title deeds transfer to daughter

[manxie]

have broached this before do not wont to land daughter with capital gains tax idealy would like to sell, property in joint names of me and wife valued at about 130,000 eur we are getting on in years my wife not to happy to deal with things if some thing happens to me, do you think we could add daughter to title deeds then give her enduring power of attorney so she could sell or us with out having to pay c g t, our advocate does not seem to clued up on property law do not wont to change her if we can 100% trust in daughter it is for grand kids nest egg,best regards manxie

[Varky]

Actually HiC that topic was diverted onto a 'refund of IPT' theme so the original poster never got an answer to the 'transfer' question raised.

[Dominic]

There were some answers, and also a very good point about what would happen in the event of the daughter getting a divorce etc.

[PW in Polemi]

Your lawyer really should be more clued up on property law - are you sure you don't want to change?

The Cyprus government at the moment are not charging transfer fees for property transfers to immediate family, i.e. spouse to spouse, sibling to sibling, parent to child. I think it is only for relationships that are one step removed, therefore not for grandparents to grandchildren.
So if you and your wife transfer your property into your daughter's sole name now, then there will be minimal fees to pay now (a small amount to the government for issuing new deeds, plus whatever your lawyer will charge). This will be much less than probate, and much less hassle for your daughter.

Whilst on the subject of probate - if you own ANYTHING in Cyprus on death, then probate comes into play. This is expensive (see Cyprus Bar Association minimum fee charges ) and time consuming. If your bank account is in joint names, unless it has "and/or" in the title, probate will be necessary. Some banks will try to tell you that "and" is the same as "and/or" - as far as the bank is concerned, ownership of the funds is the same irrespective of which designation it is, but this is not the case with regard to probate. If your vehicle is in joint names, probate comes into play again - and the survivor will not be allowed to sell the vehicle until after probate, even if it becomes theirs under the terms of the will.

[Dominic]

Agree Kay. I was with a customer last week who was telling me that his wife died two years ago and his bank account is still frozen because of probate. You can imagine how much inconvenience this causes. Throughout our married life wife and I have always just had the one joint bank account and I was sure - because I had checked previously - that in the event of one of us passing, the other party could still operate the account. Neverthless, when I popped into our Hellenic branch this morning I checked again with a member of management...and was assured that because ours is a joint account, with either party able to sign, we would be OK. In fact, as an extra precaution, a few years ago we went one stage further and added our daughter as signatory to our joint account.

So is yours "and / or" then?

[PaphosAL]

With joint bank accounts, it's vital in the setup stage to tell the bank either:
1) Either signatory can sign.
or
2) BOTH signatures are required.

In the first case, if one of the account holders passes away, no problem. The surviving spouse can still still access the account, and even add a son or daughter as a further joint name (handy later on when he or she snuffs it...)

The second case is tricky, and definately requires Probate and a Grant of Administration to free up the funds in that type of joint account. But why on earth should it take TWO YEARS or more to obtain Probate in Cyprus?

I managed this process for a good friend of ours who died (bachelor, no kids, Intestate, rented council flat) here in UK in seven months flat. Sent his £150k savings to his uncle in Hungary, to be fairly shared between him, other cousins, children of deceased cousins, etc...

Back into hibernation... AL

[darrow]

Further to AL's post, I did probate myself when my late husband died, but, there was a will, it was done in 5 days! UK of course.

[PaphosAL]

Further to AL's post, I did probate myself when my late husband died, but, there was a will, it was done in 5 days! UK of course.

I did probate for my Mum in 1996 and my Dad in 2004, both with Wills. I had to phone the probate office to apply for the forms. Both arrived two weeks later in an envelope marked HMRC.

One form was PA1 for probate, the other was Tax (for possible Inheritance Tax). Filled both in and eventually got an interview with the probate lady about 3 months later.. She was happy with everthing and about 6-8 weeks later, the Grant of Administration arrived in the post.

Around 6 months all in, for both my parents cases. Are you 100% sure with your 5 day claim?

Cheers- AL

[darrow]

yes, i went to the solicitor and he told me i could do it myself. i went to the probate office filled in all the forms, signed and checked while i was there. 5 days later i got the paper work. the lady there told me to put something on the form, i don't remember what, to fast track it.

[cyprusexpat123]

yes, i went to the solicitor and he told me i could do it myself. i went to the probate office filled in all the forms, signed and checked while i was there. 5 days later i got the paper work. the lady there told me to put something on the form, i don't remember what, to fast track it.

A €100 note perhaps?
Tommy.

[Varky]

A €100 note perhaps?
Tommy.

Quite unnecessary and not at all funny, particularly as a first post!

So what exactly did you understand by the comment given by the lady in the probate office "to put something on the form, i don't remember what, to fast track it."

[darrow]

It was something about being in need of the assets, (I wasn't), I didn't ask her for this advice but put what she said. It was over 20 years ago!

[Varky]

Darrow,
I wasn't asking you. I was asking Austin7.