Death, Lies, and Land Registration

Abstract

Real property is the most valuable and potentially contentious property owned by many people at the point of death. The recent debate surrounding the so-called ‘dementia tax’ highlights the significance of the family home from an inheritance perspective, as does as the emphasis on the importance of passing it on under the new residence nil rate band legislation for inheritance tax purposes. More immediately, land formerly (co-)owned by a deceased person may already be a home for surviving family members. This may create some tensions between testamentary freedom on the one hand, and the notion of ‘dynamic’ security for the protection of purchasers prioritised by the land registration system on the other.