One of the sellers died before exchange

saabay

ognum wrote: »

Is that true, just a question, if the house isn't sold yet then surely they have a beneficiary interest in what happens to the house, they may want to keep it?

They might want to but, if you think about it, Mr C. is still alive and it was his home. It wouldn't be right for a third party to decide what happens to it. They could retain it by agreement but any property owner can force a sale anyway.


As you say they only have a beneficial interest so can't make decisions about how to deal with it. That remains rightly with the legal owner, in this case Mr C. He does though have a duty to another beneficiary to get the best price, etc.


I only know this because I used to have a job where I only dealt with probate sales and this came up a lot. Before I did the job I didn't have much of a clue about it.

k3lvc

Unlucky

We exchanged completed on a property for my MiL within an hour 4 weeks ago when the vendor was rushed into hospital and subsequently died later that evening. Property was already empty and our (local) solicitor got wind of her impending demise and moved heaven and earth to get everything done.

Without their assistance I suspect we may have walked away rather than risk the potential delays

Mrs_Packington

Thank you for all your responses.

When we first heard the news we asked Seller and family if they still wanted to sell the property, they were all certain of it, and will do everything they can to ensure we can complete in May.

saabay wrote: »

They won't need a grant of probate to complete the sale even if there were tenants in common. The legal estate (and therefore the power to deal with the property) rests with the survivor, in this case Mr. C. He will simply need to appoint another trustee in the transfer document to give a valid receipt.

As of this morning, the Seller's solicitor has advised the Seller to get a grant of probate (We don't know why), and he was told that this will take 2-3 weeks once paperwork has been submitted.

Seller has also emailed EA to say they will do their best. We appreciate their commitment given this is a difficult time for them, so we don't want to push, but we do need to complete in May.

nubbins

saabay wrote: »

They won't need a grant of probate to complete the sale even if there were tenants in common. The legal estate (and therefore the power to deal with the property) rests with the survivor, in this case Mr. C. He will simply need to appoint another trustee in the transfer document to give a valid receipt.


The legal estate is distinct from the equitable estate and the tenancy in common is only concerned with the equitable estate.


They may need a grant to deal with other things (such as the proceeds of the sale or other solely-owned assets) but not the property sale itself. All that is needed is the death certificate.


Unfortunately some property practitioners do not understand this very well.

Is this correct, we moved into a property, husband had died last year, wife still living in house (tennants in common), had to wait 8 weeks for grant of probate?

saabay

Yes, correct. Many conveyancers don't understand the implications of tenants in common and automatically think they need a grant to sell.


Until I did much more probate property work I thought the same too!


It's a question of getting past the restriction. Hopefully Land Registry Rep may confirm too.

Land_Registry

saabay is quite correct - the restriction on the title refers to a sole proprietor being able to give a valid receipt for capital monies so whilst the surviving owner cannot just sell on their own they can appoint someone else to act with them (often someone with a beneficial interest but it does not have to be so).

That enables the property (legal title) to be sold and any beneficial interest then clicks in over the proceeds of sale so if there was another beneficiary, other than the surviving owner, then that is where any issues arise.

From a legal ownership perspective, namely the registered title, we would not need probate to register such a Transfer (sale). Only the death certificate would be required to confirm the death.

I would suggest checking with the solicitor as to the reasons why probate has been suggested here as there may be other matters to deal with, such as the beneficial interests under any will/inheritance. However as it is not required to deal with the sale then it may be possible to keep them quite separate.

I would also add that experience suggests probate can often take nearer 6 weeks to complete but that is based solely on reading numerous threads on such matters.

Mrs_Packington

Hi Everyone, just a quick update.
We have completed this week. Probate was granted in less than 3 weeks, and we exchanged immediately after. Solicitors have decided that this was our "better" option (after they learned about the probate lead time).

Seller, EA and solicitors have all been fabulous and moved things forward very quickly for us.

Thank you saabay and Land Registry representative for your good advice, we learned something new

Thank you everyone for your comments!

Mrs P

King_Slayer

Mrs_Packington wrote: »

Hi Everyone, just a quick update.
We have completed this week. Probate was granted in less than 3 weeks, and we exchanged immediately after. Solicitors have decided that this was our "better" option (after they learned about the probate lead time).

Seller, EA and solicitors have all been fabulous and moved things forward very quickly for us.

Thank you saabay and Land Registry representative for your good advice, we learned something new

Thank you everyone for your comments!

Mrs P

Congratulations on completing Mrs P. Glad to hear that you got it sorted. Hope your move goes well and you settle nicely, into your new home. :T