Selling House under LPoA. FiL died

SoozyJ22

I've recently acted as second trustee in a similar situation when one TIC died during the sales process. It was quite straightforward from my point of view and didn't delay the sale. Once the house had been sold the solicitors were unable to pay out the deceased's portion of the sale proceeds until we had probate, but held it in their accounts for a few months paying a small amount of interest. That seemed to cause more of a problem than having the second trustee as some kind of special arrangement was required for them to be able to hold a large sum of money for an extended period. 

clonkel

@all @poppystar

Thank you for your help. The Solicitor confirmed that we can proceed with a second trustee.

Really good news for us

clonkel

@SoozyJ22 Thank you. I have not raised this with the Solicitor but I am sure they may not be able to release the money until probate. Not really an issue for us, the house sale proceeding is more important

poppystar

Really pleased your solicitor was on the ball - and pleased for your buyer too, I expect they are relieved that the purchase won’t be delayed at all.

With regards to probate  - do you need to get it for any other part of the estate? If you have NS&I accounts or premium bonds you probably will but banks do release quite large sums of money (up to £50k in some cases) without seeing a grant of probate. If you haven’t already, contact their bereavement departments and ask what their limits are. If you then don’t need it for anything else you might find the solicitors will also release the house funds without it too. Any less task at this time is welcome! 

clonkel

@poppystar We did not inform the buyer as the sale is going ahead. The solicitor needs the original Death Certificate (waiting for that) and a second trustee.

He does have an NS&I account, which in hindsight I should have cleared as his death was not unexpected.

thank you again