Seller passing away after exchange of contracts

Thrugelmir

Renegadecrab said:

I am buying a house currently and very close to exchange, the brother of the owner informed me the owner is in very ill health and may not last very long. I want to push for exchange as I was already planning but they live 4 hours away and the house needs emptying so completion during COVID is an issue potentially. Maybe they are at tourneys rather than executors a that’s an error on my part but I think most of you got what I meant.

I am going to try and exchange and complete before she passes to avoid this but it sounds like if I can at least exchange with delayed completion and she passes that I could ask that they seek expedited probate to minimise the delay...

Exchange and complete on the same day. Leave no time window open. 

GDB2222

I think @Renegadecrab could end up with a cost-free option if he exchanges now, with completion after the owner dies. It will take the executors several months to get probate. If, during that time, prices have obviously dropped and he wants to back out of the contract: he just serves a completion notice, the executors are unable to comply within the two weeks, and he rescinds the contract. 

I guess that's a bit sophisticated to be practical, but it's theoretically a valuable option.

SDLT_Geek

Have the owner appoint a second trustee of the legal estate so that if the owner dies the trustee can sell under the survivorship principle?

AnotherJoe

Renegadecrab said:

I am buying a house currently and very close to exchange, the brother of the owner informed me the owner is in very ill health and may not last very long. I want to push for exchange as I was already planning but they live 4 hours away and the house needs emptying so completion during COVID is an issue potentially. Maybe they are at tourneys rather than executors a that’s an error on my part but I think most of you got what I meant.

I am going to try and exchange and complete before she passes to avoid this but it sounds like if I can at least exchange with delayed completion and she passes that I could ask that they seek expedited probate to minimise the delay...

Youd be better advised to do same day exchange/completion and look for creative ways for house clearance to occur. 

Expedited probate could still mean many months. Before probate theres asset registration (name not quite right) that alone could take weeks to months and then once youve submitted that (I did this for my mum) they can take weeks to get back (thats normal, what about now???? ) and say you are OK to get on with probate which itself can take months.

So do not think expedited probate is a silver bullet it wont be.

Are you selling a house, will you have to move out of your current one?

fred246

I had to get probate done really quickly for a house sale. The probate office were excellent and did it immediately on receipt of the forms. You had to tell them of course and they looked out for the forms. The solicitors were really funny. They obviosuly thought I was going to let them do probate and charge a fortune. I asked the solicitors how long it would take. "we've no idea". "Oh I thought you would know because you are solicitors." "well we know it would be done immediately if we did it but you will probably get it all wrong and have to do it again". I had done it before and it's only filling a form in so it was no problem.

Renegadecrab

Sorry for the delay in responding and thank you all for the advice.

Unfortunately, the seller has passed away over the weekend so as we didn't exchange we will need to wait for the grant of probate, very frustrating as who knows when this might happen and really scuppers our plans.

I guess its a wait and see and hope/trust the owners submit everything in a timely fashion.

Thrugelmir

fred246 said:

I had done it before and it's only filling a form in so it was no problem.

Sometimes it can involve a lot of form filling and organising/collating other information. As well as dealing with various departments of the HMRC. 

GDB2222

Renegadecrab said:

Sorry for the delay in responding and thank you all for the advice.

Unfortunately, the seller has passed away over the weekend so as we didn't exchange we will need to wait for the grant of probate, very frustrating as who knows when this might happen and really scuppers our plans.

I guess its a wait and see and hope/trust the owners submit everything in a timely fashion.

I don't think I'd wait and see. The executors are in no way bound by the original agreement, and an awful lot can happen to prices in the 6 months it typically takes to get probate. 

I'd put this deal on the back burner for now, and start looking around again.  If it works out after probatee, that's great, but they can hardly expect you to sit doing nothing for 6 months.

AnotherJoe

Renegadecrab said:

Sorry for the delay in responding and thank you all for the advice.

Unfortunately, the seller has passed away over the weekend so as we didn't exchange we will need to wait for the grant of probate, very frustrating as who knows when this might happen and really scuppers our plans.

I guess its a wait and see and hope/trust the owners submit everything in a timely fashion.

Best case 3 months. More realistic 6-12 months. Worst possible, years. Good luck. 

blue_max_3

You may find that you would have paid rather more than it would be in six months time. Perhaps consider it a blessing and put it behind you. Nothing to stop you continuing looking and review when/if they get back to you. Your mortgage offer may have expired, so perfectly reasonable to get a fresh valuation. You may be pleasantly surprised if you have first refusal too.