Help... Probate gone wrong? I think?!?

Minx1986

Hi, 
In short found our dream forever family home. Was assured by estate agent property was chain free and ready to go, and as the deceased family had many relatives who all had to agree to our offer, it took 2 days for them to be able to formally accept.

Fast forward 11 weeks. £800 survey done, searches done, mortgage application done and product/valuation fees paid upfront, broker fees paid upfront. Waiting on last 2 enquires and contracts have been drafted. Looking good to complete before stamp duty relief ends... (another reason we picked the property). Not an issue if missed it, just means less for renovations. 

At 5pm today I receive an email from my solicitor apologising as the sellers solicitor dropped into conversation in their weekly 'progress call' that the probate applied for has beed delayed as someone is now saying there is a later version of the will. So probate has not been granted. 

Solicitors shut at 5pm, estate agent has heard nothing, so doesn't know what to say, and now I'm sat here with the weekend ahead thinking what the hell??!?!

What does this mean? Is this the start of years delays? Will we have to pull out and lose everything we've paid so far? I'm so upset,I just can't think straight... Anyone have any experience of anythingike this? 

greatcrested

It'snot good.

If this developes into a dispute between family about who is going to inherit, based on two diferent wills, then probate could take months. And yes in extreme cases with long court cases, years.

Or it could be a misunderstanding that is cleared up in a week.....

And asking the estate agent won't help. They won't know, or if they say they do it will be based on what they are told which may not be the whole story.

Annisele

It's impossible to say. The "later version of the will" might turn out to say exactly the same thing as the first one, in which case no problem (or at least, no more than the standard 'waiting for probate' sort of problems). But if there's a valid later will that gives the whole of the property to just one person, and that one person doesn't want to sell - then there's not going to be a sale at all. If the two wills are different in any way and there's a dispute about which one of them is valid, it'll be a long time before anybody gets probate at all.

frogglet

We were asked by the estate agent, when selling our parents house, whether we already had probate. As they couldn't accept offers until probate was granted but could market the house.
We chose to leave it till we had probate as we'd had interested parties putting notes through the door, but this was before the current issues. 

brianposter

Ask for a copy of both wills and draw up a contract accordingly ?

greatcrested

brianposter said:

Ask for a copy of both wills and draw up a contract accordingly ?

That's not really going to speed anything up much.

The delay, if any, will be over determining the validity of the wills and the required agreement from whoever is deemed the seller. (may be completely different Executers as well as Beneficiaries).

Actually drawing up a new contract is an hour or two's work.

Plus - who is going to give you the wills? No one. And they don't become publicly available until.... Probate is granted.

ic

brianposter said:

Ask for a copy of both wills and draw up a contract accordingly ?

Can't buy the house without probate, and won't have the probate until the wills validity has been sorted.

Mildreds_Earrings

Hello @Minx1986 that's scary! I've had an offer accepted on a house at the end of last year. It took six weeks to receive the contracts because the deceased family are waiting for Grant of Probate. Their Solicitor has applied to the Land Registry to expedite the process because its a fairly straightforward process and they are trying to sell the house (my purchase!) 

However, if you're waiting because of a dispute in the family, I fear you'll be waiting for a long, long while.... I wouldn't be so quick to say walk away though. Speak to the deceased family members (if you have access to them) and that may allay your fears somewhat OR you may have a realistic approach that will help you to determine what to do next. As we are waiting for our Vendors to get their probate granted and theirs is a straightforward application (their Solicitor applied months ago!) I feel your pain. All the best. 

Mildreds_Earrings

frogglet said:

We were asked by the estate agent, when selling our parents house, whether we already had probate. As they couldn't accept offers until probate was granted but could market the house.
We chose to leave it till we had probate as we'd had interested parties putting notes through the door, but this was before the current issues. 

I can see the wisdom in this and I'm beginning to wish all EAs did this. If Probate was granted before a property was advertised for sale, it would make sales transactions much easier/simpler.  In the last few weeks, I found out that Probate hadn't been granted yet and it was holding up the sale and it was me who informed the EA. Good grief! (pardon the pun) 

greatcrested

Mildreds_Earrings said:

Hello @Minx1986 that's scary! I've had an offer accepted on a house at the end of last year. It took six weeks to receive the contracts because the deceased family are waiting for Grant of Probate. Their Solicitor has applied to the Land Registry to expedite the process because its a fairly straightforward process and they are trying to sell the house (my purchase!) 
....

what has the Land Registry got to do with the granting of probate?

(that's a rhetorical question: the answer is .... nothing. The LR can expedite some applications, but not probate applications!)

Mildreds_Earrings

greatcrested said:

Mildreds_Earrings said:

Hello @Minx1986 that's scary! I've had an offer accepted on a house at the end of last year. It took six weeks to receive the contracts because the deceased family are waiting for Grant of Probate. Their Solicitor has applied to the Land Registry to expedite the process because its a fairly straightforward process and they are trying to sell the house (my purchase!) 
....

what has the Land Registry got to do with the granting of probate?

(that's a rhetorical question: the answer is .... nothing. The LR can expedite some applications, but not probate applications!)

Wow! Okay so it may not have been the LR, but whichever Government Registry deals with Probate, that's who the Solicitor expedited the process to. Apologies to the OP.