Help probate sale

avril123

Wonder if anybody can help please.

My daughter and her husband have exchanged on a property that was an executor sale. Completion is 29 July. Now old lady had dies between exchange and completion. Do we still complete on 29 July or do we have to wait for will? What happens if she does not have a will??

Any help would be gratefully received as solicitor says she has not seen this before. I know she is looking into it but I am worried sick as they have exchanged on their own house and have to be out on 29 July with a 4 month old baby.

Thanks

poppysocks1

There was a similar thread on here recently, I cant find it right now but have a look further back as there was some good advice. This situation does happen so although this solicitor hasnt seen this before there will be procedures to follow. Sorry not to be more helpful, and I have to rush to work now so dont have time to search for it but there are definately other threads on this topic. I am sure someone with more knowledge will be on shortly.

SailorSam

If you have exchanged does'nt that mean the old lady will have signed everything that is necessary. I'm sure the family and her executor will be even more keen than you that the sale goes ahead, so they want hold things up.

avril123

No she did not sign as she was in a nursing home. Her executor signed for her

00ec25

confused

if she was still alive in a nursing home then it was not her executor who signed, as an executor is the person who administers her will after death.

Do you rather mean she had a power of attorney in place and the person holding that power signed before her death.

If the latter is true, then the fact the lady died later on, but critically after EXCHANGE of contracts (you are certain they have physically exchanged?) means the sale cannot be stopped and her death (RIP) and any will is irrelevant.
The sale instructions and exchange took place when she was alive and therefore were legally at her request (albeit via her power of attorney)

mwahaha

It was thread 1773837(can't post links, post #12 is very useful) which had a similar situation a short while ago.

Presumably he exchanged using power of attorney, and will eventually be an executor. I'm not a lawyer but I believe the situation is this: on her death his power of attorney ceases, you'll probably have to wait for probate (where the will is proved valid and the executors appointed) to complete. Probate will take at least a couple of months, but you have a valid contract that her estate must honour and you can recover the costs of delayed completion (e.g. a few months rent + associated costs) or as post #12 mentions there's a possibility you can move in prior to completion.

Whether or not she has a will is irrelevant, that only affects the destination of the proceeds of the sale, the contract is valid regardless.

There will probably be some delay but ultimately they won't be financially out of pocket. At worst they'll have to rent somewhere until probate.

Her solicitor will have proper advice soon I'm sure, she may not have seen it before but evidently its not too rare.

WestonDave

If she exchanged via a lasting power of attorney then I can't see any reason why completion would be delayed - having exchanged contracts, "she" is obliged to complete on 29th otherwise interest will be payable on late completion at a fairly fierce rate (usually 4% over base I seem to recall). It is likely that the person exercising her power of attorney is also an executor of her will and again it is unlikely that someone organised enough to have a LPA would not have a will.

However there is another scenario. If she became incapable of managing her affairs without having created a LPA then she might have been taken under the powers of the court of protection who appoint an administrator of her affairs. That can be more complicated but even there I would imagine that to sell the house all the relevant hoops would have been jumped through to get to the exchange state and actually selling the house simplifies administration.

Either way I would be very surprised if there is anything to hold up completion, and hopefully in a day or two your solicitor will have checked this out and be able to confirm it. Contracts were exchanged with the intention of releasing the cash value of the property and her unfortunate death makes that no less desirable an outcome.

avril123

So sorry. I am very confused today. Yes she was a power of attorney and not executor. She signed contract as power of attorney.

Could you answer me one question please. Is it the case that my daughter and son-in-law will get the house even if there is a delay? I am scared that they will move out of their house and have nowhere to go.

Once again thanks for any help it is really appreciated.

00ec25

as long as the contracts have been physically exchanged (the physical aspect is critical) then your daughter will get the house

strictly speaking the relatives have from now until 29th July to clear their mothers house and your daughter is still legally allowed to complete on 29th, as it was a power of attorney then the subsequent death is irrelevant
as above if there is a delay then you could seek compensation/out of pocket costs. Alternatively, your daughter could use her own discretion to allow the relatives a bit of time to come to terms with the death and sort themselves out?

mwahaha

Yes if they've exchanged they'll get the house even if there's a delay.

Asumming you can't complete, the best solution all round it seems would be for them to move in on the 29th occupying under license (which it seems an executor can grant before probate), while the formal completion waits until probate.

avril123

Hi

Just a thank you to all who replied. I really appreciate it

Thanks once again

Avril