Exchange on house before Probate granted?

getmore4less

Any one can create a contract to sell anything even things they don't own.

An executor(that means named in a will) have their powers from the will so are in a better position to go to contract, once they have the grant they can complete.

Being the right thing to do is case dependant, in many cases not needed if people just wait but there can be good reason to exchange.

each side of the transaction need to consider their own positions and that of the other side and decide if exchange is prudent.

The OP was asking what the risk were, not if it was possible(which it is).

As I have said before builders do this all the time.

They insist on exchange on the promise they might build you a house at some point in the future which they can change whenever they want.

As a purchaser I would be looking at a long stop in the contract with penalties should the deal fail to complete by a certain time.

Yorkshireman99

Fair comment!

PassingOutInTheParade

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

As it happens I do have personal experience of it and at the time I took proper legal advice from a solicitor who told me that no prudent person would do so. Hard to see that you were not asking legal advice since that was de facto exactly what you did as was my reply. You would do well to remember that people on here answer voluntarily and there is no need to be rude to them. If you are unhappy with advice your solicitor has given then perhaps you should consult another one.

'You would do well'............... thank you for that advice. I see from your previous posts, of which there are many, that you very often get abrupt with people who don't agree with you or accept what you are saying. Although, I must admit, the majority of the time you assume they have not sought prior legal advice for some reason.

To the other posters, thank you for offering an insight into how the process may or may not go. You have been most helpful, and I will conclude my input on thread here.

AnotherJoe

PassingOutInTheParade wrote: »

An executor's authority is granted by the will........yes, I have checked it is English Law not USA :-)

I simply asked if anyone had had any direct experience.
I wasn't asking for legal advice, or the opinions of people who don't have any experience in the matter.

Well, an open forum on the internet is hardly the best place to ask then !

Yorkshireman99

SevenOfNine wrote: »

As executors we've sold properties twice. Solicitors did not exchange until probates granted. Though buyers both cash & paperwork was ready.

YM99 I've received a PM from someone, have directed them to PM you as I'm about to get on a plane & you are most helpful ( though your typing skills sometimes leave a lot to be desired :rotfl: )

Nothing received but feel free to forward it. And yes my typing is rubbish! I do try to review and correct it. No hard feelings!

Tom99

Is there a fixed completion date in the contract? If not how is the completion date expressed?

PasturesNew

As said above .... when I was selling a house for mum I and the house owner were known to the solicitor, who had done the PoA for us and done dad's Will the previous month - and our conveyancer was at the same firm (to keep paperwork/ID easier). They knew the history of events and how we got to this point and what was going on. It'd have been possible for the buyer to have been mates with my solicitor and asked them over a beer "is this right/legal?" and my solicitor would've nodded and said "yes, I know the owner and this person and it's all going through and there are no problems that could possibly occur". Sometimes things are straight forward and honest ... and could be "done on a nod" like that - but, increasingly these days, people don't know each other from Adam and it could become very risky.

Solicitors are the only people who are backed by insurance sufficient to cover major problems... so if solicitors say it's OK, then only trust them as their name's on the paper trail and they'd have professional indemnity.

Margot123

OP, I sold a Probate property with what is known as a 'longstop' completion date but with a deadline set at 3 months from exchange of contracts dependent on obtaining Probate.

My buyers were happy with that as it was the house 'of their dreams'.

However there were issues with obtaining the Grant and it took over 8 months to complete. So, there can be unforseen problems.
Thankfully, the Grant came through within the 'longstop' time scale. Only just mind you, and it was a stressful wait for all parties.

LobsterMemory

I was told by my solicitor that as executor I could do everything up to exchange of contract before probate was granted.

Which I did.

Estate agents and conveyancing solicitor were keen to know whether there was likely to be a problem with the Grant. Don't think they would have been keen with an 8 month wait.

Estate agent said that it was preferable that probate went through before buyers were ready to exchange (maybe complete). In the end it was a few days after but everything went through OK