Inheriting Co-Owned Property

[jmcefai]

Hello & Thanks for checking this out.

A wife co-owns a property with husband and husband died without a will.

I was told that the wife can simply produce the death certificate (Note: No Probate or letter of Administration needed) to the "NSW Lands Register" and they will transfer the husband's ownership share of said property to wife.

My question is, how does the NSW Land Register verifies that there is no Will?

 

[Tim W]

Hello & Thanks for checking this out.

A wife co-owns a property with husband and husband died without a will.

I was told that the wife can simply produce the death certificate (Note: No Probate or letter of Administration needed) to the "NSW Lands Register" and they will transfer the husband's ownership share of said property to wife.

My question is, how does the NSW Land Register verifies that there is no Will?

Was it a joint tenancy, or tenants in common?

 

[jmcefai]

thanks for the reply, it was a "joint tenancy"

 

[Tim W]

Assuming the house is in NSW, yes, title automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant.
In such cases (which is, really, most cases) the DC is usually enough for *the transaction of updating the register.

The transaction can get complicated when there are other interests in the estate,
such as where the house is security in a business debt (where the survivor was not a party to the loan),
or where there are legacy debts or bills that need to be paid,
but the only way to raise enough cash is to sell the house.

It can also play out differently if the house is (or becomes) the survivor's main residence,
compared to being, say, a holiday house or an investment property. There can be downstraam effects on things like Assets Tests and

Your words

"I was told..."

concern me.
I do not encourage the false economy strategy of DYOR-ing,
and then coming here to see if you've got it right.
For someone's biggest ever asset, at their most vulnerable time, that's a super high risk path.

 

[jmcefai]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. As you may know when you discuss with anyone, including legal professionals you get different, sometimes totally conflicting answers. There is nothing wrong in doing your own research, gathering information, so that at least the individual knows the very basics of how things work.

The query in this thread is actually just a piece of the main issue. Given that you were so kind in replying maybe you I could try my luck and ask you the below:

Husband died without a will over 20 years ago, no probate or letter of administration was needed because the wife was joint owner of the main residence and bank account, etc.

Apparently, in view of the above, there is no way for anyone (including a legal professional) to independently verify that no will exists? because at any point in time someone could come up and say that they have a will. is that right?



thanks