Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Transferring a property from the estate to a beneficiary is one of the final steps of estate administration. It requires a formal legal document — an assent — lodged with HM Land Registry. This is different from selling the property; no money changes hands. This guide explains the process using Land Registry form AS1. For the overall estate administration process, see our executor first steps guide.
An assent is a legal document by which a personal representative (executor or administrator) transfers title to a property to the person entitled under the will or intestacy rules. It "vests" the property in the beneficiary.
Unlike a sale, there is no consideration (money) paid. However, if the beneficiary is taking the property subject to a mortgage, they may need to assume the mortgage liability or the mortgage must be repaid from estate funds first.
The assent must be completed before the beneficiary can deal with the property (e.g. sell it, remortgage it, or let it). Without registration, the property legally remains in the name of the deceased and the executor remains responsible.
The process differs slightly depending on whether the property is registered or unregistered:
First, a jurisdiction point that the form name hides: AS1 is an HM Land Registry form, and HM Land Registry covers England and Wales only. Property in Scotland is registered with Registers of Scotland and property in Northern Ireland with Land Registry of Northern Ireland, and each has its own procedure for transferring a deceased owner's title. Nothing on this page about AS1, AP1 or the Land Registry fee scales applies to them.
To check whether the property is registered, use GOV.UK's search property information service. GOV.UK states it costs £7 to get a title register or a title plan online, and £11 per document for an official copy sent by post.
Form AS1, and HM Land Registry's own guidance on completing it, are published at GOV.UK. The form asks for:
To register the assent, send to HM Land Registry:
You do not need an SDLT return. HMRC's manual at SDLTM00570 confirms that the acquisition of property by someone in or towards satisfaction of their entitlement under a will or on an intestacy is exempt from stamp duty land tax under paragraph 3A of Schedule 3 to the Finance Act 2003, and HMRC lists transactions exempt under Schedule 3 as ones that do not need to be notified. The exemption is lost if the beneficiary gives consideration for the property beyond taking on debt already secured on it or an obligation to pay inheritance tax. Stamp duty land tax applies in England and Northern Ireland; Scotland has land and buildings transaction tax and Wales has land transaction tax.
A separate form RX1 is not needed for this. Where the property is going to two or more beneficiaries, the AS1 itself carries the declaration: panel 10 asks whether they are to hold as joint tenants, as tenants in common in equal shares, or on some other trust. HM Land Registry enters the appropriate Form A restriction on the register where the beneficiaries are not holding as joint tenants — and, according to its guidance on completing the form, will enter a Form A restriction by default if neither panel 10 nor a form JO is completed.
The Land Registry fee is assessed on the value of the property, less anything still outstanding on a continuing charge — so if the property has moved significantly in value since the date of death, the probate figure may no longer be the right one to give. This is a fee question only; there is no SDLT return to value the property for. For guidance on property valuation methodology, see our guide to valuing property for probate.
Section 62 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 provides that no chargeable gain accrues to the personal representatives when a legatee takes an asset from them, and that the legatee is treated as acquiring it on the same basis the personal representatives did — that is, at its market value at the date of death. So no capital gains tax arises on the assent itself, and the beneficiary's base cost is the probate value. Any gain or loss when the beneficiary later sells is calculated from that figure.
For the full estate administration process, see our estate administration checklist. For distributing the cash portions of the estate, see distributing cash to beneficiaries.
Related guides