Letter of repossession before probate has been granted

Smjb4444

My hubby passed away last year,I’ve been put on a hold by the Morgage company during this time,while probate has been applied for since April last year 2025 by our solicitor. Since this April 2026 they’ve asked me to start paying the mortgage in my late husbands name or they will start the repossession process. I missed the April payment and made 2 payments in May 2026 this month.before I could make this payment this is when the letter of repossession came to me.i have always spoken to the lenders every 3 months about the progress. It’s been 16 months since he passed and I’ve been having problems with probate losing the will,in November 2025 my solicitor sent another email but a copy of the Will as original had already been sent.But it has a staple mark on it and probate are questioning it…I remember the solicitor doing this as she stapled my husbands DC and marriage certificate to the will,it has taken my solicitor from November 2025 until 2 weeks ago to contact probate explaining the staple marks. I since haven’t heard anything. My question is 1= should I be paying any mortgage payments at all, my son is saying no,but I want other advice. 2= can they really repossess before probate has been granted…..3= Morgage solicitors are asking for me to act as a representative for our property for them to carry out a repossession. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’ve now been put on blood pressure tablets,reduced my working hours and generally feel sick at times.
As I sad any advice would be welcome and appreciated. Xx

fatbelly

If you are able to pay the mortgage, you should. I assume you are still living in the property and intend to keep it.

What you have received is just a step along the way to repossession and it's a long process. But the mortgage lender is obviously getting twitchy having had no payment for over a year.

ACG

It has so far been a year. Probate can take a while and I think the lender has acknowledged that by giving 12 months.

However it seems like there is still no idea of when it will all actually go through and so the lender is basically being given the answer "how long is a piece of string?" in terms of when they will be paid. There is currently no end in sight and although that is not your fault, it is also not their problem (sorry to sound so blunt).

You do not need to pay the mortgage, but it probably does actually make sense to. Firstly, interest is racking up and it will be going up by more and more each month. I think really it would have made sense to make payments (any payments) in the interim as all that is going to happen is you need a bigger mortgage down the line (assuming no life insurance).

Is your son qualified to tell you whether to pay the mortgage or not? If not, what is he basing his answer on?

It sounds like the lender is starting to press ahead. Whether they would actually gain repossession is another matter, but the cost of going through this process will also likely be added to the mortgage. By doing nothing (ie not paying the mortgage) you are just creating a bigger debt for yourself down the line.

born_again

Can it be taken that there are enough funds to pay the mortgage off?

sammyjammy

OPs post below, just added some paragraphs to make it easier to read.

My hubby passed away last year,I’ve been put on a hold by the Morgage company during this time,while probate has been applied for since April last year 2025 by our solicitor.

Since this April 2026 they’ve asked me to start paying the mortgage in my late husbands name or they will start the repossession process. I missed the April payment and made 2 payments in May 2026 this month.before I could make this payment this is when the letter of repossession came to me.i have always spoken to the lenders every 3 months about the progress.

It’s been 16 months since he passed and I’ve been having problems with probate losing the will,in November 2025 my solicitor sent another email but a copy of the Will as original had already been sent.But it has a staple mark on it and probate are questioning it…I remember the solicitor doing this as she stapled my husbands DC and marriage certificate to the will,it has taken my solicitor from November 2025 until 2 weeks ago to contact probate explaining the staple marks. I since haven’t heard anything.

My question is

1= should I be paying any mortgage payments at all, my son is saying no,but I want other advice.

2= can they really repossess before probate has been granted…..

3= Morgage solicitors are asking for me to act as a representative for our property for them to carry out a repossession.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’ve now been put on blood pressure tablets,reduced my working hours and generally feel sick at times.
As I sad any advice would be welcome and appreciated. Xx

Keep_pedalling

Was he the sole owner of the property or was it joint ownership with just home on the mortgage? Does his will give you sole ownership?

Emmia

If there's a mortgage outstanding and you want to keep the house, then unless there is a life insurance policy that covers the balance... Why wouldn't you need to pay the mortgage?

Otherwise let the lender repossess, they can then sell the house and the estate would (presumably) get some money back as long as the sale price more than clears the mortgage.

Smjb4444

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011976#Comment_82011976

There was no life insurance as he stopped paying it six months before he passed away, he spent every penny funding his alcohol addiction. I'm paying mortgage payments again, like you said to keep the repayment of the mortgage going even higher, I've basically just got off the phone to probate and they said solicitor has not got back in touch with them like she said about the staple marks on the will. This whole process has been very frustrating to say the least. Should I change my solicitor, my present one is quite old. Around 70.

Thankyyou for everyone's comments

GrumpyDil

The age of your solicitor is irrelevant but if you are unhappy with the service ask her to confirm their complaints process and make a formal complaint.

Smjb4444

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011987#Comment_82011987

yes if I use my home that I’m living in it can cover the Mortgage owed., but the house is worth more than the mortgage, I worry they will only sell it for the repayment loan,which was only an interest only mortgage.

Keep_pedalling

Changing solicitors is likely to increase the delays rather than speed things up so I would not do that. Are you the executor of his will or did he appoint the solicitor as his executor?