Probate Advice

[Southerner88]

We are in the process of purchasing a probate property, everything is in place & ready to go we are literally just waiting on probate to come through before we can exchange and complete.

Our seller first applied for probate back on the 25th of feb this year and we are still waiting!

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge with property probate, how long does it normally take? Is there anything that can be done to expedite/speed it up? Is there a reason why it’s taking so long.

Any help/advice/info would be greatly appreciated!

Watching with interest as we are in the same position!

It can take a while as all the forms needs to be checked and any IHT paid or arrangements made. Very straightforward applications take 3 to 5 weeks but it can take a lot longer. Unfortunately, the problem isn't that it's taking an unusual length of time rather that the application probably didn't go in much before your offer was accepted and the agents have possibly glossed over how long the process is.

If it's not too complicated, hopefully it will be through reasonably soon.

So much misunderstanding about probate.
The person that applies for it can get the letter of authority within a few weeks, that just allows them to deal with the estate. but it really depends what else is in the estate. There could be a lot of things to organise, insurance, property, bank accounts, credit cards

It really depends on the complexity of the estate. Could your solicitor make some enquiries about this? The executors should at least be able to say whether or not everything is in place, or whether there are complications that may take time (like iht).
We sold my parents house (we were the executors) and had to make it clear that it was subject to probate to potential purchasers, like your sellers have. Unfortunately, the estate was very complicated and we didn't get probate for 12 months. On the other hand, my fil bought an over 60's flat and his solicitor discovered that probate hadn't been applied for on behalf of the previous deceased owner, but they (the seller's executors) applied for it and got it within four weeks.
Probate can be just as convoluted as conveyancing.

So if they've made the application and it's taken this long it's a full application not an excepted estate- and they'll be waiting for HMRC.

With the probate fee faff they are working on 21 days, assuming all tax paid. Then 14 days for the probate registry to do their bit

I saw a solicitor this week about getting probate sorted so I can sell my mums property. I was told it takes 2-3 months from start to finish with the possibility of it taking a bit longer at the moment as the government said they were going to raise the probate admin fees so everyone rushed to get their application in so there is a backlog.

If you’re talking the whole probate case ours took over six months...

It took about 6 weeks to get probate for my MIL'S estate, that's from sending off the completed forms.

Hello, agent here with lots of experience in this.
The average in the U.K. is 12-16 weeks. Some will fly through in 3-5 weeks and others can take over 6 months.
The majority of people complete the probate period in around the same time as the sales process would normally take (again 12 weeks being pretty average) but again it completely depends on the individual details of each situation.
There is nothing you or your agents can do about it.

It took 6 weeks for probate on my FIL's estate to come through. The estate was very straightforward though - joint owner of a property, bank accounts and some shares.