Unregistered land

[onthehoof]

Long story short
1993 Dad and Uncle jointly owned a bit of land which uncle got permission on to build an ag tied house, uncle retired from business but lived in house till he died this January, dad died in 2018.
It would appear that dad never transferred his bit of land to uncle and no money changed hands.
The house and land (garden) are unregistered with LR.
What is the legal situation as to who owns land and house.

 

[Nearly]

How well do you get on with the cousins?

 

[onthehoof]

How well do you get on with the cousins?

Good with one, bad with other, not sure how it can be sorted, would land registry go back pre 1993 of just register it to cousins now through passage of time

 

[Nearly]

Going to be a fight.
Can cousins prove that Uncle paid to build house?
Have you not been onto the property in meantime?
Could be an adverse posession claim by them against your interest.
AP difficult to prove on anywhere with public access / right of way.

 

[e3120]

What would Dad have wanted?

 

[onthehoof]

Going to be a fight.
Can cousins prove that Uncle paid to build house?
Have you not been onto the property in meantime?
Could be an adverse posession claim by them against your interest.
AP difficult to prove on anywhere with public access / right of way.

I’m not interested in claiming anything, just really wanted to whether at some point I will have to transfer what was dad’s share of land

 

[onthehoof]

What would Dad have wanted?

There’s no question as to the intent and I don’t believe dad wanted any money at the time, but one of those oversights at the time thats now left to next generation to sort out

 

[Nearly]

House will have a reduced current value with ownership 'in dispute' even if it isn't.
IF you tell the inland revenue.
Get cousins to sign that they accept any capital gains tax or iht liability to come?
That will focus their minds.

 

[Goweresque]

If you're happy to let them have it then just let them get on with claiming it under adverse possession. After all if they do, and you keep quiet about your claim to half of it then they'll most likely get it registered OK. If you get involved then there's all sorts of CGT and IHT implications if you give your father's half away.

Remember solicitors have a statutory duty to make sure CGT is paid on relevant property transactions, and accountants are also legally required to shop you to HMRC if they think you are trying to evade taxes. Once you go down the 'I'll just transfer Dads half' route you'll probably end up with a tax bill. CGT most likely (depending on how much house prices have risen between your fathers death and now) and maybe IHT as well - whatever would have been due on the value of the half share of the house in your father's estate.

 

[renewablejohn]

If I was executor of uncles will I would claim the land as part of the uncles estate, if your dad had a claim to it it should have been claimed by the executor of your dads will back in 2018. Think the horse has bolted on any claim you may have had. Just advise your cousins to get it registered with land registry pronto otherwise they may lose it to some smart Alec especially if it has had planning in the past.

 

[AJ123]

If you're happy to let them have it then just let them get on with claiming it under adverse possession. After all if they do, and you keep quiet about your claim to half of it then they'll most likely get it registered OK. If you get involved then there's all sorts of CGT and IHT implications if you give your father's half away.

Remember solicitors have a statutory duty to make sure CGT is paid on relevant property transactions, and accountants are also legally required to shop you to HMRC if they think you are trying to evade taxes. Once you go down the 'I'll just transfer Dads half' route you'll probably end up with a tax bill. CGT most likely (depending on how much house prices have risen between your fathers death and now) and maybe IHT as well - whatever would have been due on the value of the half share of the house in your father's estate.

Pretty sure the cgt duty rests with the person getting the gain. Most sols won’t even do the calcs or return for you.

 

[Bongodog]

Pretty sure the cgt duty rests with the person getting the gain. Most sols won’t even do the calcs or return for you.

Goood ones certainly will do the calculations, just received them all for my Mothers estate

 

[Goweresque]

Pretty sure the cgt duty rests with the person getting the gain. Most sols won’t even do the calcs or return for you.

Just because many are dilatory does not mean they do not have the legal duty. Yes the legal requirement to pay the tax does ultimately lie with the taxpayer, but solicitors do now have a duty to inform their clients selling relevant property as to their tax responsibilities, and ensure that CGT tax is paid. This all changed a few years ago:

Get ready for changes to Capital Gains Tax payment for UK property sales

The deadlines for paying Capital Gains Tax after selling a residential property in the UK are changing from 6 April 2020 - understand the changes and what you need to do.

www.gov.uk

Advice for agents​

If you act as an agent for a customer who disposes of a UK residential property you will need to:

• register with Agent Service
• ensure that any Capital Gains Tax liability due for your client is reported and paid for within 30 days of completion of the disposal

 

[Levelsman]

Regs changed again - now CGT payment within 60 days for residential disposals.

 

[upnortheast]

Regs changed again - now CGT payment within 60 days for residential disposals.

Yes but land still at end of year with your tax return

 

[ISCO]

Long story short
1993 Dad and Uncle jointly owned a bit of land which uncle got permission on to build an ag tied house, uncle retired from business but lived in house till he died this January, dad died in 2018.
It would appear that dad never transferred his bit of land to uncle and no money changed hands.
The house and land (garden) are unregistered with LR.
What is the legal situation as to who owns land and house.

It depends on how they owned it. If they were joint tenants then on the first death it passes directly to the other Co-owner.
If tenants in common the land passes in accordance with your father's will. You need to see the unregistered deeds. If tenants in common then If not specifically mentioned in your father's will it will be part of residuary estate.

 

[ISCO]

If you're happy to let them have it then just let them get on with claiming it under adverse possession. After all if they do, and you keep quiet about your claim to half of it then they'll most likely get it registered OK. If you get involved then there's all sorts of CGT and IHT implications if you give your father's half away.

Remember solicitors have a statutory duty to make sure CGT is paid on relevant property transactions, and accountants are also legally required to shop you to HMRC if they think you are trying to evade taxes. Once you go down the 'I'll just transfer Dads half' route you'll probably end up with a tax bill. CGT most likely (depending on how much house prices have risen between your fathers death and now) and maybe IHT as well - whatever would have been due on the value of the half share of the house in your father's estate.

Solicitors duties depends on their retainer. Most that I know exclude tax advice and will refer client to accountant.
There is no general statutory duty for a solicitor to make sure CGT is paid unless they agree this with the client.