Their solicitor pushing me to sign contracts before probate applied for.

Appolonia1

Hi,

I am sale agreed on a house, and it’s all proceeding fine (valuation done, survey done, proceeding with getting official loan offer).
It’s an executor sale, and my solicitor rang me yesterday to say that probate has not been applied for on the house yet. The vendor’s solicitor wants me to sign contracts, and then they’ll attach the signed contracts to the probate application, with the hope it will expedite the grant of probate.

My solicitor said that the probate process could take up to 12 weeks, and even longer if there are issues or questions on the house title. She also said there is a staff embargo at the probate office, which I guess could slow things down.

I’m not happy to sign the contracts before probate is granted.
It means that my 10% deposit is tied up for up to 12 weeks. It may take longer than that, and still at the end of the process the seller could back out. So I feel like I’m taking all the risk.

I told my solicitor to tell them to apply for probate now, attaching a letter from the estate agent saying they have found a buyer who has paid the booking deposit.
It may take a couple more weeks for my loan offer to come through, in which case they could be well along the probate process, rather than waiting for my loan offer and then sign contracts and then start the probate process.

Am I being awkward – it is normal to sign contracts before probate is even applied for?

Thanks,
Appolonia.

Henry Ford III

You could sign with a condition that clear title must be proved before completion and that in the event of non completion your deposit is refundable.

I'd ask your solicitor tbh. It's their job to advise you.

ederkeh

My understanding is that both seller & buyer would have to sign contracts to send into probate office, in order to speed things along. So at that point it is legally binding on their side as well & sharing the risk. With no major problems, I have heard it should take weeks rather than months in probate office with signed contracts on the table.

UsBus

Make your contract subject to probate being granted. Do not sign anything you are not comfortable with and don't let your solicitor force you into it. Until everything is correct and in place its your money at risk not theirs..

Owryan

I would be very wary from personal experience. I wasin the position of going through the process of probate on my mothers estate including the sale of her house.

We had a buyer before probate was applied for and that was apr 2013. It took until sept 2013 for the probate to come back and to get the outstanding LPT and HC sorted. The whole process was a nightmare as the buyer kept threatening to pull out over the delay getting the probate and then there was the issue of sorting and transferring the deeds in the estate.

Your situation might not be as bad bit just be aware it may not be as easy as you think.

spaceHopper

If it were me I’d play along for a while to see how serious they are, tell them you’ll only sign after they have signed and that it is subject to a clear title and loan approval, deposit is refundable if bank refuse to lead. Make sure you have life and home cover in place as well as it could trip you up at a the end.
By getting them to sign the contract you are covering yourself against one sibling pulling the sale because house prices have gone up….

You also have the benefit of knowing that it will go through and you can relax and enjoy the summer you’ll get your house in the autumn, your 10% will be indexed linked it house prices just pray that here is no crash

ixus

Appolonia1 wrote: »

It may take a couple more weeks for my loan offer to come through, in which case they could be well along the probate process, rather than waiting for my loan offer and then sign contracts and then start the probate process.
.

1. You're sale agreed on a property without your full mortgage offer letter? Are you 100% you'll get this as it can be quite different from loan approval?

2. You would be slightly mental to sign contracts without the full mortgage offer letter. No way your solicitor should let you either.

That's just what could go wrong on your side.