Awaiting Grant of Propate

meole86

Can anybody give me any advice I have recently purchased a home with my partner and we are both expecting come june, I have signed the deedsand everything was running smoothly until I was told that the people on the other side had to apply for a Grant of Probabte as the lady who lived there previously passed away. I had originally planned to complete on the 1st of Feb but I am still waiting and havnt been given a date for completion. I have been able to take the keys and start propietary work to the house. So far I have just stripped wallpaper but I can't offically move in until completion. I am only allowed to do cosmetic work. It has crossed my mind if I am able to pull out at this stage as no contracts have been signed just the deeds. I am growing frustrated and have recently seen other propertys in the area that I like. Can anyone please give me any advice I am in N Ireland I would imagine the same thing applies to mainland UK.

QueenieJ

I thought that the sellers actually couldn't "sell" the house i.e. list it and get a sale agreed etc unless probate has been granted, although I'm not 100% on this. Have you asked your solicitor about it?

Personally I wouldn't be doing anything at all in the house until its completed and its actually mine as sellers can pull out at any time. I wouldn't waste my time doing up someone else's house. Was it explained by the EA at the time of viewing and putting the offer in that a grant of probate was needed? Who had put a date of 1st Feb for completion forward? Have you paid any deposits?

From what I've read, it can be a really lengthy process and personally I would start looking elsewhere, especially if it wasn't made clear at the beginning of the sale that this was all required (the grant of probate)

Where in NI is the house?

SmlSave

Probate can take 6 plus months if not longer.

It must work differently in N.Ireland - you're not allowed in the house till completion in England

QueenieJ

SmlSave wrote: »

Probate can take 6 plus months if not longer.

It must work differently in N.Ireland - you're not allowed in the house till completion in England

I think its the same in NI, this sounds like an agreement thats been made between the seller and OP as don't think this should really happen....strange though :think:

meole86

thank you for your replies, the EA did not state this when on viewing nor did they state this when I submitted my offer. I was only informed of this when my solicitor told me that they would not meet the competition date that he had put forward because they had only just applied for the Grant of Propate.

So I waited not knowing how long this would take as I am a first time buyer and didn't know such thing existed to be honest.

The house is in Lurgan, Craigavon I haven't paid any deposit money yet, but as I said my partner is expecting in the next few months and they offered me the keys to go in and start work I accepted but now I regret doing that as I'm not sure how long this may take and need somewhere to live in the next few months. I am only at the stripping wallpaper stage at the moment but feel like if I wanted to pull out I couldn't because I have started work on the house. Not sure where I stand with this as I threatened to pull out to the EA in the hope that it would hurry the process up but it doesn't seem to have mattered and the EA told me I couldn't as a legal agreement was in place despite no contracts being signed.

davidmcn

meole86 wrote: »

I threatened to pull out to the EA in the hope that it would hurry the process up but it doesn't seem to have mattered and the EA told me I couldn't as a legal agreement was in place despite no contracts being signed.

You're paying your solicitor to give you advice about this sort of thing. The EA is talking nonsense, and if you do want to threaten to pull out, do it via the lawyers.

And all your wallpaper-stripping may be just for the sellers' benefit if the transaction doesn't go ahead. I hope your solicitor didn't advise you it was a good idea to start work.

davidmcn

QueenieJ wrote: »

I thought that the sellers actually couldn't "sell" the house i.e. list it and get a sale agreed etc unless probate has been granted

No reason why the executors can't start marketing the property before probate is granted, but they can't do anything contractual.

QueenieJ

I would get some advice from your solicitor about whether theres any legal agreement in place. I assume that your only legally bound to go ahead with the sale when contracts have been exchanged (doesn't sound like they have) so I can't see what would be in place to make you unable to walk away. The only money you'll probably be out is solicitors fees.

As SmlSave said, it can take months so its upto you if you're prepared to wait that long or not, although you'll probably have to find somewhere temporary to live while waiting on it going through.

QueenieJ

davidmcn wrote: »

No reason why the executors can't start marketing the property before probate is granted, but they can't do anything contractual.

Thanks for clearing that up, I always wondered to what degree could they "sell" if it hadn't been granted yet.

jellie

When I sold my mum's property, the EA wouldn't take it on until they had seen the Grant of Probate. Understandable - why should they do a lot of work only to find out I wasn't the person who was entitled to sell it.

meole86

Thanks no contracts have been signed, I only signed the deeds, does it matter that I have carried out work on the house? this is the only thing doubting my opportunity to walk away. Ibwould be happy to sit and wait for the probate but time is against us and I want a home for my baby when it arrives.