What happens if my parent dies and I expect the house to become mine, but I found out the house is still in my grandfather's name?
This happens more often than you think, especially in rural areas or where big families are involved. Often the process to transfer the property to one or several heirs is complicated and expensive and so nothing gets done. It's usually only when one heir wants to sell that help is requested and the line of succession and ownership needs to be unscrambled.
Before a property can be transferred out of a (deceased) owner's name the correct legal process needs to be followed to determine who the rightful heirs are and whether authority to transfer the property to those heirs was obtained or not. In some cases, with the consent of all heirs, the property can be sold and transferred to a buyer directly from the deceased owner's estate.
Another possible scenario is that one heir keeps the property and the other heir or heirs receive cash or other assets in the estate. What's called a re-distribution agreement can be entered into between the heirs.
A lot will depend on whether the deceased owner's estate was reported to the Master of the High Court and the estate properly administered. Often this is not the case. In other cases, for a sale or re-distribution to take place, the estate accounts may need to be altered and the consent of all heirs to a direct sale or re-distribution obtained.
Mc Naught and Company specialise in deceased estates and property transfers and are well placed to expertly unscramble these cases, provided all heirs can be found. There may or may not be a Will but there is a legal procedure to follow in every case.
Contact us if you need help:
0870210123
[email protected]
https://maclaw.co.za/expertise/property-conveyancing/