Proving that a house was someone's to gift in a will

[Motnight]

Hi We do have a solicitor looking at this but would be grateful for any replies / experiences.

My DH has been left a house in a will by an elderly friend of the family who died last year. Probate has been granted and he has put the house up for sale and an offer has been made.

The buyer's solicitors are asking for proof that the house was the lady's to pass on. Nothing is registered at the Land Registry which I know isn't terribly unusual for houses that were built a long time ago. It was left to her by her father many years ago (not sure when he died to be honest, I guess this is something that the solicitor will find out). The will is dated 1989. As far as we know her mum and dad moved into the house when it was built - over 100 years ago - and she lived there all of her life.

Has anyone had any experience of this?

Many thanks!

Someone needs to find the deeds. The executors of the father's will need to be appointed and they need to do the transfer of property to the executors of the relative's estate. It gets really messy when people wait over 30 years to do things.

Before properties were registered with the Land Registry it was necessary to locate the deeds. These consist of a pile of old documents that prove title - this is what you need. If they built the house, presumably they purchased the land. Maybe focus on trying to find who they purchased it from.

The second document that may help is a will showing that the lady inherited it from her father. If probate was granted you may be able to find the records of it.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-or-administrations-after-1858/

Normally the deed documents were held safely either at a bank or with a solicitor (usually the solicitor that did the conveyance for purchase). If there was no mortgage, then I suggest you try looking under the floorboards, or another 'safe' place in a old fashioned deed box tin!

If you can’t find the deeds you can get indemjj no it’s insurance to cover this

Thanks for all the replies. @Collaborate not sure where you think we have waited for over 30 years? The lady died last year and probate has only recently been granted.

Will try and action some of these useful points. The house is full to bursting - it was 3 peoples' home since it was built and very little has been thrown away!

Had the property been transferred to her when her father dies in 1989 it would now be registered, so yes, things should have happened over 30 years ago which is now causing you problems. I'm not sure where you think I was accusing you personally of avoiding doing something for over 30 years.

That makes sense! Thank you!

Worst case you can sell with possessory title; not ideal but buyer can take insurance to cover this until title absolute can be made

Thanks @cannypants how would title absolute be made if no other details can be found?

Usually people of that era made a will and lodged it with a solicitor for safe keeping. Same with deeds, although they might have been kept at a bank. We had this situation with a grandma - the solicitors we thought had the documents denied having them, but luckily we found a letter from them confirming they were keeping a copy of the will of the deceased grandma. We found copies of the deceased parents wills that proved that everything was inherited by the grandma. And we found another letter that confirmed the solicitor also had stored the deeds. Which again they'd denied even though we gave dates previously they wouldn't actually look in their vaults till we had sent copies of correspondence to prove it.

I suggest look through every saved bit of important paperwork and you should find something

@Motnight I believe after an elapse of 12 years or if documentation is found to prove title absolute. In your case I would imagine given the house has been in possession of one family since built and if you can evidence previous wills/probates you may have sufficient evidence to apply for absolute title anyhow.

I think you can apply for first registration at the land registry before you sell it. They don’t necessarily need the deeds because deeds do get lost over time (part of the reason why land is now registered!) but you’ll need to show a chain of ownership as best you can. If there was a mortgage initially, the bank would have held the deeds and you may come across correspondence relating to the initial house purchase with the lady’s paperwork to help. Good luck!

@cannypants and everyone else thanks for all the advice. Will be looking for useful documentation this weekend.