Probate advice at the end of our tether

[probatepurchase]

We are the bottom house in a chain of 3 houses. The owner of the top of the chain has died in April 24, and so we are waiting for probate to be granted. Apparently it's with HMRC to wait for a code to be released and there is talk of an inheritance tax 'cheque'.

The information we have is from the lady we are buying from.

We are going to lose our buyer if we don't complete within 2-3 weeks.

Does anyone understand what the above means and, if our timescale of 2-3 weeks is realistic?

The length of time it takes for probate to be granted can vary very significantly. It took just over a month for probate to come through for my mum's estate at the end of 2022.

For those saying you can chase after 16 weeks - how? It took 20 weeks for them even to acknowledge receipt of the paperwork and only an email (no contact phone) to follow up! We put DFs house on the market before probate was granted thinking that it would speed through but it took forever! Luckily we have a short chain and hoping will complete 1 year almost to the day that DF died.

But it’s not you that’s liable, it’s the estate. And there are ways that payments can be suspended until the house is sold.

We applied for probate on 12th May and it was granted last week! Very straightforward estate however

Bloody hell Im still waiting just for the code , its been three months now , solicitor went on holiday for a month so its not being chased in that time 🙄

We didn't use a solicitor, just applied online ourselves! As I say it was a straightforward estate, just a small house (no inheritance tax) and some savings which we already had all the information for due to having power of attorney.

I was t going to but the IHT forms were a minefield and as I’m the only executor and family it was all a bit much so I employed a solicitor .. sadly I’m hearing that if you have to apply for a code that is causing long delays 😩 solicitor has advised me that probate may take up to two years as the HMRC code issuing is just delaying things and there aren’t the staff to deal with it

@ImFckingMattDamon if the estate had been below the IHT. Threshold then I’d have just done it online myself , it’s dads house which took it over

The code from HMRC is usually the quickest part. Couple of weeks.

3 months and still don’t have the code 🙈

Our code came very quickly. Its the rest of it thats taken over a year.

I’ve just spoken to my solicitors, it turns out they were told the code was sent on 18th June .. clearly it didn’t turn up . They were told it would be sent again last Friday .. still nothing .. so they’ll chase up next week if it hasn’t arrived . I’m so cross now as the probate application could have been in for a month

The house shouldn't really have got this far into the sale without probate being granted. IMHO anyway. I agree the house should not have been put on the ,market. It wasn't legally saleable.

The house was ALREADY on the market.

Try reading the OP's posts to stop yourself looking an idiot

We decided not to put FIL’s house for sale until we received Probate, as it isn’t fair to keep buyers waiting as you cannot possibly know how long it is going to take. Ours was straightforward no IHT to pay, it still took nearly 3 months.

My Mum had to move into a Care Home and I put the house on the market - four days later she died. I made sure that the Agents put on the Sale details that it was a Probate sale and there were no guarantees as to when completion would take place. I actually got Probate eight weeks after application, which I did myself.

I have heard so many horror stories about Probate taking months and I wonder if it is quicker if you do it yourself. The people I know who have used solicitors were waiting for months - have no idea if there is any connection but it does seem strange.

I feel for you OP it is a stressful enough situation without adding Probate into the mix.

@WhistPie then it should have been TAKEN OFF the market while probate is sorted. You are very rude.

Read the thread.

If a property has had an offer accepted then probate will be expedited.

Read the thread - this has been confirmed a few times.

I may come across as rude, it's in response to people who want to comment without having had the manners to read the thread.

Update - you were all right,

We have been misled and probate hasn't been applied for yet, lots of angry conversations with those above and below us in the chain.

Regardless, we are going to carry on, as our buyer has found a solution to rent week by week at a good price until completion.

I have had to have an ECG this week as I'm clearly stressed out, so I have to thank you all for being so informative and useful, as your words have helped the entire chain to make sense of what is going on, and therefore find a solution , which has saved the chain

Thank you

The house we are buying has gone through probate in a month, just heard back. Might give you some hope. It's so stressful isn't it.

Does your buyer understand they may be renting for another 9 months?

(That’s how long it took for my aunt).

Did they have IHT to deal with?

I had IHT 3 months to gather paperwork 16 weeks to probate beginning of the year

So we have an update. Prompted by this thread I nagged dh to chase the probate office yet again. This is the fourth time. They put him on hold for 26 minutes. When they came back to him they said they couldn’t find any record of the long conversation he had with them in May and could only see the chasing call he made in March. They then said he should now hear from them within 5 weeks since they’ve now nudged it on.

Ridiculous.

Unknown. The house is valued under 280k though , if that affects anything.