Hi all
I’m fumbling in the dark with an inheritance/property matter at the moment.
I’ll preface this by saying that I’m planning to consult the relevant professional(s), but I really don’t know where to start/who to direct my initial query to. I’m hoping that a fellow Mumsnetter has experienced something similar and might be able to point me in the right direction.
I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible while still laying out the facts; my mother died in April 2023. She and my father (still married) had mirror wills so we didn’t apply for probate when she died. My father then died in April 2024. My brother and I are joint executors of the will. We took the decision to pay a probate company to manage the process for us. Probate has been applied for and we’re expecting it to be granted around October time.
The ‘estate’ comprises of c.£325k in cash/savings/investments. There is also a property (worth c.£250k), but, in 2017, the property was placed into a Family Trust. The Trustees are my mother and my father (both now deceased), my brother and me. The Trust status means that the property is not considered part of the ‘estate’ from a probate perspective (and the probate company won’t deal with anything relating to the property).
The will leaves an equal one-third share of the ‘estate’ to me, my brother and my adult son (the only grandson). Because the property is in Trust, the ‘estate’ is only the cash/savings/investments. Technically, the property now belongs to me and my brother, but we plan to split the sale proceeds in line with the will (i.e. a one-third share for me, my brother and my son).
We want to sell the house ASAP. I’m already taking the necessary steps to have my parents’ names removed from the property’s Title Register and to correct my name/address on the document (they’ve both changed since the document was drawn up).
But we really don’t know who we need to work with to ensure that the process of splitting the sale proceeds three ways is done legally. Do we need to speak to a solicitor, and, if so, what specialism? Would it be more straightforward to have the Trust amended? Would we be better off speaking to an accountant (so we meet our legal obligations re. Capital Gains Tax, etc)?
My brother has suggested applying for a Deed of Variation for the will, but I don’t think that’s applicable here – we don’t want to change the will, the will is fine as it is and the estate will be distributed as my parents wanted.
Can anyone help (before my brain explodes!)?