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Original poster

Does this sound fair? Probate

20 replies

noddyholder · 17/06/2010 17:47

We had an offer accepted on a house 4 weeks ago.It is an empty house major do er upper and we offered cash as all parties concerned were keen on it going through quickly.the guy selling it inherited it as his dad died.We are in rented atm and weren't actually looking for a big project but as we have until october here we thought we could do some work before moving in as it is not liveable.Phoned sols yeaterday as have heard nothing only to be told the seller is waiting for probate and it is like asking how long is a piece of string wrt timescales.I have said we need to complete by end of july which is 11 weeks from offer accepted and this will give us 2 months to do the basics before we move in.Is it normal to market a house before probate is granted?Should they have told us this when we offered?Estate agent today was talking about us extending our rental so he obviously knows this can take ages but we don't want to keep paying here AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

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Original poster

noddyholder · 17/06/2010 18:26

bump

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racmac · 17/06/2010 18:45

Yes this happened on the house we bought - they put it on the market and applied for probate at the same time - i think they put house on market day after she died

But everything else was done as normal and the probate came through before completion so it wasnt an issue.

It can take some time - depend on how complicated will etc is but ours was dealt with within weeks not months

rebl · 17/06/2010 19:43

Probate doesn't normally take months but it does depend on how complicated it is. I would though have expected them to tell you that they didn't have it yet because you offered making it clear that you wanted a fast completion.

Original poster

noddyholder · 17/06/2010 23:34

We are not sure what to do!We only went with a hge project as they wanted a quick sale and now this.We love the house and after years of moving want it as a hone BUT not prepared to do anything to get it

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narmada · 18/06/2010 13:56

How will you be fixed if you don't get the house? Will you still have somewhere to live and how inconvenient would it be to miss out on the house, really.

I have to say I would be extremely cross if I had been led to believe that the property was being sold with a short completion and the probate hadn't even gone through yet! presumably, you have already shelled out for the survey and other legal fees, etc?

If I were you and I had somewhere else suitable to live as a fallback, I would give the vendors a deadline and tell them in no uncertain terms that you need to exchange by then or you are out. And then ask for very regular updates on progress with the probate. They should have some idea how long it will take.

narmada · 18/06/2010 13:58

Sorry - I just saw that you've given them a deadline already. In which case, make it clear you will walk if it's not all through, and mean it!

Original poster

noddyholder · 18/06/2010 14:59

thanks narmada.I have told them this.They took our offer because it was cash and they wanted quick exchange.We could extend our rental here but I don't want to do that for this house as that would cost £££££ and we still need to renovate before we move in.

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NoseyNooNoo · 18/06/2010 15:47

I think you start each extra month's rent from the offer price.

Original poster

noddyholder · 18/06/2010 15:49

I might suggest that although can't see him doing it!

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ANTagony · 18/06/2010 15:54

Could you rent (house sit) the probate property?

Whilst you couldn't tackle any major jobs could you start on things like the garden and basic redecoration?

Solicitors could talk through practicalities.

I once sold a house with, I think it ended up, three months between exchange and completion because I wanted the buyers commitment but they had to wait for some inherited money to come through.

The problem with deadline is its completely out of the sellers control.

Do you know how complex the probate is?

LadyBiscuit · 18/06/2010 15:57

Do you know if the dad had a will? It took my friend nearly 8 months to sort out her dad's estate after he died intestate I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but you really need to know sooner rather than later I think

What a pita for you

Original poster

noddyholder · 18/06/2010 15:58

No I have no idea.The solicitor says if its straightforward it takes 2-3 weeks from filing the papers but if complicated who knows?We chose the house because it was empty and they wanted quick sale.It is not liveable atm.I will ask about renting it that could be a solution thanks

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alarkaspree · 18/06/2010 15:58

I'd be annoyed that they hadn't been upfront about the need for probate. But there's nothing the vendors can really do about how quickly it goes through. So if you're not prepared to wait I'd just withdraw your offer and look for something else.

Original poster

noddyholder · 18/06/2010 15:59

The dad died this year but his wife died 10 yrs ago and the house was still in joint names when he died.The man selling (the son)is the only child and only relative

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LadyBiscuit · 18/06/2010 16:14

I would speak to your solicitor and ask what happens if there isn't a will. My friend was also the only child but this was in Ireland and I don't know if things are different there

Original poster

noddyholder · 18/06/2010 16:16

Thanks everyone.My solicitor has sent an email to the sellers sol and asked for exact details and whether or not they feel they can meet our deadline.Otherwise back to the drawing board which isn't so bad as I have never seen so many houses for sale asthere are here atm

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narmada · 18/06/2010 16:24

OP, that sounds really sensible. The two solicitors should between them be able to come up with likely dates when the probate might go through, which would give you something to work with. If there are lots of others to choose from, that's great - things not so bad after all .

Original poster

noddyholder · 20/06/2010 13:02

Ok does this sound dodgy?In terms of timescales etc.Grant of probate forms have not even been sent yet and we are a month along.They will be sent next week but if there is no will it could take forever if it is very straightforward it could take 2 weeks.If it was straightforward surely they would have done it by now? Is it insensitive for us to ask what the situation is re will etc.If they send the forms to the probate office and it is a difficult case we are worried the sols and agent won't tell us and we will waste more time.We have to be out of the rental on 26 Sept and would only extend if we were buying somewhere cheap which would leave us the £ to pay a few months rent but this house is top budget plus renovation so couldn't afford more rent.What i really mean is should i pull out if the seller doesn't come clean

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lalalonglegs · 20/06/2010 15:37

noddy, this exact same thing happened with us. I was pregnant with second child and the sellers' solicitor demanded that we exchange by beginning of May (on March offer) which was fine with me as my ds was due middle of May. Middle of May came, ds arrived, their solicitor hadn't even sent mine any paperwork despite weeks of chasing. End of June, turns out he hasn't applied for probate. July, still nothing. I go to Italy for six weeks to stay with family so dh can pack up our house and move us in while we are away, get back beginning of September, still haven't exchanged because probate hasn't come through and now camping at our old house with our stuff in storage, sharing cutlery because dh packed everything. This was a real doer upper as well and I had hoped to have it partially sorted by the time I came back to London (had builders lined up) but we didn't even exchange until mid-September and we ended up living with the builders for months. Very grrrr experience.

I am sure that my sellers (siblings of the owner) were sincere and wanted to exchange as much as I did but their solicitor just seemed a twat and wasn't giving them any information and they seemed a bit naive about the whole process as well. My point is that (a) probate can drag on and (b) the seller may think he is coming clean but doesn't know any more about what is going on than you do. Keep an iron in the fire with this but, unless you adore it, be prepared to walk if their timetable can't match yours or they are not prepared to renegotiate on price.

(Exciting though, no? )

Original poster

noddyholder · 20/06/2010 15:53

lala I think they have been keeping quiet really.It has been 4 weeks and I only rang agent to catch up and he told me about probate then.I like the house a lot but not sure I love any house anymore have done so many.My dp is now looking for the forever home as he is 50 and for the 1st time I am going with him.We sold in feb and planned to buy somehwere smaller and not a wreck but as this was empty a bargain and a lovel;y road we decided we could do it.I am going to walk away if they don't tell us something this week Don't want to live in a wreck ever again tbh

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