Proof probate applied for when buying a house

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

Can the solicitor ask to see proof that probate has been applied for when buying a probate property? Causing an issue in our chain, and no one is giving any quick responses. I thought MN wisdom might know

If probate has been granted it should be straightforward for them to give you / your solicitor a copy. When my Dad passed away we actually gave a copy to the estate agent so they could reassure would be buyers that this would not be an issue.

As far as I know, Grants of probate are public records and can be searched online for a small fee etc. You can find out from the property title register the name of the deceased owner I would imagine.

However, if they are dragging their heels it could be they have applied for probate and put the property on the market before its been granted. For me that would be a red flag as probate can take many many months and there is no way to predict when it will come through.

They can ask but they can’t insist. We’re supposed to trust the other solicitor.

Properties often get sold before probate is granted. It’s not a red flag at all.

Probate is taking ages to come through at the moment. We sent in the paperwork at the end of September knowing that 16 weeks is the target for our area so hoped to get it through by February, ready to get mums house on the market by April. We have just given the tenant notice to quit by the end of March when her lease ends. She has been aware since May when mum died that we were planning to sell the house, it was rented out at a lower than average rent deliberately as a short term let.

We have just heard that although the paperwork was posted by registered mail at end September, it was not registered as received by the probate office until 28th November - was it just sat in a pile of paperwork waiting to be sorted? Also told that in Greater Manchester, the 16 week deadline is not being met dues to excessive workload! So it’s likely that probate won’t be granted until April or May at the earliest.

Such delays might be happening in lots of house sales. Our solicitor has advised us not to put the house on the market for a while as it could cause delays. A buyers solicitor or estate agent are not able to contact the Probate office directly to check on progress, only our solicitor or the executors who applied are able to do that.

My son bought a house a few years ago and it took almost a year for the probate for the seller to go through, luckily he was a first time buyer so was happy to wait but even he was getting fed up by the end.

A property can't be 'sold' until probate has been granted - there is no legal basis on which the sale can complete.

Yes it can be marketed (by someone who has no legal basis to sell it) and yes an offer can be accepted (by someone who has no legal basis to sell it). And yes, everyone in a chain can wait for as long as it takes that someone to actually get the legal authority needed to actually sell it before they can all complete.

You get a reference from the probate service once the application is pending. So that could be given as evidence.

I was advised not to market my parents’ house until I had the grant of probate as it takes a while (6 months in my case) and ‘probate pending’ puts off most prospective buyers.

Without it how can they prove the sale is by the lawful owners?

If you know the name of the person who died, plus the date of death you can check the probate register to see whether it has been granted - you can do this online without paying a fee.

But I don't think you can monitor an application in progress.

If you are concerned about it then maybe your solicitor could ask the vendors solicitor for proof of application, but I doubt there is any way of making them do this.

You could of course issue a condition - that if you don't get some sort of proof within a defined timescale then you will pull out, but its worth considering they may call your bluff on that one (if you are bluffing).

Probate hasn't been granted - we know that. Long story short but the vendor was told probate granted back when their offer was made. We reached exhange last week to find out that not only had it not been granted, but it hadn't even been applied for. My vendor is willing to break the chain but wants proof that probate has actually been applied for before doing so.
@Ilovetocrochet same area - well, most likely. We are GM, the house they are buying is on the border of GM and Merseyside so I'm not sure what office it will be. Doesn't sound good either way though.

This is why it is a breach of the money laundering regulations to market a property that doesn't have a grant of probate.

Most estate agents appear quite willing to risk it though as they don't like losing business to competitors.

Seems weird how they would let it go all the way to exchange without notifying you, after all I would have thought that a large amount of their conveyancing costs would be tied up in preparing the contract.

Anyway, I understand why you want proof that it has at least been applied for.

And to be honest if I was the vendor I would understand why you wanted proof (its a reasonable request IMO) and would do whatever I could to demonstrate that it has been applied for, and there does not appear to be any significant barrier to being approved - it seems reasonable given the issues so far.

If they aren't willing to do this, then its got to make you suspicious of the current status...

My vendor didn't know. They were told probate granted already when they viewed and offered.
My solicitor told me before their solicitor even told them. No one can understsnd how it got this far. The estate is being dealt with by solicitors as the executors.
It is a ftb buying mine, I'm buying theirs and they are buying this probate property.
They obviously want reassurance that probate has now been applied for before they break the chain and go to rented.
And obviously I want to know that they can get proof to reassure them so that we can move. Sat here with 75% of my life in boxes and in a permanent state of panic and stress. I just want answers. We all do.

As PP says probate is taking ages, I am waiting for Letters of Administration which is similar to probate and was told 16 weeks now a further 8 weeks has been added on to that, fortunately there is no property or else I would be a bit bothered by it