Inherited property help please

[unluckymagpie]

hoping someone could please advice or share their similar experiences if possible.

My husband and his sister inherited a property. Probate is finalised and sorted and there is a will. They both have 50% value each but there wasn’t a transfer of ownership to the executors.

His sister (my sil) wants to buy my husband out and a price was agreed.
we are also buying a house with some and using my husbands share as the deposit. We are at enquiries stage and due to exchange end of May. Our mortgage offer expires in July. And I feel panicked as we have already spent so much on fees surveyors and solicitors. We have children with SEN so a lot goes into preparations too and we will be going to a 3 bedroom renting to 4 bedroom (we have 4 children). It’s highly unlikely we will find a similar property and unlikely we can afford to try again…. In essence it’s a one chance time thing.

we are 5 weeks away from exchange date and although I could delay alittle abit we may lose the sale as buyers wish for a fast one.

due to shitty communications between the two siblings I have since found that her mortgage application hasn’t been summit for the inherited property as they are saying the deeds need to have a transfer of ownership to the beneficiaries (my sil and husband) her solicitor put an application in to land registry and they have acknowledged this but without that deed the broker won’t put the application in….

have i lost this sale? I can’t see anyway round this? I have tried asking it maybe worth trying another broker to see if a better mortgage company maybe will to accept will probate and the application submit to she can at least get an offer of a mortgage?

I feel so panicked now and sad… I didn’t dare we would have ‘our’ house til we had our own mortgage offer and now we are at enquiries stage… I am fully invested. Moving would massively improve the quality of life we currently have.

hoping someone has been through something similar or has advice to give? Or I just need to accept house ownership is for us?
its so sad as we saw this house two years ago and had offer accepted to buy and at that time we could get the mortgage so lost the sale. We put the work in and it happens this went back up for sale and they again accepted. It’s all going smoothly and has felt meant to be til now.

I don’t know how long probate took or how much time has elapsed since probate was granted but in this situation (I went through the same but we were buying from my sister) we made it very clear to the solicitor that it must be expedited as a sale was dependant on the names on the deeds. I can’t remember how long it took but it was very quick.

I think when sales may break down due to land registry delays they do tend to prioritise. If you can get evidence it has been expedited and the sister will be buying as soon as it is through, is there any way you could get a bridging loan for the money until she gets the mortgage? Perhaps something legal in writing like a contract saying they guarantee to buy you DH’s share when it is in the joint names? I don’t know if that would work but if you can try and present something to your solicitor making it clear what it is you want and the timescale you need it done by.

If they can’t you will know quickly but it would be better knowing you had tried than realising afterwards it was something you could have asked about. Good luck with it all.

Land Registry will expedite applications if provided with evidence this is necessary, such has holding up other transactions. They usually look at expedite requests within 24/48 hours and in my experience applications are generally completed within a week/10 days, but this does depend on if there are any queries/requisitions raised. Hope it all comes together for you!

I am told this was requested to be expedited months ago? But the land registry still says pending?

Who told you that it was expedited eg solicitor and can you go back to them?

"due to shitty communications between the two siblings I have since found that her mortgage application hasn’t been summit for the inherited property as they are saying the deeds need to have a transfer of ownership to the beneficiaries (my sil and husband) her solicitor put an application in to land registry and they have acknowledged this but without that deed the broker won’t put the application in…."

I have just been through probate for my parents house. As annoying as it is, until the transfer of ownership happens neither of the siblings have a property to get a mortgage for or sell. The Land Registry will take weeks or months, until this happens it isn't your property so you can't sell it. I'm sorry if this wasn't made clear to you, but until that happens those funds aren't yours, and so you can't get a mortgage on it or sell it. If you need those funds to buy a new home, I'd wait until everything comes through until you look for new housing.

my sister in law was told by her solicitor

We weren’t told about the name on deeds. We was lead to believe the probate and will was enough. It’s not being sold on market it’s a private sale.
it doesn’t help us with this current situation as now a lot of money has already been spent and if the sale fulls through of our house we can’t start again as there isn’t enough.

Your DH needs to check with the solicitors who did the application of behalf of sister and himself that they have specifically done an expedite request. Land Registry would need evidence of sister’s intention to buy her brother’s half share and that then holding up your purchase transaction thereafter. A letter from the sister’s solicitor confirming they are instructed and/or mortgage broker/lender with requirements may be enough, plus a copy of the estate agent notification of sale on your purchase. All this would have had to be submitted when expedite requested. Land Registry confirm very quickly if expedite request has been approved or not, usually within 24/48 hours.

It’s worth a try anyway. Land Registry will need an explanation of the intended transactions and the financial hardship this could potentially cause you if the registration isn’t expedited.

In certain circumstances it is legal to sell a property on behalf of another person. It is not legal to take a mortgage out on someone else's property. In a probate situation, it is legal to sell the house on behalf of the deceased. One of the things that probate allows you to do is sell the house. However it is illegal to take out a mortgage on a property in probate because it isn't yours. (I tried!) So you will need ownership to fully transfer before you can have a mortgage. I imagine that you wouldn't have been told this unless the solicitor knew that you wanted to take out mortgage. So you won't be able to take out the mortgage until the transfer of ownership is complete. If you need to sell the property without transfer of ownership e.g. because siblings are collectively selling, you will need to make the sale and have the actual money so that you can declare to the mortgage company exactly what your share is, before you take out a mortgage on a new place.

See my longer explanation above. I'm sorry you weren't told right, but that doesn't make it legal or possible to sell the house until it is yours.

How did you get on with the land registry @unluckymagpie?