Ask the Experts

THIS week’s experts are CHRIS HOLLOWAY, a chartered financial planner with Dennehy Weller & Co in Chislehurst, Kent; RICHARd PIPeR, a solicitor with Buss Murton, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent; and JASOn WItCOmbe, a director of Evolve Financial Planning in the City of London. Do you have a personal finance query? Write to: Ask the Experts, Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email experts@mailonsunday.co.uk. Please do not send original documents. R.P.replies: To transfer the land, a Grant of Probate of your father’s will must be obtained and a plan of the land sent to the Land Registry to Surrendering the bond might also trigger an extra income tax bill. S.K.writes: I have been left some land by my father. I wish to register this in my name but I cannot find any deeds. check if it is registered. If registered, the executor can simply complete a document to transfer the land, and all papers are lodged at the Land Registry with their form and fee.

If the land is unregistered, matters are more complex. You will have to show the Land Registry evidence of your father’s ownership. Personal papers, bank and any legal records will need checking for proof so that a ‘Statement of Truth’ can be made to support the application.

For help, go to landregistry.gov.uk. M.W.writes: I receive a pension of just over £60 a month from a company I worked at for only a couple of years. Can I take this as a one-off lump sum? J.W.replies: Under ‘trivial commutation’ rules, if the capital value of the pension that you wish to cash in, plus all other pensions that you are entitled to, is less than £18,000, the money can be taken as a lump sum after age 60.

The Pensions Advisory Service can give more information. Call 0845 601 2923 or visit pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk.

To get a definitive answer, I recommend that you write to the pension scheme in question.