Changing title deed on a shared freehold after bereavement

[sgclacy]

LR have fallen behind in registration work.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...strys-services

Indeed, lease extensions are taking upwards of year

A TP1 - transfer of part - where part of the land in a title is sold off has in a case I am involved with taken 15 months - with no requisitions being made by the Land Registry

There is a limit to what can be done working remotely - large swaths of the civil service, court service etc are using Covid-19 to work from home and I am sure they are building a case to carry on once Covid-19 has mutated to a more normal flu - possibly sacrificing pay rises in return

[Gordon999]

LR have fallen behind in registration work.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...strys-services

[gavtro]

@sgclacy

Thanks. That makes sense. And doesn't sound too daunting.

[gavtro]

Excuse my ignorance, but what would be:

"You should have completed documents to transfer the leasehold interest to you."

What's the process for this? I have only been working on the freehold title, as far as I'm aware.

[sgclacy]

The transfer of the leasehold internet should proceed as you have submitted the correct forms

the transfer of the freehold will require the other freeholder to sign the TR1 and an ID1 form is required - however life may have got a bit easier since covid 19 and an ID5 can be used in conjunction with ID1 and the other freeholder can have the identification process done on line with no trips to get a photo and seeing a solicitor in person which hitherto made the completion of the ID1 so daunting

[gavtro]

The other freeholder is in his 80s and doesn't have a mobile or email address, but I do have a landline number for him, so will try to speak with him tomorrow. And will ask the LR for an extension. Thank you.

[gavtro]

Thanks for your reply. No, there's nothing outstanding - there's no service charge, with any maintenance undertaken on an 'as and when' basis. My father had only owned the flat for a few weeks before he passed away. The other freeholder is aware of the change of ownership and we have worked together to ensure the building is correctly insured.

[vmart]

You should have completed documents to transfer the leasehold interest to you; and separately the documents to transfer share of freehold to you. It appears from your comments all you need to do now is arrange for the person that owns 50% of the freehold to complete a TR1 and the ID document. Where property is owned jointly the Land Registry cannot change the title without the consent of all owners.

Is there any issue with contacting the other party and arranging for the relevant forms to be executed?

In the interim I would write to the Land Registry and ask for an extension of time as you are in the throes of arranging matters with the other party.

[Macromia]

Transfer of the ownership of a lease is never likely to be as simple as just swapping names.

Are all service charge payments up to date? Are there any 'disagreements' that need to be addressed?

In may well be that the co-freeholder has no legal basis on which to refuse to allow recognition of a change in ownership, but if there are any issues that need addressing (particularly if your father was in breach of any lease terms) they may well have a right to insist that these are addressed before they recognise the change in ownership.

Whether refusal to recognise that the flat has changed hands actually means anything in legal terms is another matter entirely.

[gavtro]

My father owned a flat (a house that had been divided into two flats, with him owning half the freehold, the owner of the other flat obviously owning the other half (I think it might be a reverse freehold)).

My father passed away and I'm trying to get the title deed updated. The LR have been taking ages (I sent them the AP1, TR1 and ID1 in August!), but they have now come back to me saying that they need a TR1 and ID1 from the other freeholder in order to be able to add me to the register. Is this correct?

They say that if they don't hear back from me within two weeks (although, it's fine for them to take much longer, seemingly!), then they will treat it as a death of a joint proprietor and refund my fee, presumably removing my father's name, but not replacing it with mine.

Surely, having seen the certificate of probate, it's a simple case of swapping my father's name for mine, and doesn't need the involvement of the other freeholder?