How long do I wait for chain to resolve?

Booge

Hi 

I’ve posted previously about this but I’m in a situation where I’m about a month into a conveyancing process now and I’ve got everything sorted from my side as a first time buyer and am ready to exchange contracts. The seller is also ready apart from a “court of protection issue” which is being vaguely defined and I can only get information through the estate agents. My solicitor has asked the sellers solicitor for further information to enquire exactly what it is that we are waiting for but has heard nothing from them for 2 weeks now. The estate agent says he knows the solicitor and he can’t get through to them either, which he interprets as a sign they have taken on too much work and are not able to respond. 

The sellers themselves have provided some info but sounds like they do not fully understand the issue. As far as I can gather the house my seller is buying up the chain is owned by an elderly person with dementia and the daughter is the one selling it but they put in “an application” (for what exactly I don’t know) about 6 or more ago to the court of protection to allow her to sell the house. Whether this was an application for deputyship or whether she already has deputyship I don’t know. Then just after I put in an offer, the daughter chased her solicitor doing the court of protection application and found that the court had requested some further info and that this request had got lost. So basically it looks like a load of time was lost there. The information was then promptly submitted and is now with the court again. 

My question is: 

Given this issue is not very well defined (I am not clear exactly what the application is for) and based on third hand information, and the seller’s solicitor is not responding, how long should I wait for this to resolve itself before I pull out and look for somewhere else?

The matter has clearly already been running for a long time and the seller seems to think it will soon be resolved, but having no idea what it is I am waiting for and no clue as to the timescale for resolving it, it could go on running for a long time. Eg court could say information submitted is not satisfactory and ask for more information and it could go on. 

Assuming I hear nothing more, how long would you wait before pulling out? 

Jonathan 

tink_1983

Guess it depends how much you want the house and how long your willing to wait? Only you know that 

misspenfold

As you say, it sounds like the daughter has applied to be her mother’s financial affairs deputy. If someone doesn’t have the mental capacity to make these decisions, they need either an approved deputy, or have given someone power of attorney before they lost that capacity. The house cannot sell until one or the other is in place (or the vendor is assessed as having capacity to make the decision). 

 I believe COP cases are being heard remotely due to covid , but I’ve no idea of timescales for it.

How much do you want that house? Could you give a (realistic) deadline to the vendors solicitor and see if that motivates them to start being clear with you?