No deeds/owner on Old House

Hi

I am just making an enquiring on behalf of my dad. He as recently swapped houses with my sister, i.e. she has moved to his former bigger house just down the road with her family.

But the house where he now resides, is a very old old, with no land adjoining. It has been swapped within the family over many many generations and as far as he knows, noone ever actually owned the house, and there are no deeds.

He is now anxious to get this sorted as it may cause problems down the line.

Can any let me know what steps he should take?

He needs to go and talk to a solicitor.

There is a possibility that the property is registered in the Land Registry and that title can be traced from the name it was last held in up to todays date.

If it is not registered there, then big enquiries need to be made - there is always title somewhere.

mf

Why in the name of God did he do this . The whole thing is a complete mess and is going to cost a fortune to rectify . I think your inheritance has just gone west in the shape of your very bright sister whom I presume has your dads old house signed over to her officially I.E The deeds of his property have been transferred to her and her family

And has possibly cost an amount of CGT as well.

Holy cow.

Totally agree with jerry2623 & mercman. Why oh why oh why do people do these things and THEN start asking about the consequences...

"I've just locked myself into my house and asked my neighbour to pour petrol on the roof and light it on fire.... And now I'm just wondering what might happen further down the line?"

Seriously though as pointed out previously, title exists somewhere, somehow, and your father now needs to enter into the process of establishing who holds it.

And for God's sake if he hasn't already signed his own house over, STOP HIM FROM DOING SO!

Hi, thank you for the replies, I know its a ridiculous situtation, but my dad is in his 70's and has not lived in the house for over 60 years.... it was basically just swapped during the generations from aunts, uncles etc... yes, his old house is signed over... so its a bit late there, im trying to talk sense into him to get it sorted out, between himself and his own brothers/sisters... for me its not about inheritance, i couldnt care less if i got the house or not, its just to stop all the grief and rows and could and probably will arise down the line when the day comes that he or his siblings are no longer with us.

It's a bit of a mess, but it can be fixed up.

The first thing he needs is a solicitor. He will need a deed transferring/conveying the sisters interest to him or the position will be next to impossible to sort out, especially since the swap was done recently and if anything were to happen to him in the next couple of years.

Don't let him sit on this.