Probate queries

[kirinm]

We are ‘buying’ a house and in the absence of anyone providing us with information I’ve been trying to work things out for myself. I say ‘buying’ but I’m not entirely convinced we will actually buy it as it’s been a nightmare so far.

We know that the owner of the house died nearly 2 years ago. We also know that a section 27 Trustee Act notice was placed in The Gazette on 19th March.

Research suggests that those notices can be placed before probate is granted but I don’t know how often that happens.

Two questions:

1. does anyone know if it’s common practice to place those notices before a grant of probate or whether it’s literally dependent on the solicitor choosing when to do it.
2. How long might probate take? Given the owner died nearly 2 years ago I’m hoping that whatever was going on to delay things are now resolved so it’s possible that they applied for probate at the same time as placing the notice.

The conduct of the seller’s conveyancer leaves a lot to be desired and my solicitor is obviously instructed to find out the answers to these questions. I just don’t know how long that will take and I’m going crazy in the meantime.

If you know the name and year of death of the owner, you can find out whether probate has been granted through a simple online search at Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales). Given that the owner of the house died 2 years ago, it would be surprising if probate has not already been obtained.

I search that pretty much everyday and it hasn’t found anything yet.

Have you tried asking the estate agent about this?

Yes. I’ve tried asking literally everyone about this on a frequent basis.

Foot down time. Contact seller and ask for proof in writing that they are legally able to sell the house NOW. If you aren't able to contact seller then say the same thing to the EA. Give them a week or whatever to produce this proof and if they faff then pull out.

I’ve done this. The agent says they told them when the house was valued (so Feb) that they’d applied for probate but I said I want an actual date with proof.

FWIW my husbands complicated estate was all settled including posting the notice within 6 months last year. Then the house was able to be ‘sold’ (transferred in essence) to me, this went through two months later. Effectively his estate sold me the house we lived in.

so yes, it should have all been done and dusted by now. Personally I would just walk away from this particular property in your shoes.

edit to add: application for probate to granting of probate was around three weeks.

We would if there was literally anything else to buy. As it is we are keeping an eye out (obsessing over rightmove multiple times a day) and viewing anything that comes on that fits the bill - which is not a lot.

Have you leaflet dropped the area you want to be in? Someone might just bite/need that nudge and decide to sell. Or could you move to a different area close by? Or just wait for something. It honestly doesn’t sound like you are going to get anywhere with this particular seller and property, other than getting an ulcer. The estate agent appears just as clueless. If this ever gets sorted, I would guess that it’ll be problem after problem trying to actually get the sale over the finish line. Sometimes it’s just not meant to be.