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Seller Died Halfway Through Buying House - Can I Rent It During Probate?
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This is misleading. As has been explained in previous posts
You say she has a husband who live overseas. Do I infer they were estranged?
Either way, he cannot legally let the property as it's not his (yet).
Moreover, if he's overseas, he'll need someone in the UK to act as an agent.
You don't want to be ring up someone in Moldova, or wherever he currently resides, if the roof falls in or the water tank bursts, etc.
.
* There is no will, therefore no 'Executer'
* There is no will, therefore someone has to apply to be the 'Administrator' of the deceased's Estate. Usually this is the nearest next of kin.
* it is likely (though we don't know for sure) that the husband has applied, or will apply, to be Administrator
* Once he has been appointed as Administrator, he can (indeed he must) manage the Estate. ie pay bills like insurance, pay debts, etc
* he must also collect in any money owed to the Estate eg dividends from investments, rent etc
* he can choose to rent out the property to earn additionalmoney for the Estate if he wishes, and provided it is in the best interests of the Estate and the ultimate Beneficiaries
* So yes - he can let the property.
* being overseas certainly complicates management of the Estate, and management of a let property, but does not make it impossible
* there are thousands of properties in the UK owned and let out by overseas landlords - their tenants do not usually have to "ring up someone in Moldova" they call the UK letting agent
* providing the husband can show he has been appointed as Administrator of the Estate, no letting agent will have any problem taking on the management of the letting.
However, whilst all the above is true, that does not mean the husband would choose to let the property. Nor does it mean you would be wise to take on the rental.0 -
This is misleading. As has been explained in previous posts
* There is no will, therefore no 'Executer'
I don't think I said there was, did I?
This is misleading. As has been explained in my previous post* So yes - he can let the property.
That's what I said, didn't I?* there are thousands of properties in the UK owned and let out by overseas landlords - their tenants do not usually have to "ring up someone in Moldova" they call the UK letting agent
Except those overseas letting such properties either own the property or have the permission of the owner to let it
Now that's quite a big proviso, don't you think?* providing the husband can show he has been appointed as Administrator of the Estate,
(and one on which your post assumes has been completed)0 -
Sigh!
Not even going to counter those comments. The OP and others can choose what to believe.0 -
The husband, of course, is quite free to change his mind in the future and market the house to the highest bidder at the time. Whatever informal agreement you have is not binding.No free lunch, and no free laptop
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OP, where would you like me to start?
Last year we exchanged on a house. Then the owner died before completion. It was a nightmare and took 11 months to sort out. We had sold our house and we decided to complete on that.
My story is here
My advice is to find a new place to buy0 -
The administrator of the estate could probably rent the house to you on behalf of the estate, but they would have to take on the all the legal responsibilities and obligations of a landlord. Is the husband administering the estate himself - and have you asked if he would be prepared to do it ?
If he has left things in the hands of a solicitor to handle everything, then I suspect there is no chance at all. But no harm in enquiring.
Solicitor executor of an estate we had dealings with were happy for us to do everything with a property, market it for sale and let it during the administration period they just signed the docs as needed.0 -
chronowerx_gt wrote: »Thanks for the reply. So just to clarify, since I have pretty much no idea with the legal terms and procedures surrounding this 'sale', the husband is actually applying for a grant of administration in order to be able to do anything with the house?
Or is he already classed as the administrator since he is the one dealing with the solicitors? In that case, if he is already administrator, he can rent the property to me can't he?
There is a bit of a catch 22 when there is no named executors to act as non executor powers come from the grant of administration.
You can't even start the process without making enquiries to fill in the IHT forms(estate inventory), that means whoever picks up the task to apply for the grant starts to do administrator duties and as there is no policing of the administration process they can act as if they were an executor till someone complains*.
This means in practice no one really cares what they do with the assets they already have control over, house** personal goods etc.
institutions that hold other assets will give out the information needed to get the grant and should not release funds till the grant is issued even then many institutions have policies that will release funds on an indemnity.
On the house front the husband could, not saying it is a good idea and most solicitors won't even go there***, exchange contract on a sale but would not be able to complete till they got the grant.
* NO ONE checks things administration done properly, Probate court just check you say you are who you are, HMRC only care about the finances/tax, most estates just get done assets colected and distributed, no one checks anything goes to the right people.
It is usually family/beneficiaries that raise issues and have to go to court themselves if administrators don't cooperate, if even the court of protection wash their hand of people once deceased unless there is an ongoing investigation(they won't retrospectively investigate financial abuse by a POA).
** when you have the keys and let people in, EA, builders, potential tenants etc. how many check you actually own the place.
I know when we started marketing a place the EA did no checks on who we were.
In this case the husband being overseas is a red herring, the key is they really should not do anything till there is a grant but in practice because no one cares or checks they(or someone appointed) could go ahead and market or let the property.
*** Anyone can contract to sell anything the problem starts when they can't complete the sale.
The classic example where this happens all the time is new build, people exchange contracts on just the promise a property will be built somewhere on a plot of land, and it can end up being not the one they signed up to.
***0 -
Complete, go into rented.
I am sitting in a single room in a short-term rental I found on spareroom, so I know what I'm talking about; I completed one week ago.
He could rent it to you .... that brings all sorts of issues and warnings from his legal side.
You sound like you "travel light" if you can move in with your parents, making a short-term stopgap more possible for you than somebody with loads of stuff, pets and houseplants.0 -
OP, where would you like me to start?
Last year we exchanged on a house. Then the owner died before completion. It was a nightmare and took 11 months to sort out. We had sold our house and we decided to complete on that.
My story is here
My advice is to find a new place to buy
I'm sure this is sound advice, based on bitter experience. Apart from anything else, the husband is under no obligation to continue with the sale his wife agreed. I'd look around for something else, whilst keeping an eye on what happens with this 'perfect ' house.
Your real decision is whether to sell and move into rented or to put your sale on hold for now. Most people would do the latter.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
PasturesNew wrote: »Complete, go into rented.
I am sitting in a single room in a short-term rental I found on spareroom, so I know what I'm talking about; I completed one week ago.
He could rent it to you .... that brings all sorts of issues and warnings from his legal side.
You sound like you "travel light" if you can move in with your parents, making a short-term stopgap more possible for you than somebody with loads of stuff, pets and houseplants.
Going Short on housing, as you have done, is the sort of trading that City bankers do with other people's money. It's rather unusual for private individuals to speculate in that way. Whilst it's apparently working for you, other people may well think it's too risky.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0
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