Transfer of Ownership from a Deceased Estate

Whether you are an executor or a beneficiary in a person’s Will, there are some things you need to know. A beneficiary can be a person or an organisation. The beneficiary is someone who has been left something in an individual’s Will. There are various ways in which a person can transfer cars, property and assets from a deceased Estate.

How Cars Are Transferred?

During the transfer of car ownership to the beneficiary, one needs to provide a few documents to VicRoads. These include the Will and proof of the Executor’s identity along with a copy of the death certificate copy. Apart from this, the beneficiary will also have to fill out a transfer of registration from a deceased estate form. The completion of the form happens only when the person does the following:

• Prove or Show that there is no money owed on the car
• Show that the car has not been reported stolen by anyone.
• Show that the registration is up-to-date
• Organise a roadworthy certificate

How Real Estate Is Transferred?

To understand how to transfer real estate, we need to know if the property is held solely, jointly or as tenants in common:

• Solely – This is when the property is owned just by one person
• Jointly – Here, the property is owned by two people together where one person’s share of the property gets transferred to the other owner if the first owner dies. 
• Tenants in common – In this case, one or more persons own the property, but it doesn’t automatically get transferred to the other owner when one dies. 

Joint Owners with a Surviving Owner

When two people jointly own real estate and one dies, the surviving owner gets complete ownership of the property. Here, the surviving owner needs to lodge a surviving proprietor (owner) application. This application is lodged with the Land Registry Services office of Land Use Victoria. This application lets the land Registry Services know that one of the owners is deceased. The Land Registry services shall then transfer the property title into the other owner or surviving owner’s name. 

No Surviving Owners of Tenants in Common

If there are no surviving owners or tenants, then the real estate becomes part of the Estate. The Estate can either be transferred or divided according to the Will of the deceased. This division can occur if:

• The sole owner has deceased
• Both the joint owners have deceased
• The named property was owned as a tenants in common

Once the Executor has the grant of probate or letters of administration, this person is called the ‘legal personal representative.’ The legal personal representative holds the real estate until they distribute or sell it according to what is written in the will.