Waiting for probate

Mildreds_Earrings

I have recently been told the beneficiaries applied for Probate in November 2020 and they put the house on the market at the same time. They accepted my offer in December. However, some six weeks since they accepted my offer, my Solicitor is still waiting for contract documents from the Vendor Solicitor 🙁

Vendor Solicitor say they cannot send the contract documents until Grant of Probate is received. I am a cash buyer so all I can do is wait.....I feel your pain 😕

Rae626

JGB1955 said:

10 days for me....(back in September) but I realise that's likely the best one can hope for.

That’s really good! The less stress for everyone the better. 

Rae626

Mildreds_Earrings said:

I have recently been told the beneficiaries applied for Probate in November 2020 and they put the house on the market at the same time. They accepted my offer in December. However, some six weeks since they accepted my offer, my Solicitor is still waiting for contract documents from the Vendor Solicitor 🙁

Vendor Solicitor say they cannot send the contract documents until Grant of Probate is received. I am a cash buyer so all I can do is wait.....I feel your pain 😕

Oh how frustrating! Luckily all my paperwork is sorted and I only need to sign a few things now, I’d almost prefer it if I needed to do something, the waiting is the hardest part! 

greatcrested

https://helpandadvice.co.uk/how-long-does-probate-take-in-the-uk/

GDB2222

OP did you say when the probate application was made?

Rae626

GDB2222 said:

OP did you say when the probate application was made?

I believe it was November, possibly towards the end of November. 

GDB2222

Rae626 said:

GDB2222 said:

OP did you say when the probate application was made?

I believe it was November, possibly towards the end of November. 

That’s really remarkably soon after the person died. When MIL died it was several months later that the probate application was done. Of course she was not in the middle of a property transaction.

Rae626

GDB2222 said:

Rae626 said:

GDB2222 said:

OP did you say when the probate application was made?

I believe it was November, possibly towards the end of November. 

That’s really remarkably soon after the person died. When MIL died it was several months later that the probate application was done. Of course she was not in the middle of a property transaction.

Yes I think it’s different when a sale is going through. There are other reasons which contribute too, but I don’t feel comfortable posting as it isn’t my own family going through it. 

SDLT_Geek

Rae626 said:

NinjaTune said:

3 months from submission of the form for us.  Our solicitor was very surprised it went through that fast.

If your vendors were joint tenants then probate might not be needed to sell the property.  My understanding is that the property automatically passes to the surviving partner/joint owner without the need for probate?

It’s an awkward one so I’ll not go into too much detail but I believe this was double checked and it was found that probate was needed. 

With apologies for the legalease: Generally speaking, where there are joint owners, on the death of one, the other is able to sell.  The legal estate in the land passes by survivorship to the other.  Sometimes a second trustee is appointed within the transfer on sale so as to overreach any beneficial interests.

CLJP72

I don't want to put a spanner in the works but our purchase of a probate property was a long and drawn out process! Offer accepted January 2020, completed September 2020. The main hold up was probate, originally told 12 weeks so we were expecting to move end of April/beginning of May. Covid shut them down/on a go slow from end if March until end of June and it took the solicitors contacting probate, to get it through by mid September as there were and possibly are still backlogs in the system. We still looked all the time but never found a better property but did gain from the stamp duty holiday. Just be prepared for a long wait if you're heart is set on that property.