What happens if a seller dies before exchange and completion?

merlinthehappypig

Apologies for the slightly gruesome topic, but it is a serious question.

If a married couple own a house as tenants in common, with half the house going to a daughter when one of them dies, what would happen if they have exchanged contracts to sell their house, but one of them dies before completion?

Would the sale still go ahead with the surviving owner getting the money, as usual, on completion or would this hold completion up whilst wills etc were sorted out?

Gorgeous_George

I think it could go ahead but, only after Probate is granted.

The surviving partner may not wish to move house during the funeral week - if at all. I'd expect a delay before the vendor decided what to do next.

GG

HugoSP

Between exchange and completion?

My guess is that the original contract on the deceased partner would become null and void, and the deposit should be returned unless the surviving partner and the benefactor wish to go ahead.

silvercar

The surviving partner and deceased are not in a position to complete on the contract on which they have exchanged; as the death has meant that they are now not the owners of the land. Slightly less gruesomely, the same situation occurs if a seller goes bankrupt between exchange and completion.

lynzpower

This happened to my parents some 15 years ago. I was 15 and living with them at the time, and probably the first time of the many moves I did with my parents that I ever truly remember and understood the process.

My parents were buying a house off an elderly gentleman. theyd exchanged & completed, and sad to say I think the move finally got him and as he was packing he passed away of a heart attack

My parents of course had also exchanged on our previous house, so couldnt break the chain.

The issue went through probate and typically there were 2 sisters both disputing what they were going to get when splitting the house. This dragged on for a couple of months.

Meanwhile we moved into my grandparents place ( luckily she has a pretty big house) and lived there, and all our stuff went in storage.

Eventually we completed and moved in, problem was that there were major structural issues and a new floor needed to be fitted, everything needed doing, needed electrical work, you name it! So we moved in and literally lived in a site for ages!

I think it was tremendously stressful, mainly because probate was so contracted. If there is only one beneficiary for example ( god that sounds so grim) then it will be much more straightforward.

babydaisy

Yes this has happened to me as a solicitor and you do have to break the chain whilst probate is sorted out. The Estate will be liable for all the costs of the buyers while they are waiting for the sellers to be able to fulfil the contract.

merlinthehappypig

Thanks for all the responses.

This isn't entirely hypothetical, sadly.

We are buying somewhere so my parents in law can live with us as they are unable to live alone any longer. They have exchanged on their house, but don't complete for 8 weeks yet (their buyers are renting and this suited them). My father in law has just been admitted to hospital and has been diagnosed with bowel cancer and the outlook isn't great.

We aren't that far into the buying process yet, but were planning to exchange quickly as we have nothing to sell. Based on the above I think that we would have to hold off on the exchange of contracts on our purchase until my in-laws complete on their sale or we could easily end up unable to fulfill the contract and, worse still, have no-where for my mother in law to live in the event of the worst happening.

My wife is the only child who inherits half of the house on the death of one of them so from that point of view selling the house isn't an issue. The problem for us is that, in order to get a house big enough for us all, my in laws are helping with the deposit (about £50000 out of the £350000 deposit). Without that we can't afford the new house so any delay in getting the money would mean that we can't complete on our purchase. Even just the loss of the deposit required on exchange would mean that we couldn't then go ahead with the purchase, so whilst this post might seem a little morbid, it has severe financial implications for us at a time when all we really need to worry about is his health.

It's taken us 6 months of total stress trying to find somewhere suitable and now it looks like my father in law won't benefit after all.

Thanks again for the responses.

Nenen

I'm so very sorry to hear this Merlin. That is an awful thing to happen and I really hope things are resolved with the least possible pain, stress and suffering for you all. You are in my thoughts

lynzpower

Merlin, what a tremendously difficult situation, I really feel for you x

clutton_2

how awful merlin, i dont know what to suggest - look after each other at this stressful time, that is the most important thing

bw

merlinthehappypig

Thanks - it's much worse for my wife than me.

It feels a little wrong to be worrying about the financial implications, but it's not something that can be ignored, given the potential consequences.