My sister wants to move into my fathers house.... but hasn't put her house up for sale

Flugelhorn

seems like the woman wanting to buy the house is actually no relative of the deceased (daughter-in-law's sister) , I think the executor should just put the property on the market and her sister can offer is she wishes.

xylophone

It goes without saying that until the house sale is complete we cannot get our share of the inheritance, neither can any of his grandchildren. We are approaching retirement and want to pay off our mortgage and the children are desperately saving to buy their first homes and their share of the inheritance would help enormously. 
Does anyone have any ideas how we may encourage her and her husband to actually start the process of selling their house without getting legal or nasty?

Your wife (Exor) says to  her sister,

"Mary Jane, you were saying that you wanted to buy  Jim's Dad's property and I  accepted your offer but this was on the understanding that you would put your own house on the market within a few weeks and  sell within a reasonable time.

  Jim and I would like to be free of the emotional burden of the property and  I would like to be free of the responsibility of administering the estate.

 We are approaching retirement and want to pay off our mortgage and   Philip, Jane and Tom  are desperately saving to buy their first homes and their share of the inheritance would help enormously. 

Apart from that, the estate is having to bear the cost of maintaining and insuring  an empty house.

If you get your house  up for sale by mid January I am happy to give you a couple of months to sell it and buy Jim's Dad's house.

If not, then I'll place the property with an estate agent......"  or words to that effect....

theoretica

A year from death to sort out the estate is sometimes quoted and might be worth invoking here.   If you wife says she wants to finalise the estate by then and will sister be able to.  It would remind the sister how long this has been going on at least.

Sea_Shell

Whatever you do, don't let her move in first, with a "I'll pay you when I've sold mine" promise.

Don't fall for the "at least that way it won't be unoccupied and we can keep an eye on it".

We've read those stories before, they don't end well.

theoretica

Also, the executor has a legal duty to act in the beneficiaries best interests - which will include timing of the sale and price accepted.  So she could point out her hands are tied and it is not she, as a sister, but the legal entity of the executor who needs to sell soon and for market value.

SevenOfNine

You don't have to get nasty, but your wife should start to get firm & professional.

Presume your wife has completed the probate process? If not I'm surprised, if so delays by the 'purchasing' sister must be costing the estate money. Council tax is payable 6 months from the date of the Grant issue, empty property insurance usually has to have the heating on 24x7 ( Churchills ask for no less than 10 degrees & we have lamps in 2 rooms on timers, but it's hard to disguise an empty property), & it must be checked weekly. 

There must have been valuations done for the HMRC forms, the sister needs to be told that the house had to go on the market & for the best price, choose your deadline & remember she's had long enough already, so don't give her too much longer......& carry it through, put it on the market.

I imagine the intention was to save estate agent fees with a private sale, but as Executrix your wife has a responsibility to all the beneficiaries, though her sister probably is one, this hanging on with feeble excuses has to stop. Further delays aren't fair on the rest of you.

troubleinparadise

I don’t understand why there is all this tiptoeing around trying not to cause offence.  The sister is the one creating a situation of conflict.   Be straight with her, and tell her to be business like or another serious buyer will be found on the open market.  She has an opportunity to be the first in the queue to buy a desirable property in a desirable location.  Put up or shut up, as they say in Bridge!

TBagpuss

I think the thing to do, as others have said, is to give sister a deadline.

Perhaps your wife can say something to her along the lines of:
"I know you want to be able to buy Dad's house. However, it's been 8 months so far, and I do need to finalise the estate, not least because it costs money to have the house unsold.
I'm going to get Dad's house ready for sale with a view to putting it on the market at the end of January. IF you still want the house, and are able to get yours marketed then obviously I am still open to you buying it, but I do have legal obligations as executor so I can't let it go unsold much longer - I know that a year from the death is generally considered normal to have completed everything so I am going to have to aim for that. 
I won't be actually instructing the estate agents until after Christmas but I know you wanted to look in to selling your house and buying dad's, so I wanted to give you a heads up so you can get that set up, if you still want to."

That way, she's acknowledging her sister's wish to buy the house, she is giving her specific notice and dates and  putting her on notice that you can't wait forever.
Obviously the timings are up to your wife, but I would be specific.

If she argues, at that point your wife may wish to point out that the house could have been on the market 6 months ago, and that she's effectively asking her sister and any other beneficiaries to wait indefinitely for her to get herself organized, and that isn't fair on them. Depending on the figures involved, it might be possible for her to remortgage her existing property to buy the other beneficiaries share of Dad's house, then she can take as long as she wants to sell her own 

Zecis

thank you all for your responses... they mostly align with my own. All of this is even more difficult because we cant do it face to face, thanks to them being in a Tier 1 area.
To avoid confusion, no one is living in the house now. My wife's sister lives in the same town, and we live 150 miles away, it is my wife who is the Executor - and desperate not to damage the relationship with her sister... .they are both mourning the loss of their mother (late last year), and their father early this year. So treading on eggshells without breaking any is the order of the day!!.

MovingForwards

Can always do a zoom call, facetime, WhatsApp Skype and loads of other different video conferencing facilities are available for free. More personal than an email or regular phone call, also means the ball has started to roll as who knows what restrictions will come into place a few weeks after Christmas and people have got together.