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Hello All,
I'm hoping somewhere can help with this very unusual situation.
I exchanged on the purchase of a property mid-May 2021, with both parties ready for a completion a week or so later. The property is an executers sale with a number of beneficiaries to the estate.
To say the purchase was complicated from the start is a massive understatement, it has taken many many months, but as this is unrelated to the problem I wish to solve now I will leave it to one side, I just thought I’d mention it so anybody reading knows stress level were already high.
Unfortunately the executer to the estate passed away in the early hours of the day of completion, meaning the transfer document was never signed.
Because my conveyancing solicitor was on a set fee for completing the purchase, from the point this happened I moved to an hourly fee, which (as usual) is eye-watering!
The sellers solicitors said they had made an emergency application to the Probate Registry to appoint one of the beneficiaries of the estate as an administrator/executer, and in the meantime have produced a licence to occupy the property that they are encouraging me to accept, I’m not inclined to do this as the document raises as many questions as it does answers, and of course the more queries I raise the higher the potential bill to my solicitor becomes.
I had already been pushed right to the wire financially to get to this stage and literally can’t afford any more if these fees keep increasing.
My conveyancing solicitor gave the impression that in such cases it would be usual for the seller to compensate the buyer’s for any additional costs, but when pressed couldn’t provide an answer to how they could ensure this happened.
So I instructed my solicitor to question the sellers solicitor as to whether they could confirm my costs would be covered, the reply was as follows;
Although the terms of the Contract permit the seller to charge a licence fee to the buyer for occupation we have not included a licence fee in the draft Licence in all of the circumstances and we hope therefore that your client will in return do his best to mitigate any losses or expenses.
As I saw this as less clear than I would have preferred I went back to my solicitor and instructed them to inform the sellers solicitor that I would do no more on the case until we receive confirmation in writing that my additional costs are going to be met.
The reply I found more baffling;
We are unable to confirm that any costs and expenses that might be incurred by your client will be paid by the Estate of *** *** *** deceased because this would prejudice the Estate. It must be a matter for your client as to whether or not he seeks to recover any costs that might be incurred. Naturally, your client will have to justify any such costs which must of course be fair and reasonable and we hope that your client will mitigate any such costs so far as possible.
My solicitor had previously explained how I could serve notice on the sellers for not completing therefore giving them 10 days to complete or the contract would be rescinded, and then I could also claim compensation for my loses. I’ve currently not done this as obviously I still wish to buy the property, especially as I have spent many months getting to this stage.
Quite frankly I feel my conveyancing solicitors may be out of their depth and really don’t know what to do next, I also feel that the sellers solicitors are probably cocking-them-a-hoop in a way with their reply, saying “you should know how to proceed with this but obviously don’t”. In an ideal world a change of solicitor but I’m sure it’s far too late in the day to consider this.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as would any links to documents that could help me ruffle the feathers of either side, so they understand I’m not happy to sit back and let the clock tick at my expense.
You might ask "well why don't you just do what you did initially and leave the instruction in place for your conveyancing solicitor not to do any more on the case". Well the reason for this is the perviously mentioned complications mentioned at the top of my post, without going into too much detail to complicate issues further there are ongoing issues with the property which means information and questions are still coming through the sellers solicitors that need dealing with as they happen.
I'm hoping somewhere can help with this very unusual situation.
I exchanged on the purchase of a property mid-May 2021, with both parties ready for a completion a week or so later. The property is an executers sale with a number of beneficiaries to the estate.
To say the purchase was complicated from the start is a massive understatement, it has taken many many months, but as this is unrelated to the problem I wish to solve now I will leave it to one side, I just thought I’d mention it so anybody reading knows stress level were already high.
Unfortunately the executer to the estate passed away in the early hours of the day of completion, meaning the transfer document was never signed.
Because my conveyancing solicitor was on a set fee for completing the purchase, from the point this happened I moved to an hourly fee, which (as usual) is eye-watering!
The sellers solicitors said they had made an emergency application to the Probate Registry to appoint one of the beneficiaries of the estate as an administrator/executer, and in the meantime have produced a licence to occupy the property that they are encouraging me to accept, I’m not inclined to do this as the document raises as many questions as it does answers, and of course the more queries I raise the higher the potential bill to my solicitor becomes.
I had already been pushed right to the wire financially to get to this stage and literally can’t afford any more if these fees keep increasing.
My conveyancing solicitor gave the impression that in such cases it would be usual for the seller to compensate the buyer’s for any additional costs, but when pressed couldn’t provide an answer to how they could ensure this happened.
So I instructed my solicitor to question the sellers solicitor as to whether they could confirm my costs would be covered, the reply was as follows;
Although the terms of the Contract permit the seller to charge a licence fee to the buyer for occupation we have not included a licence fee in the draft Licence in all of the circumstances and we hope therefore that your client will in return do his best to mitigate any losses or expenses.
As I saw this as less clear than I would have preferred I went back to my solicitor and instructed them to inform the sellers solicitor that I would do no more on the case until we receive confirmation in writing that my additional costs are going to be met.
The reply I found more baffling;
We are unable to confirm that any costs and expenses that might be incurred by your client will be paid by the Estate of *** *** *** deceased because this would prejudice the Estate. It must be a matter for your client as to whether or not he seeks to recover any costs that might be incurred. Naturally, your client will have to justify any such costs which must of course be fair and reasonable and we hope that your client will mitigate any such costs so far as possible.
My solicitor had previously explained how I could serve notice on the sellers for not completing therefore giving them 10 days to complete or the contract would be rescinded, and then I could also claim compensation for my loses. I’ve currently not done this as obviously I still wish to buy the property, especially as I have spent many months getting to this stage.
Quite frankly I feel my conveyancing solicitors may be out of their depth and really don’t know what to do next, I also feel that the sellers solicitors are probably cocking-them-a-hoop in a way with their reply, saying “you should know how to proceed with this but obviously don’t”. In an ideal world a change of solicitor but I’m sure it’s far too late in the day to consider this.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as would any links to documents that could help me ruffle the feathers of either side, so they understand I’m not happy to sit back and let the clock tick at my expense.
You might ask "well why don't you just do what you did initially and leave the instruction in place for your conveyancing solicitor not to do any more on the case". Well the reason for this is the perviously mentioned complications mentioned at the top of my post, without going into too much detail to complicate issues further there are ongoing issues with the property which means information and questions are still coming through the sellers solicitors that need dealing with as they happen.
