Probate Length

[oldaudi]

Hello

Does anyone in the “business” know how long Probate will take. The house has been sold subject to contract but now the owner, my grandmother, has passed away. This house will now be transferred to me but it’s not yet mine to sell is my understanding. Its been on the market for ages and I’d really like this new young family who want the house to move in. My fear is if this takes too long they may pull out of the deal and Id be left with a house that I could really do without the over heads of marketing and up keep to sell again.

Thank you

[PostHeads123]

Have contracts been exchanged ? I was buying a place a couple of years back exchanged contracts on the Monday with completion 2 weeks later, the seller died on the Tuesday the day after exchange. Because we had exchanged already and that meant the sellers estate was at risk of legal action from me so it meant the probate could be escalated and done as an emergency, the probate was done in week or so and we completed on the planned date. If you haven't exchanged though I think you are stuck with the standard probate times and I'm not sure how long they are.

[oldaudi]

Thanks for the reply. Not sure about the contracts. I shall find out tomorrow. I have asked if I can pay extra to fast track the probate but they didn’t seem to want to take any additional money make it quicker. I assume many of the tasks are sat outside the Solicitors office.

I read online a normal process could take 4 to 10 months. It’s not a complex estate so should fall into these timelines I guess. Just with the funeral to arrange, storage of furniture, home care fees to pay it’s just a load of paperwork that I’d like to finish ASAP. But I guess this is one of those grown up things that we all have to do at some point in our life.

[brman]

oldaudi said:

Thanks for the reply. Not sure about the contracts. I shall find out tomorrow. I have asked if I can pay extra to fast track the probate but they didn’t seem to want to take any additional money make it quicker. I assume many of the tasks are sat outside the Solicitors office.

I read online a normal process could take 4 to 10 months. It’s not a complex estate so should fall into these timelines I guess. Just with the funeral to arrange, storage of furniture, home care fees to pay it’s just a load of paperwork that I’d like to finish ASAP. But I guess this is one of those grown up things that we all have to do at some point in our life.

That reads like you are using a solicitor to do the probate? Am I right? If so, ask them what the usual response time is from the probate office they use as I suspect it can vary. If the solicitor cannot answer the question then I would question how suitable to the task they are.....
If you are doing it yourself then a phone call or email to the probate office should tell you how long it currently is from submission to them looking at the forms. In my latest experience (winchester probate office) it was 4 months to get to the head of the queue but only a week or so after than before probate was granted.
The 4 month delay was apparently due to a new computer system......

[valiant]

We’re going through it at the moment.

Started mid October and solicitor reckons Jan-Feb is most likely. And this is with all our ducks in a row and using a good solicitor.

[Robertj21a]

If it's all quite straightforward, no disputing parties, no businesses involved, no property overseas etc then I'd guess it should be done in 3-4 months. Solicitors will take an eternity even when there's nothing to hold it up - if it's a clear cut case it may be better to do it yourself.

[Simpo Two]

oldaudi said:

The house has been sold subject to contract but now the owner, my grandmother, has passed away. This house will now be transferred to me but it’s not yet mine to sell is my understanding.

I got caught like this too. As the house was empty the buyer asked if she could move in and rent it until probate - which of course I agreed to!

I could have kept quiet and sold anyway - I wonder who that would have shaken out?

[eliot]

My mum died 14 November, probate granted 29 december, which included removing the solicitor as an executor and christmas holiday delays.
If the estate is straightforward and you have a will, then it can all be done online in very little time.

[Sheepshanks]

There have been long probate delays all year, but they're supposed to be getting on top of it now.