Probate and selling an inherited house advice please

tootsmyboots

Hi - I'm a new poster. I have recently inherited a house and my FIL is dealing with all things financial for me. He is working so hard for me that I don't like to bother him about every little thing. He mentioned that he suspects we can put the house on the market before probate is granted, but cannot exhange and complete on a sale until probate is granted and the deeds are in my name.

Is this correct because I would like to get it on the market as soon as possible due to continued falling house prices?

I must add I would much much much (times infinity) rather the person who has died was still here and that I was not in this position at all. However I know that they would want me to provide for my family as best I can, so I am trying to focus on the practicalities of the matter. If I have to wait until probate is granted before marketing I will indeed follow this. I should add this is a straight forward will as I am the sole executor and recipient of the estate.

Many thanks in anticipation.

TMB

theartfullodger

No offence to your FIL but... I'd 'umbly suggest you get a second opinion...

Have a chat with a solicitor.

I say this as the husband of a joint executor for my MiL's estate. Yup, there's a house. Wife & SiL are executors but I've been handling the paperwork & asking them to sign stuff as-and-when.

Whilst I trust myself I've been surprised, but probably shouldn't have been, how people emotionally involved in diffficult events (death) with just sign something without reading it... When there can be £100ks' involved...

I belive what FiL is saying is correct. I'm sure he's doing everything right.. But check. Would you buy a new tele without some sort of guarantee? Why sell a large asset without an independent check...

Any very sorry to hear of your loss.

Lodger

PS Apologies if I've offended anyone.

tootsmyboots

No offence taken at all. Thank you for responding to my first ever post on here. I know I cannot physically sell it until probate is granted and the deeds are in my name, I just wondered if it was right we could get it on the market sooner rather than later to see if there is any interest.

From what I have been told probate shouldnt take much longer to be granted (maybe 2 more months) and there are no Inheritance Tax issues involved in the estate.

From my own buying experience I know that buying a house takes time anyway and if it was marketed subject to exchange once probate was granted that we could get things moving. I will check again with FIL and he can look into asking for legal advice for me.

I will be instructing a solicitor once I am in a position to sell, but am not using solicitors for probate form as not needed in my situation.

Many thanks.

Suzy_M

Just a thought but putting the house on the market before probate is granted and the house is legally in your name may give the impression that you are desperate to sell. - i.e. Will accept whatever you are offered as opposed to a 'fair price'. Anyway just a thought - you may be happy with this but bare in mind 'probate valuations' are the lowest.

tootsmyboots

Thank you. I hadn't thought about it giving that impression. Which is not the case. I am not desperate as I already have a house that I live in. I just thought I could get it on while it is spring and a better time for people looking to move, rather than waiting til later in the year.

I am realistic about the market and am prepared to accept a reasonable offer given the current climate, but not a ridiculously low one. I do not see any reason to hang on to the house though, in the hope that prices may rise sometime soon, as I am sure many of us suspect they will not rise again for some time to come.

Many thanks for giving me this perspective.

Trollfever

I can only speak about the areas that I know, but..................

Prices are falling.
Unemployment is increasing.
The number of distressed sales in the pipeline is rising rapidly.

Get it on the market ASAP and...............
Good Luck,



.

Churchmouse

Hi toots!

My father died at Christmas, and I am his executor and joint inheritor. I didn't put the house for sale until I had probate. Like you I did that myself, simple estate, no inheritance tax, was all done in one month. You won't need to change the title to your name to sell. Your grant of probate is all you need to administer the estate.

I don't think it will necessarily give the wrong impression by marketing the house before probate is granted, as you say the market may begin to pick up now, as it normally does in Spring. I'm certainly hoping so. I'm willing to accept a fair but reasonable price, not going for "top dollar", but like you, I'm not prepared to "give away" what my parents worked hard for. You could phone a couple of agents and ask for advice before deciding. Good luck.

Rossa_3

One small point. You will need a Home Info Pack before you can market the house anyway which will take a few weeks. Also by the time you've tidied it up for sale, had a few agents around to give you a price etc another month or more will have passed before anything really starts to happen. Also depending on several factors it is taking a lot longer to sell houses in the current market so before you know it 6 months will have gone past, by which time you may have got probate through anyway.

Whatever you decide you will need a solicitor for the conveyancing and no doubt he/she will be able to advise you on the legal bits.

kunekune

As a purchaser, I would not make an offer on a house if probate hadn't been granted yet, there are too many uncertainties.

tootsmyboots

Thanks for all my replies. I will hold fire putting it on the market while probate is granted then (I dont anticipate it will take long now, like I said fairly simple and we have all the info ready to go on the form). In the meantime I will finish getting it prepared for sale and get all the HIP stuff sorted. I just wondered really. I would rather it was not mine to sell to be honest, but it is just no use to me as a home due to location and I do not want to let it out. I just wondered that was all. Will wait and report back how things go. Many thanks again.

clutton_2

i did the probate on my mothers estate, the same scenario as described here, and it took me a few hours.

if you sell the house on, then you need the house's maximum value on the probate form in order to reduce your capital gains liability