What happens when you've been left money in a will after the sale of a house 28 September 2022 at 5:34PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 9 replies 974 views

imalwaystired

A solicitor is dealing with the selling of my grandads house so when it's sold my son will get a share of the money so will the solicitor contact him to say he's been left something in the will.

theoretica

That is how it worked when I inherited from grandparents - details may vary depending on if he has been left a percentage of the estate or a fixed sum.  And it will take longer than you expect!

imalwaystired

theoretica said:

That is how it worked when I inherited from grandparents - details may vary depending on if he has been left a percentage of the estate or a fixed sum.  And it will take longer than you expect!

How long would you say it's takes. What documents did the solicitor ask from you..

theoretica

Hmm - about a year to sell the house and a few months after that? Of course the house sale market was different then.  I needed to sign and return a receipt.  If your son who is inheriting is still a child I am sure there will be more involved as a trust will be set up.

Robin9

imalwaystired said:

A solicitor is dealing with the selling of my grandads house so when it's sold my son will get a share of the money so will the solicitor contact him to say he's been left something in the will.

How old is your son? Under18 ?

user1977

If the sale is already underway, it would seem odd for the beneficiaries not to have already been contacted to tell them what's going on.

Why are you asking?

Marcon

imalwaystired said:

A solicitor is dealing with the selling of my grandads house so when it's sold my son will get a share of the money so will the solicitor contact him to say he's been left something in the will.

If you are sure your son will get a share of the money, then the executors of the will (who may or may not be the solicitors dealing with the house sale) will contact him in due course to let him know how much he will inherit.

imalwaystired said:

theoretica said:

That is how it worked when I inherited from grandparents - details may vary depending on if he has been left a percentage of the estate or a fixed sum.  And it will take longer than you expect!

How long would you say it's takes. What documents did the solicitor ask from you..

The unhelpful but accurate answer is that it'll take as long as it takes. Given the state of the market (especially if any potential buyer needs to arrange a mortgage), probably much longer than might have been the case a few months ago. Best idea is to prepare your son for a wait of at least a year, and hopefully that'll mean he won't be asking you every 10 minutes when/how much! If it's any quicker, he'll be pleased and if it's longer, you have the get out that you said 'likely to be at least a year'.

Your son (assuming he's over 18) will need to provide bank details and full ID documentation - he'll be advised in due course what is required. 

user1977 said:

If the sale is already underway, it would seem odd for the beneficiaries not to have already been contacted to tell them what's going on.

Not really. Beneficiaries are normally contacted once funds are available for distribution, otherwise there tend to be rather a lot of enquiries as to 'how things are going' - hence executors (especially where solicitors are involved/there is a house sale) with any sense don't raise hopes until as close to the finish line as possible.

molerat

Marcon said:

Not really. Beneficiaries are normally contacted once funds are available for distribution, otherwise there tend to be rather a lot of enquiries as to 'how things are going' - hence executors (especially where solicitors are involved/there is a house sale) with any sense don't raise hopes until as close to the finish line as possible.

We were contacted by a solicitor out of the blue earlier this year about an inheritance and being specified beneficiaries in the will.  We have just received the estate accounts to sign off and the solicitors charges showed they had been working on the (slightly complicated by other relation's prior actions) estate since March 2021 so roughly a year before we even knew the will existed.

Grandmama

if the will has already gone to probate you can check up on line. It's only £1.50 to download a copy of the will.  Just Google finding a will uk. After probate things go very slowly.

p00hsticks

Grandmama said:

if the will has already gone to probate you can check up on line. It's only £1.50 to download a copy of the will.  Just Google finding a will uk. After probate things go very slowly.

Make sure you use the proper official .gov.uk site though to avoid those 'looky likey' rip-off sites' that add their own charge on top
Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)