Not made aware property in probate, also advice needed on potential delay on probate

firefly2184

Hi All!

I need a little advice on where my partner and I stand with the property we are "supposed" to be purchasing.

I had enquired about this house at the beginning of this year and was told contracts were being exchanged later that same week; however the house was never taken off the market.

A couple of months ago I enquired again and we viewed the property that weekend and then put in an offer that was accepted.

The house has been on the market for 18 months, and had two price reductions in that time. I asked the EA what the reason was for the previous sale falling through and they said they did not know.

We paid for the valuation to be carried out and paid £150 on account to our solicitors so the searches could be started once they received the vendor's solicitor's paperwork.

This week I contacted our solicitor for an update to be informed they still had not received the paperwork from the vendor's solicitors (5 weeks from acceptance of offer) despite them chasing both the EA and solicitors.

I contacted the EA to chase myself and they in turn contacted the vendor and solicitor. Two days later I followed it up to be told by the EA that (direct quote) "as the property is under probate they cannot decide who is going to become the legal owner".

I assume from this that the EA knew the this was a probate property from the moment they began advertising it, and are under the impression that probate has not yet been granted. Our solicitor is now writing a very strongly worded letter to both EA and V.solicitor as this "potential" delay has only just been brought to light.

I am now assuming that this is most probably the reason the last sale fell through.

Could anybody please advise me on matters of probate, ie average length of time for obtaining probate; possible reasons for delaying/not obtaining probate.

Also, where we stand with the purchase, luckily we are not in a chain, nor have to vacate our current home, however this could not have been the case, we could have been in a chain and have lost a buyer ourselves. I am aware I will need to contact the mortgage company to ask for an extension on the offer, although at the moment I am totally unsure of how long to request (hopefully I should have more idea in the next few days once they receive our solicitor's letter).

I would also like to know if we can hold either the EA or vendor or vendor's solicitor accountable for the delay and costs/time/stress incurred (particularly the valuation if the vendor does not obtain probate)?

Many thanks in advance for your help.