If we sell privately do we still owe our Estate Agent?

[Freyfreysmum]

We have been offered a good amount from a family member for our house, so are planning on accepting. However, our house was on the market may-aug last year. If we sell privately now, is it likely that we may actually still owe our agent? Know often there are funny clauses linked to this, and whilst at work and unable to check our original contract I thought Id ask on here.
x FFM

Normally the contract says that you have to pay the agent if the person you sell to was first introduced to you during the period that the house was on the market with the agent, whether or not they came through the agent (or words to that effect). If it's been off the market for over ten months and the person you are selling to is a family member anyway then I can't imagine you'll owe the agent unless they have the world's best contract drafting team.

we only had to pay our estate agent if we sold our house within a stated 3-month period, which we did (yay) so we had to pay 1% (boo!).

In my view, your relative was known to you before marketing the property and the agent did not introduce them. It was also a year ago.

You owe nothing as it is like a stranger droppng a letter through our door next week asking if you are interested in selling and you accepting their offer. As long as they did not view the property last year and were not introduced by the agent - they are a private sale.

Mind you, it would be odd for someone to drop a letter through ABetaDad's door asking if Freyfreysmum is interested in selling... (unless Freyfreysmum is secretly ABetaMum)

What is even odder is I have never acually owned a house - yet still post on property market threads.