Desperately need advice- sellors solicitors gone bust and probate void

njh82

and the saga continues!!

After giving an ultimatum of 'exchange within 2 weeks' or we are out. It turns out that the sellers solicitors have folded..the sellers were not even informed (if you believe that). So now we are in a situation where the probate has been filed for and is witht he registry office but the named seller (the solicitor) is moving t another firm and will not be a partner there..so the information on the form would be incorrect and thus invalid apparently!!

Total nightmare.. after three months of constant nagging to get information out of them they shut up shop!! They have told our solicitors they are going to advise the vendor to reapply for probate but god knows how long that will take...

SIgh :-(

emilia15

Why is the solicitor the 'named seller' on the probate form? Is the solicitor acting as power of attorney/personal representative for the deceased?

Surely if the vendor is the deceased person's personal representative, then their name would be on the probate form, and the solicitors folding would not mean anything? Or are things done differently if a solicitor handles the probate process on someone's behalf?

My partner was his father's personal representative when he passed away in early 2009. To my recollection, it took my partner around 6 weeks to be granted probate (starting with filling out the forms, sending it all off, going to the local court to swear his identity etc etc). There was property involved in it also.

Richard_Webster

Never mind about which solicitors did the work, who was it who actually applied for the probate? Those people will surely be the named executors and able to deal with the sale.

njh82

The sellers solicitor informed ours that the application for Probate which would give him authority to proceed with the sale is currently with the Probate office but the Probate will relate to the Partners in the firm and that firm has now ceased to exist. There was a proposal that they would be taken over by another firm but this has not taken place. He expects to move to another firm himself but, of course, he will no longer be in a capacity of a "Partner" and so the probate must be reapplied for--is this the case?

not_loaded

If the probate application is all done and dusted (presuming you’re not being deceived) then it’s an easy job to redo the application form in another name.

You’d just copy across all the financial info and re-submit it. 30 minutes work tops.

njh82

I guess if its a matter of copying it over it would still take a while to process? Would they need to go to the interview again as I assume the solicitor went and so if the seller re-applied in their own name they would need to go and sign things? Maybe not- sorry I know very little about this. I was tempted to call the probate advice line but figured that they prob couldn't help as its not my probate and I don't have all the details

emilia15

Probate can be a minefield, admittedly, but quite often it's very straighforward and a case of filling in the right form and signing it in the right place. (A simplistic reference, I know).

Have a look at this: http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/applications.htm

This highlights the process when a solicitor is involved and when they're not.

The seller (i.e. the personal representative of the deceased) would be the person who signed the probate form, therefore they would be the one who is granted probate.

The solicitor may have filled in the forms (i.e. financial details) and then sent all off to the probate office.

As far as I know, in my experience, a solicitor would not need to go to the probate office to sign anything. Looking at the above link, if all paperwork is with the probate office already, then it seems it's simply a case of waiting for the grant to be made and the paperwork to be sent out to the personal representative (your seller).

Only issue could be is that the grant would be sent to the solicitors. If they have folded, I guess there could be a delay in getting that paperwork sent out to their client (your seller).

Hope this is in some way helpful!

njh82

Hmm this gets stranger and stranger. Our solicitors said they called their solicitors and spoke with the person named as the 'seller' ..suggesting the seller on the probate is in fact one of the solicitors not the vendor we have been dealing with?

emilia15

Could it be that the solicitor is acting as a power of attorney for the vendor? I don't even know if that's possible Have you spoken to the vendor directly?

not_loaded

emilia15 wrote: »

Could it be that the solicitor is acting as a power of attorney for the vendor? I don't even know if that's possible Have you spoken to the vendor directly?

That is quite possible, and not unusual.

njh82 wrote: »

I guess if its a matter of copying it over it would still take a while to process? Would they need to go to the interview again as I assume the solicitor went and so if the seller re-applied in their own name they would need to go and sign things? Maybe not- sorry I know very little about this. I was tempted to call the probate advice line but figured that they prob couldn't help as its not my probate and I don't have all the details

Reprocessing, guess 3 to 4 weeks depending on how busy the particular probate office is.

Put it this way: IF the probate application is all done and dusted, then it’s an easy job to redo the application form in another name. It would just be a copy across. If they’re saying ‘oh dear, loads more work to be done unfortunately’ then the legwork HASN’T been done and the form HASN’T been filled in.

Google IHT205 Form and you’ll see the most complicated form. Just bear in mind it’s all the legwork to fill it in that takes the time.

Other info on the Probate Service and online forms:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/index.htm

Your worry though is whether you’re being told the truth…