Appointing a trustee

It may become necessary to sell that property if:

• Either the co-owner would like to move to an alternative property,
• or if the co-owner is deceased,
• or if it is necessary to sell the property for any other reason.

Trustees and sale of property

Where two or more individuals own a home or land together and one or more of those owners lack the capacity to manage their financial affairs, they will not be able to sign any legally binding documents in relation to that property unless they have an attorney to act on their behalf.

Owners are termed the ‘trustees’ of the land or house which they own and if that property needs to be sold, an application will need to be made to the Court of Protection requesting an order for another individual to take the place of the incapable trustee(s).

The individual appointed can then sign any necessary documents related to the property sale on behalf of the trustee who lacks capacity.

Where a deputy has already been appointed to manage the affairs of a person lacking capacity, if the incapable person owns property jointly with another person, a separate application will still need to be made to the Court for the deputy to be able to act in any sale of the property, as a trustee. This is because the roles of deputy and trustee are distinct from one another.

Choose Furley Page for advice about appointing a trustee

Our legal team is extremely experienced in making these types of applications to the Court of Protection.

We can work closely with our Residential Property team to make sure the sale of property or land is managed expertly and sensitively.

Contact Nicola August for further information.