How long did it take?

keithmac

I'm a month in and will likely be another month before applying for Probate as a Decree Absolute Certificate hasn't been found and they said 45 days to look for it and produce a copy.

You'd think one department could talk to the other.

Nothing goes quickly it seems..

tooldle

No property to sell in the case I’ve just been dealing with. Twenty five months from beginning to end. Might have been quicker were it not for an HMRC error with personal tax and a significant delay in confirming their satisfaction with capital gains tax calculations. 

Mothman

It took 18 months to wind up my late mothers estate. It was selling the property that took the time as the market took a bit of a dive as soon as we listed it and ended up reducing the price twice to get it sold. Other than that everything else was sorted within 6 months.

Baldytyke88

Date of death was the beginning of August, probate was granted on 13th Jan; if the executor has been proactive in sorting out some affairs, finalising of the estate should not take that much longer, although the house isn't up for sale yet, which I believe was a mistake.

RAS

People do sometimes put property on the market before obtaining probate but it will put some buyers off even offering, and there's always the risk the sale falls through because of delays.

Better to wait until HMRC respond if IHT is payable, and until they have at least filed for probate. 

There's also the possibility of debts or complicated assets about which you know nothing.

Baldytyke88

RAS said:

People do sometimes put property on the market before obtaining probate but it will put some buyers off even offering, and there's always the risk the sale falls through because of delays.
Better to wait until HMRC respond if IHT is payable, and until they have at least filed for probate. 
There's also the possibility of debts or complicated assets about which you know nothing.

I guess the executor would be guided by the solicitor, and they might well be cautious.

BooJewels

I sold 2 estate properties after Covid, when the market was still going a bit bonkers and both were in very desirable locations, so the Estate Agent recommended that we didn't even try and market until we had Probate, as he wagered with us that the first people through the door would buy.  He was slightly out, the first did buy one, but it was the second on the other house.  Both paid asking price or higher and completed fast, as there were no chains.

I appreciate that the market has now changed and I was probably very lucky, but I was glad I did wait for Probate (also lucky with how long that took each time) as I might well have lost those good buyers with a protracted delay - not being in a chain at either end made life much easier, so you want to keep a good buyer like that on board - us being ready to go surely helped the saleability from the outset.

Lilio8

Baldytyke88 said:

How long does it take after the person died, to handing out the money?

I am guessing a total of six months would be normal. To sell a £250k house and £50k, maybe there are delays with the council/government?

It depends on the various parts the estate is subdivided into, e.g. property, the content (it needs to be evaluated), cash, shares and whatever else. I’m the executor of my dear latest and we’re now 1 year and 5 months in the administration of his affairs (‘we’ as in myself and the solicitors). Grant of probate was issued after 6 months from my dear’s passing. We’re almost there but there are still some lose ends. I’m predicting another couple of months or 3. It feels like it's been 'forever'!  

If your executor is administering the estate with the assistance of a solicitors firm, the solicitors probably have advised to carry out searches in case there might be assets that the deceased might have forgotten about. Searches take about 3-4 weeks. Evaluating the estate is all time consuming since a professional evaluator needs to visit the property to evaluate the content. The executor also needs to look through every document that is found in the property to ensure that there arent' any assets, outstanding bills and whatever else that could be useful information for the administration of the estate (also time & energy consuming). My neighbour found a more current Will of his late brother and the solicitors had to start all over. Imagine that!  When it’s all accounted for, appropriate forms ( IHT400/IHT100) need to be filled in and sent to HMRC. Of course the executor can evaluate solo; but mistakes cause delay, they’re are costly and it’s ultimately ‘all the executor’s fault’! I know all about the ‘delay & pricey’ bit if solicitors don’t know what they are doing (I’ve had to change solicitors in the process since the first ones couldn't/wouldn't interpret the Will accurately and didn’t calculate IHT properly— I went to hell and back!). Once the forms are send to HMRC, a frustrating wait for the grant of probate begins--anything between 4 and 16 weeks. I was lucky, it took about 4 weeks for the grant of probate to be issued.

I wouldn’t put a property up for sale ‘before’ grant of probate is issued. Unless you know a buyer who is prepared to patiently wait, and I mean patiently, since HMRC have a backlog of estates to process. Most buyers, especially young families and working couples, will not wait long as they could be in a chain and are usually set & ready to move in as soon as all the necessary surveys are carried out. I’d make sure that the property is presentable and that there aren’t any serious issues. The better the property looks, the easier it’ll be to sell asap and at the asking price. Also finding a reliable estate agent and conveyancer are essential steps in the process (again, time & energy consuming!). I sold the property, at my asking price, 5 months after grant of probate was issued. 

If you are not a co-executor, it probably feels that things are moving slowly, especially if you have personal financial plans and the inheritance would come in handy sooner rather than later. I can assure you that the executor would want it all to end tomorrow, first in the morning! It’s all time consuming and very stressful, especially when there are other beneficiaries involved. There are also outstanding bills to be paid. I don’t advise making any financial plans till you’re sure that your executor is ready to distribute the legacies. It’s a huge, gigantic relief for an executor to finally be able to distribute the legacies knowing that a) there aren’t any outstanding bills, 2) HMRC won’t be coming back for more! 

By the time you’ll read this, grant of probate might have already been issued. Wishing you tons of patience to you and the executor. You're all going to need it! 

Baldytyke88

I looked it up online, it states 'date of probate 13th Jan".

Does that mean that probate has been granted or just applied for?

I assumed it meant granted, but the executor was telephoned by his daughter and he said probate has not been granted yet.

I am guessing that he is telling porkies and he doesn't want any communication until everything is settled. The house is not on the market yet.

Jowwie

My recollection is that means it has been granted. However, the executor still has to wait for certificates to arrive, which can be another couple of weeks. If the executor is using a solicitor then the executor may simply not have been informed probate is granted now.

The process of settling someones affairs can take a very long time. One of the estates I deal with took 9 months. That was the quick one! The other took over 2 years due to DWP investigation and dealing with a decrepit hoarders property.

There is guidance you can google that executors should wait at least 6 months after probate for any debts to surface. Clearing and selling a house can easily take that long if the executor is attempting to get a good price for the property for the beneficiaries.