is that you have probate.

How long does probate take

In my case it took just short of 2 months but the estate was well under the IHT nil rate band so no tax issues.

You need to create a schedule of all assets and liabilities, swear that before a commissioner for oaths (usually your solicitor) and submit to High Court, Family Division. Then submit a summary of the same information to HMRC on form IHT205. I had all these finalised and submitted about 1 month after death. But I was fairly on the ball as I live abroad and had limited time in the UK, and knew all the details of the estate already.

For the house you need two or three valuations from estate agents, you need to ask for a probate valuation. If the whole estate is under the IHT limit then I would let that valuation be on the high side (but still realistic).

The solicitor cost £750 plus VAT 2 years ago just for the estate, selling the house was another fee. We used the same firm but a different solicitor as estates and property sales are different specialisations and processes.

If the estate is over the IHT nil rate band then you may have IHT to pay which may slow things up. But one thing to watch for is if the other spouse who died first may have not used his IHT nil-band in which case it may be transferable to the spouse who has just died, thus reducing their IHT liability. This process uses HMRC form IHT217. Again, solicitor will advise.