First Time Buyer - Buying a Probate Property

claireylouise

Hello!

I know there are lots of threads about this but I have some specific questions...

Me and my partner have put an offer in on a house and it has been accepted. The house is being sold by the owners son (the owner passed away last year). He has applied for probate and will be going to court to swear the oath on the 7th April.

We are currently living in a rented flat and we have to give notice at the end of this month.

My questions are -

- Can we still proceed in the usual way (appoint solicitor, get survey done etc)
- Can we apply for a mortgage even though probate grant has not been issued yet?

As I said in the title we are both first time buyers and want to get the wheels in motion asap!

Thanks!

Claire

G_M

claireylouise wrote: »

........He has applied for probate and will be going to court to swear the oath on the 7th April.

We are currently living in a rented flat and we have to give notice at the end of this month.
Why?
If you're on a fixed term no notice is required.
If periodic, you can give notice a month later.

My questions are -

- Can we still proceed in the usual way (appoint solicitor, get survey done etc)
Yes, but bear in mind you will incur costs, and if Probate is delayed you will may wat to withdraw

- Can we apply for a mortgage even though probate grant has not been issued yet?
yes. but as above, ou mortgage offer will be time-limited and if probate is delayed....

As I said in the title we are both first time buyers and want to get the wheels in motion asap!

Thanks!

Claire

If you are confidant about the information you are receiving about the progress of Probate, then go for it.

claireylouise

Hi G_M, thanks for your reply.

In regards to the notice our tenancy agreement states -
'The tenant agrees to give the landlord at least 2 calender months notice in writing when the tenant wishes to end their tenancy provided always that such notice shall not expire earlier than the end of the fixed term' - our tenancy ends on the 31st May 2014.

My partners parents have offered us a room at their house if there is a gap between the tenancy ending and completion on this house so we are able to wait if there are any delays.

Thanks again for your help!

Claire

harrys_dad

If your fixed term tenancy ends on 31st May you do not have to give notice at all, you can just walk away at that time. Alternatively, you can move directly onto a statutory periodic tenancy when a minimum of one month's notice will be required (Making sure it covers a full rent period).

It is good practice however to keep the landlord informed of your intentions, but this is not a legal requirement.

jellie

claireylouise wrote: »

Hello!

I know there are lots of threads about this but I have some specific questions...

Me and my partner have put an offer in on a house and it has been accepted. The house is being sold by the owners son (the owner passed away last year). He has applied for probate and will be going to court to swear the oath on the 7th April.

We are currently living in a rented flat and we have to give notice at the end of this month.

My questions are -

- Can we still proceed in the usual way (appoint solicitor, get survey done etc)
- Can we apply for a mortgage even though probate grant has not been issued yet?

As I said in the title we are both first time buyers and want to get the wheels in motion asap!

Thanks!

Claire

Why has the son taken so long to apply for probate? When I was in the same position, probate had been applied for within a week of parent being deceased and granted about 10 days later. I went nowhere near a court either - all paperwork was done through solicitors.

da_rule

I would imagine the son is trying to deal with probate himself which has lead to the delay.

I would wait until the document is in the sons hand though before you do anything. As this is what gives him the authority to sell the property. I'm kind of surprised an estate agent let someone who didn't yet have legal authority to sell a house put it up for sale.

G_M

claireylouise wrote: »

Hi G_M, thanks for your reply.

In regards to the notice our tenancy agreement states -
'The tenant agrees to give the landlord at least 2 calender months notice in writing when the tenant wishes to end their tenancy provided always that such notice shall not expire earlier than the end of the fixed term' - our tenancy ends on the 31st May 2014.

My partners parents have offered us a room at their house if there is a gap between the tenancy ending and completion on this house so we are able to wait if there are any delays.

Thanks again for your help!

Claire

This may or may not be enforcible.

What kind of tenancy do you have? I assume 1) below but please confirm.

Is it
1) fixed term? what was the start date? what is the end date?
2) a Contractual Periodic Tenancy? ie it never had a fixed term but was a 'rolling' or 'monthly' tenacy from the very start?
3) a Statutory Periodic Tenancy? ie it started with a fixed term which has now finished, and became 'rolling' or 'monthly' at that point under statute law (Housing Act 1988)


If
1) NO notice is required (ignore the contract term you quoted). The tenancy has an end date, therefore on that date.... it ends!
2) Yes, you must give 2 months notice as described
3) NO. Statute (Housing Act 1988) defines the notice required which is NOT 2 months, it is one month (with some conditions).

dinosaur7

Hi,

I acted as executor selling my late mother's house and the estate agent advised me to put it on the market whilst I was still in the process of applying for probate - the agent's view seemed to be that this was quite normal. I handled the probate process myself and, so far as I can remember, it only took about 2 weeks from the swearing of the oath to the official grant coming through. In our case it didn't hold up the sale of the house at all, because it all came through rather quicker than we expected.

I do know that some probate registries take longer than others to process things but, if your seller has a date arranged for swearing the oath, I would have thought you should be able to get a good idea of how long it will take for the grant to arrive after this. If you can find out which probate registry they are using you can probably give them a call and find out how long it should take. Obviously there could always be a problem if, for some reason, the seller cannot keep the appointment to swear the oath but, that apart, I would think you should be able to get a reasonably reliable estimate of timescales. In my experience, it will probably be the solicitors and the drawn out process of conveyancing that will hold you up !!

getmore4less

da_rule wrote: »

I would imagine the son is trying to deal with probate himself which has lead to the delay.

I would wait until the document is in the sons hand though before you do anything. As this is what gives him the authority to sell the property. I'm kind of surprised an estate agent let someone who didn't yet have legal authority to sell a house put it up for sale.

Authority comes from the will the grant just confirms it

The only thing you can't do without the grant is complete allthough most solicitors would not recomend exchange.