THINGS TO KNOW WHEN BUYING AN INHERITED PROPERTY.

Some people invest in real estate solely for the sake of their children. In fact, I know of a man who doesn’t have a single property in his name. Every property he owns is in the name of his wife and children.

In the Holy Bible, Prov. 13:22 says: a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. So leaving an inheritance for ones children is a very good thing. However, if your properties are in your name, you have to make sure transferring them to your loved ones at the ripe time is done properly through a valid Will.

According to Wikipedia, a Will is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate) is to be distributed after their demise and as to which person (executor) or trustees are to manage the property(ies) until final distribution.

This means that a will only describes how the testator want the property(ties) to be shared, it does not confer the title on the property(ies) to the beneficiaries mentioned in it. For example, if a property inherited through a Will has a certificate of occupancy (C of O) title, the title does not automatically belong to the beneficiary of the property. To transfer property title of a deceased to the survivor/beneficiary mentioned in the will, a Deed of Assent (in the case of valid will) or a Vesting Deed (no valid will) must be prepared and signed by the Executors or Administrators of the estate of the deceased to transfer the interest in the property to the beneficiary. By virtue of the deed of assent or vesting deed, the beneficiary can then transfer his/her interest in the property to another person (the buyer).

This implies that when you want to acquire a property that was inherited by the seller, in terms of documentation, you need to request for more than a copy of the will. You need the seller to present you with a copy of letter of administrators, verifiable title you can search at the land registry that confirms his/her present ownership status on the property such as Deed of Assent earlier mentioned.

If the property is in possession of the family as a body, you need to get a memorandum of understanding or agreement to sell jointly signed by all the surviving children of the deceased, duly executed Power of Attorney, deed of conveyance/assignment signed by the family head and all other principal members of the family to confirm their consent to the disposition of the family property to you.

In a nutshell, buying an inherited property is a process that you'll need to involve a competent lawyer to work with your agent to avoid any future complications.

On a final note, buying an inherited property is not a big deal if you can take all necessary precautions and follow your lawyer's advices.

In case you have questions, additions, comments and observations regarding this topic, feel free to ask or comment for learned colleagues, experts and lawyers in this group to shed more light.

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