Solicitor error

[Ginablog]

Both parents deceased. Mum recently. I applied for both probate grants. Just discovered parents’ solicitor didn’t change their status to tenants in common, although he described them as such in both wills, so my probate applications based on these are incorrect. Still no tax owed though. Would like advice on what I should do about this. Am concerned the solicitor will try to evade responsibility.

What is the effect of failure to serve notice of severence?

I’m not sure. Supposedly if parents were joint tenants the half property left to me and my sister would have automatically become my mother’s property, regardless of my father’s will. It has, however, been suggested that although the solicitor did not place the restriction on the title deed required by the land registry to confer tenants in common status, this is a common problem, caused by clients not instructing solicitors correctly, and that in the case of mirror wills those will still be effective. So I don’t know whether I have just recently inherited from my mother half of the property which I intend to give to my sister, or whether I have owned a quarter for 11 years and will need to pay CGT on that part. This solicitor suggested this legacy strategy to my parents and drew up the wills. They would not have figured it out for themselves, so I feel that he has been remiss here, since they explained to me at the time that he was changing their tenant status.

Let me try and understand this. You would have got half of your dad’s half under your fathers will but you didn’t as it all went to your mum under the JT. You have inherited half now from your mum so it came to you eventually. And the good news is you’re not liable for CGT for the last 11 years owning a 25% share. Is there a disappointed beneficiary anywhere here?

Exactly as you describe. But I made both probate grant applications assuming that my parents were tenants in common, as we had been led by the solicitor to believe, and as they are described in their wills. So my calculations showed half the house value subtracted from Dad’s allowance in 2012 etc. And now someone has told me that these wills are still valid, despite the fact that the restriction had not been placed on the title deed. Do I need to contact HMRC about this confusion?