Is SIX months and still no completion date-is this too long ?

Yorkie1

Yes, the solicitors may be acting too slowly and do appear to be fairly uncommunicative.

But neither you nor the seller are in a position to provide ultimatums about when the legal process must be concluded, as if there are legal steps outstanding - which it appear there are - they may have no control over them.

For example, a tree order is likely to come from the council - a third party whose speed is not within either's control. Or HMRC as previously mentioned.

With a probate sale, the buyer / solicitor are even more impotent as regards the power balance than they are in standard sales.

If you're not happy with your current solicitor then you can always consider changing to a different one. But that will cause extra delay, and extra expense.

If you're on a fixed fee then in my view it is unreasonable to expect frequent updates of 'no update, we are waiting for a response' from your solicitor - each letter takes time to write and takes the solicitor away from other files which demand immediate action.

Tim_Bisley

Again - they aren't working in a vacuum!! You shouldn't have to be pushing them, but it sounds like you need to be calling them every day and asking what they are doing. Be a pain in the !!!! - it's your money!!

Who recommended these solicitors? Too late now, but they sound terrible.

You need to ask what is outstanding. It's a simple question. Is the financial side ready?

olbas_oil

At a guess, the current delay is caused by the Council failing to send through a response to the question 'Are there any trees on the property subject to a tree protection order'?


If that is correct, then ask yourself
a) Are there actually any trees on/near the property. If not then tell your solicitor to tell their solicitor omit that stage.
b) If there are, then do you care if there is a TPO? (you'd need to ask permission to prune- and won't be allowed to remove it)
c) Consider going directly to the council and ask to check the plans yourself.


It's not really anything that should cause a massive delay. Sorted by lunchtime?

Thrugelmir

Tim_Bisley wrote: »

Again - they aren't working in a vacuum!! You shouldn't have to be pushing them, but it sounds like you need to be calling them every day and asking what they are doing. Be a pain in the !!!! - it's your money!!

Time is money. If that was the service provided the bills would rise through the roof.