Probate granted - how to register property in beneficiary’s name?

Ted222

My wife recently was granted probate in respect of her late mother’s estate. It was a straightforward will and she dealt with the probate office herself.

She’s now looking to sell the property but needs to register it in her own name.

Is it possible to do this directly with the Property Registration Authority or is it necessary to go through a solicitor?

Thanks in advance.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058363504/probate-granted-how-to-register-property-in-beneficiary-s-name

If she is selling the property why should she need to register it in her own name?

Ted222

The estate agent said she needs to be the registered owner in order to sell it.

Victor

She will need to get a solicitor to do the sale anyway, so get a solicitor and ask can it be sold without being transferred to your wife first.

tom traubert

I sold our old family home in 2021, as the executor of my late Mother's will.

I was not required to transfer the house into my name beforehand.

mrsgiller

you do not have to be the registered owner, sale can be done by a transmission

Ted222

Interesting. Thanks for all the replies.

Lenar3556

Once the grant of probate has been issued, the estate is now in a position to sell the house. (Your wife is the executor of the estate, but it can be helpful to consider it as a separate identity)

It will be impractical for your wife to handle the sale without the services of a solicitor, so I would suggest engaging one.

Ted222

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122489521#Comment_122489521

Thanks for this.

My wife is both executor and the sole beneficiary in this case.

On reflection, the estate agent may not realise that she’s selling the house in her capacity as executor rather than owner.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479498#Comment_122479498

Get yourself a new estate agent. It should be one who sticks to their own job not one who offers nonsense legal advice. It is ludicrous to approach an estate agent to sell a house without engaging a solicitor first. That agent should told you to go straight to a solicitor.

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122495075#Comment_122495075

A little OTT.

The estate agent is merely marketing it for her. There seems to have been some slight confusion over whether she was yet in a position to put it on the market, but she need now just advise him to crack on.

Indeed now is a good time to be also instructing a solicitor to be getting the title documents and contract together for the prospective purchaser.

coylemj

OP, I was in your mother's position when I did personal probate for the estate of a relative of mine. In the will, a property was left to a sister of mine. As the executor, I made sure the property was insured while probate was being processed but did nothing in relation to the title of the property.

When I received the Grant of Probate, I advised my sister that she was now the effective (if unregistered) owner of the property. She never transferred the property into her name, rented it out for a few years and then decided to sell it.

As part of the sale process, her solicitor asked for a certified copy of the will which I organised and there were no complications with selling the property.

Ted222

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122498603#Comment_122498603

That’s very helpful. Many thanks.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122496387#Comment_122496387

If the agent is merely marketing the property, why is the agent giving legal advice?

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122498993#Comment_122498993

It wasn’t legal advice.

Based on whatever information was provided to him by the client and his own understanding, he questioned if the client was yet in a position to sell the property.

A reasonable question given that he is about to market it and that he operates solely on a commission basis.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122499375#Comment_122499375

If that he what he was doing he should have told him to go to a solicitor and have contracts drawn up and let him know of any delays, not tell him the property needed to be registered by the vendor. He should stick to his own job, not create more misery.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122499375#Comment_122499375

I'm sorry but, in anyone's language, that was legal advice.

The estate agent told her that she couldn't sell the property unless she was the registered owner. Which was, at a minimum, a legal opinion. What elevated it to legal advice was that it implied a course of action she needed to take - engage a solicitor to get herself registered as the owner. Which would have cost her money for zero benefit.

She would have wasted a heap of time and money if she had followed the estate agent's (non legal) advice!

Ted222

Thanks for all the replies.

Got a solicitor to handle the conveyancing etc and she confirmed that it could be sold by reference to probate. She will inform estate agent.

I don’t know why the estate agent took the line he did. As things stand, in the absence of a formal authorisation, we’re free to go elsewhere. He could have locked us in and sorted out any legalities as they arise.

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122502969#Comment_122502969

I think you are making more of a deal out of it than it is. He’s a sales agent, his role is to advertise the house and find a buyer. He may be very good at it.

I don’t know exactly what he was told, but he looks to have raised something as an issue which as it turns out isn’t one. So what? The OP has since looked into the matter and clarified she is good to go.

I suspect the executor is no fool and is fully aware of the role she has engaged the agent to perform, and that anything outside of this may not be his specialty. However I wouldn’t admonish him for raising something, in good faith, which turned out to be a non issue.