Probate: how long after assets being collected will it take for inheritance?

patience49

Whilst googling to find some information I stumbled across this forum, it has already answered some of my queries, but wonder if anyone can give me further advise.
My stepfather died in July 2016, I was in the dark regarding the executor of his will, eventually discovering that a solicitor was the executor. They have not been very forthcoming with information, only to say that I am a beneficiary. My stepfathers house was put on the market by the solicitors in January 2017; although I was not told that it had sold I believe that it did sell as it had a !!!8216;sold subject to contract!!!8217; sign on the house sale portals, and then around August/September it was removed from those portals. As suggested on this link I went to the GOV.UK site and found the date of probate was 5th February 2018.
Please excuse my ignorance, but what I am asking here is, how was the house sold before probate, and why would it have taken so long to have probate granted, also is the period mentioned in this thread of 6-9 months before beneficiaries are paid still from that probate date shown on GOV.UK in this case; if so its going to be over two years from his death, is this normal. I can!!!8217;t ask the solicitor any of these things as it takes two months for them to answer a simple email.

Yorkshireman99

patience49 wrote: »

Whilst googling to find some information I stumbled across this forum, it has already answered some of my queries, but wonder if anyone can give me further advise.
My stepfather died in July 2016, I was in the dark regarding the executor of his will, eventually discovering that a solicitor was the executor. They have not been very forthcoming with information, only to say that I am a beneficiary. My stepfathers house was put on the market by the solicitors in January 2017; although I was not told that it had sold I believe that it did sell as it had a !!!8216;sold subject to contract!!!8217; sign on the house sale portals, and then around August/September it was removed from those portals. As suggested on this link I went to the GOV.UK site and found the date of probate was 5th February 2018.
Please excuse my ignorance, but what I am asking here is, how was the house sold before probate, and why would it have taken so long to have probate granted, also is the period mentioned in this thread of 6-9 months before beneficiaries are paid still from that probate date shown on GOV.UK in this case; if so its going to be over two years from his death, is this normal. I can!!!8217;t ask the solicitor any of these things as it takes two months for them to answer a simple email.

Make an immediate complaint to the solicitor under their complaints procedure. This has to be done before you can take it to their regulator.

Linton

patience49 wrote: »

Whilst googling to find some information I stumbled across this forum, it has already answered some of my queries, but wonder if anyone can give me further advise.
My stepfather died in July 2016, I was in the dark regarding the executor of his will, eventually discovering that a solicitor was the executor. They have not been very forthcoming with information, only to say that I am a beneficiary. My stepfathers house was put on the market by the solicitors in January 2017; although I was not told that it had sold I believe that it did sell as it had a !!!8216;sold subject to contract!!!8217; sign on the house sale portals, and then around August/September it was removed from those portals. As suggested on this link I went to the GOV.UK site and found the date of probate was 5th February 2018.
Please excuse my ignorance, but what I am asking here is, how was the house sold before probate, and why would it have taken so long to have probate granted, also is the period mentioned in this thread of 6-9 months before beneficiaries are paid still from that probate date shown on GOV.UK in this case; if so its going to be over two years from his death, is this normal. I can!!!8217;t ask the solicitor any of these things as it takes two months for them to answer a simple email.

How do you know it was sold? SSTC just means that buyer and seller have agreed terms and that the sale is just awaiting completion of the legal side, which could include grant of probate. It is usual for advertising to be removed at the SSTC stage.

konark

18 months between death and grant of probate is highly irregular, and without some mitigating cause, is intolerable from a professional executor, although the fact that they take 2 months to answer an e-mail may tell you something about how quickly things move at that practice.

Houses can't be sold without probate so there was no sale prior to 5/2/18.The fact it took 18 months to sell the house can throw up CGT liabilities if house gained in value between death and sale. I don't know the complications but the primae facie evidence is that the solicitors have acted very slowly in settling the estate and you should certainly complain.

getmore4less

way too early to go piling in with a complaint you don't know enough about the circumstances of the estate or the property.

I would review the house situation in more detail, check the land reg site for sale details and look carefully at potential value.

You also need to look at who else was involved, typically solicitors would not get involved in the preparation of a house for a sale if there are relatives/beneficiaries, who are the other beneficiaries?


It can be a good idea to delay getting the grant until you have a buyer ready as this can save a lot of council tax.

Yorkshireman99

Far from it. The solicitor should have provided an explanation long ago. Unless the estate is complex then a year is more than enough time to have dealt with everything. The solicitor needs a good kick to get things done. A complaint is the most effective way to do this.

patience49

Thank you all for your help and advise; I did check the land registry today as was suggested and you are right it looks like the house hadn't sold last year when I thought it had, as there was no record of the sale, they must have just taken it off the portals. I emailed the solicitor in December asking for information, and sent a couple of emails since asking for a reply, I got an email from them this morning, one line saying I would receive full information later today; that never arrived. That has often happened they say they will get back to me later or tomorrow, and it never happens.
My stepfather had a nephew, who I never knew, he is a beneficiary and he is apparently next of kin, so maybe he is getting information from the solicitor, but I think I should also know whats going on, especially as it is all taking such a long time.
My stepfathers house was originally owned by him and my mother, who passed many years ago, then the house reverted to just his name.

jamie_tuskan

Hi ,

My father passed away last early last year and have just come round to sorting out his estate now. It seems he id not leave a will because he did not expect to die at such a young age however i applied for a probate application and filled everything out correctly ,if no one is trying to claim against this how long can probate take to payout?

TcpnT

Once probate is granted it's really down to you as the administrator. Depends what the estate consists of but if you want it sorted out quickly it's up to you to be organised and push everything through as fast as possible.

You would be better putting this in a new thread and specifying exactly what the estate consists of if you want a more specific answer.