# Do you have to use a solictor to transfer ownership of house



## ocd dad (24 May 2010)

Hi, my brother has just been granted deed of probate on my late fathers will. (he was excetutor and sole benifieciery) We did this through a personal application as the only assets were the house and a very small sum of money.
Does he have to use a solicitor to organise getting his names on the deeds of the house or can he organise this himself? ie is there an office for personal applications for transferring ownership, or does he have to use a solicitor. Trying to save money as its his home and can't afford to pay extra expenses, hence the personel application for probate whic went smoothly.
Thanks in advance


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## Padraigb (24 May 2010)

Speaking as a non-lawyer, I'd be very nervous of attempting a DIY conveyance (and I am not generally afraid of taking legal things on, like personal probate).

He can take his time, however. As executor and sole beneficiary, he can simply treat the house as an undistributed asset of the estate, live in it, and transfer it into his own name at some far-off future date.


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## Moral Ethos (24 May 2010)

Exactly. It is only an issue should he need to sell it.


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## Padraigb (24 May 2010)

Moral Ethos said:


> Exactly. It is only an issue should he need to sell it.



It need not be much of a problem then. He could sell the house in his capacity as executor of his father's will rather than as direct owner of the property.


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## ocd dad (24 May 2010)

Padraigb said:


> Speaking as a non-lawyer, I'd be very *nervous of attempting a DIY conveyance* (and I am not generally afraid of taking legal things on, like personal probate).
> 
> He can take his time, however. As executor and sole beneficiary, he can simply treat the house as an undistributed asset of the estate, live in it, and transfer it into his own name at some far-off future date.


 
Thanks for the reply. May I ask why you would be nervous. perhaps I did not explain properly, but it is his home, he has lived with my father all his life so really its just about putting it in his name. He has no intentions of selling. And to be honest I know people say never say never. But I doubt if he would ever move.


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## Padraigb (25 May 2010)

It does sound appealingly simple to change the name on the deeds to a property. But property law is a minefield, and a deed of conveyance (the key document in transferring ownership of property) can easily become unstuck. The first step to be taken is to investigate your late father's title to determine if it is good. This is not territory for amateurs. [Even saying this much makes me want to run away from the question; reading the deeds of a property is an instructive and intimidating exercise.]

I hope that it does not seem tactless to mention your brother's mortality. During his lifetime, he need do nothing: your father's title to the property and the probated will give him a full legal claim on the property, as good as having the title transferred to him. When your brother's time of departure comes, the title can be settled on his heirs in accordance with his own will.


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## Vanilla (25 May 2010)

PadraigB is correct that your brother does not have to put the property in his name. 

However he is now at the point of having extracted a grant to his fathers estate- if he does not now put it into his name, and dies, a second grant will have to be extracted to his fathers estate ( doubling the expense) and a grant will have to be taken out to his estate too.

It is very likely that putting it in his name would now be straightforward. He should get a quote from a solicitor at the very least. I'd imagine the fee would be minor.


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## Padraigb (25 May 2010)

OP: note that Vanilla is more conversant than I am with the practice of law.


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## Whiskey (26 May 2010)

The ops question was "*Do you have to use a solictor to transfer ownership of house*"

7 replies, but I' not sure anyone has answered the question.

Is there not a Yes - No answer to the question ?

Can the transfer of ownership of property be done without a solicitor ? Is there a law which says a solicitor must be involved ?


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## WaterSprite (26 May 2010)

OP's *title* of the thread was "*Do you have to use a solictor to transfer ownership of house".  *You'd lose count of the number of threads here that veer off the title, or have "incorrect" titles.  OP's title wasn't necessarily his/her actual question, but was certainly a fair representation of it.  However, the background that OP provided in the first post was really what was important.

The other posters have provided excellent and on-topic advice to OP in relation to OP's specific circumstances.  OP could perhaps confirm.  

To answer your own question, there is no law that says that a solicitor has to do a conveyance.


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## Moral Ethos (26 May 2010)

> Is there a law which says a solicitor must be involved ?


No. There is not.


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## ocd dad (26 May 2010)

Thanks for all the replys folks. Just to clarify I suppose my post had two questions but did not really specify the second.
1st *Do you have to use a solictor to transfer ownership of house*
2nd *How do you go about this without a solicitor. ie is there an office where one can get the relevant forms and do it all ourselves personelly like we did the probate.*
maybe I am been very naive here but it seems like it should be straight forward enough. as the house is only 30 yrs old council built, my father was the only tennant up untill he bought it so the contents of the deeds are very small compared to a house that is much older and has many oweners over the years.
By the sounds of things we probally will have to go to a solicitor. But to be honest we would have prefered not to as money is tight and besides if its possible to do it ourselves then why not.
Just to clear up as well it is my brothers wish and the rest of brothers sisters that the house be put in his name as this was our Fathers wishes we would all like to get it done.
Thanks again for everyones contributions


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## j26 (26 May 2010)

If the title to the land is registered in the Land Registry, look at the Property Registration Authority website www.prai.ie. You are looking for information on Devolution and Transmission. There you will find the Rules and Directions. The Land Registration Rules set out the format of appplication to make.

If it's Registry of Deeds title you'd definitely be better off getting a solicitor.

To work out whether it's Land Registry or Registry of Deeds, have a look through the documentation and see if there's a folio number, and search the Land Registry records too.

You don't need to use a solicitor, but it leads to far fewer headaches, and more peace of mind.


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## ocd dad (26 May 2010)

j26 said:


> If the title to the land is registered in the Land Registry, look at the Property Registration Authority website wwwprai.ie. You are looking for information on Devolution and Transmission. There you will find the Rules and Directions. The Land Registration Rules set out the format of appplication to make.
> 
> If it's Registry of Deeds title you'd definitely be better off getting a solicitor.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks j26 there is a land registry folio with folio numer with the deeds so I will look up the land registry Authority also.
i agree with the general opinion here that it is probally best to go with a solicitor and will also ring around to get a price. it would have been nice to do it myself as I was quite pleased with myself at being able to manage the probate without any hitches so doing the transfer of ownership name to the deeds of the house would have been an interesting project/challange.


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## Pagan (4 Jun 2010)

If there is a folio, and your brother already has grant of probate, and he is  the executor and sole beneficiary then he can do a "Transmission (on  Death) via Probate" with the Land Registry Office. They will have him print out Forms 17 and 53, which must  be filled out and brought along with the grant of probate document (red  seal one) and an 85 Euro charge.

Form 17 is just a simple application form.
Form 53 is somewhat simple, but you will have to have a Commissioner of  Oaths witness your signing of it, and he/she also will have you swear  that the info you filled in is true. (this costs ~10 euro, but you may  have to shop around).

Once you have the documentation in order then go visit the land registry  office (near Four Courts). It normally takes about 1 month for your  application to be completed, but in current times (with industrial  action) it will take longer.

I've gone through this process very recently.
Hope this helps.


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## ocd dad (5 Jun 2010)

Pagan said:


> If there is a folio, and your brother already has grant of probate, and he is the executor and sole beneficiary then he can do a "Transmission (on Death) via Probate" with the Land Registry Office. They will have him print out Forms 17 and 53, which must be filled out and brought along with the grant of probate document (red seal one) and an 85 Euro charge.
> 
> Form 17 is just a simple application form.
> Form 53 is somewhat simple, but you will have to have a Commissioner of Oaths witness your signing of it, and he/she also will have you swear that the info you filled in is true. (this costs ~10 euro, but you may have to shop around).
> ...


 
Excellent Pagan. Thanks very much, will get on to it next week. 
Will let you all know how we got on
Thanks again


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## Pagan (5 Jun 2010)

Your welcome.
Yes, please do let us know.


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