Losing a loved one is already an emotionally challenging time. When you’re also faced with selling their property, starting the residential conveyancing process can feel overwhelming.
At Triangle Legal Services, we understand the challenges of property sales during this difficult period and are here to help make this journey a little easier for you.
Do I need probate to sell a house after the death of a relative?
In most cases, you’ll need probate or a grant of letters of administration before you can sell a property that belonged to someone who has died. Probate is the legal permission that allows you to deal with someone’s property, money and possessions after they’ve passed away if they left a will. If there is no will, you will need letters of administration.
You might not need probate when:
- The property was owned as ‘joint tenants‘ (usually with a spouse). In this case, the property automatically passes to the surviving owner.
- The property was held in a trust.
It’s worth knowing that you can put the property on the market and even accept an offer before probate is granted, but you can’t complete the sale until you have it. This can help speed things up if you’re looking to sell quickly.
Documents Needed to Sell A House After a Death
When selling a home after the death of a loved one, you’ll need to gather important paperwork, including:
- The grant of probate (or letters of administration) – this proves you’re allowed to sell the property.
- The death certificate – you will need an official copy. This proves that the property owner has indeed passed away.
- The will – if there is one, this is important as it names the executors (that might be you) and says who inherits what.
- ID documents – expect to show your passport or driving licence and proof of your address (like a recent utility bill) to satisfy anti-money laundering checks.
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) – this shows how energy efficient the property is. If there isn’t a valid or recent one (within the last 10 years), you’ll need to arrange for an assessor to create a new one before marketing the property.
Getting these documents together early can save you loads of time later on. If you’re struggling to find any of them, your conveyancer can often help point you in the right direction.
Steps to Take Before Selling the Property
Confirm Your Right to List the Property
Before you put the property on the market, you need to confirm who is responsible for selling it.
If you’re named as the executor in the will, it will be your duty to sell the property. However, being the executor doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be a beneficiary. The will might say the house needs to be sold and the money shared between several people, or it might leave the house to someone specific.
If there’s no will, the property will follow the ‘rules of intestacy’ which explain who gets what according to the law. Usually, it goes to the spouse or civil partner first, then the children, then the parents, and so on.
Make a Plan for Ongoing Financial Commitments
After your family member has died, you will need to contact their bank to let them know. Their accounts will be frozen until probate is granted, but this means that any direct debits will stop.
To avoid issues, it’s a good idea to contact the appropriate organisations to put a plan in place for the property’s utilities, council tax, service charges, ground rent and mortgage payments. Most services will have a bereavement team who will be able to guide you through their process for this. Ideally, you will be able to keep the utilities on to help with viewings and to keep the property in good repair.
If your relative lived on their own, there may be no council tax to pay as long as the property is empty or until probate is granted. If the property stays empty once probate has been granted, there is a six-month grace period. The bill will then be paid from the estate after the sale.
Value the Property
Getting an accurate value for the property is an important step before putting it on the market. This helps make sure you’re not asking too much (which could delay the sale) or too little (which might short-change the beneficiaries).
The most straightforward approach is to ask three local estate agents to do a valuation. These professionals will assess the property and give you estimates based on comparable sales in the area. For properties with unusual features or when precise figures are needed for inheritance tax purposes, hiring a chartered surveyor (RICS qualified) may be helpful. While this service involves a fee, their valuation carries more authority with HMRC for tax calculations.
As part of probate, the property will be given a value, but this is tied to the date of your relative’s death. The selling valuation will reflect current market conditions, so if you sell within four years for less than the probate value, you may be able to reclaim some inheritance tax.
Prepare the House for Sale
If the property’s been empty for a while, it might feel a bit unloved. Simple touches like opening windows to air it out, putting the heating on low to prevent dampness, and maybe adding a few homely touches like fresh flowers can make it feel more welcoming during viewings.
It is a good idea to speak to the building and contents insurance company too. Standard home insurance might not cover an empty property, so you might need special empty house insurance until it’s sold.
Instruct a Conveyancer or Solicitor
After you have put the house on the market, it’s time to find a good conveyancer or solicitor to handle the legal aspects of the sale. Conveyancing for a probate property can be more complicated than for regular conveyancing, so it’s important you find someone who is experienced in this area.
The Conveyancing Process for a Probate House Sale
Your conveyancer will guide you through the process of selling the house legally, including:
1. Checking the Property Title with Land Registry
Your conveyancer will confirm the property’s title deeds with the Land Registry. They will check who owns the property and make sure that this matches your relative’s will.
If the property isn’t registered with the Land Registry yet (which is pretty rare these days, but more common with older homes that haven’t been sold for decades), your conveyancer will need to register it before you can sell. This takes a bit more time, so be prepared for that.
The conveyancer will also look for debts against the property, like a mortgage or an equity release loan. If your relative owned the property with a mortgage, you will need to investigate whether your relative had life insurance that would clear this or if it could be paid off with other assets in the estate. If not, the mortgage and any other loans will need to be settled as part of the house sale.
2. Drafting the Contract of Sale
Your conveyancer will put together the contract that says exactly what’s being sold (i.e. including extras like sheds, white goods, etc.), for how much, and when.
With a probate sale, this contract will make it crystal clear that you’re selling as an executor or administrator, not as the owner. This might sound like a technicality, but it’s important because it affects what guarantees you can give to the buyer. For example, if you have not lived in the property, you may not be aware of problems with the property or boundary disputes.
3. Managing the Exchange of Contracts
The exchange of contracts is the point at which the sale becomes legally binding for both sides. Before this stage, either party could withdraw without any legal consequences.
Your conveyancer will liaise with the buyer’s conveyancer to agree on a completion date that works for everyone. If the property is empty, you might be happy to have a short time between exchange and completion, but if you’re still sorting through belongings, you might want to negotiate a longer timeframe.
All executors named in the grant of probate need to sign the contract. If any executor lives far away or can’t be present, they’ll need to arrange a power of attorney, so someone else can sign on their behalf.
4. Completing the Property Sale and Transfer Ownership
Completion day is when the buyer pays the remaining balance, and ownership transfers to them.
Your conveyancer will handle several important tasks:
- Receive the final payment from the buyer
- Pay off any remaining mortgage on the property
- Settle the estate agent’s commission and legal fees
- Transfer the remaining funds to the executor’s account
The buyer’s conveyancer will pay any stamp duty and register the property in the new owner’s name with the Land Registry.
As an executor, you should keep careful records of all these transactions for the estate accounts. The proceeds from the house sale become part of the estate and will be given out according to the will or intestacy rules.
Common Challenges Selling a House When Someone Dies
Unfortunately, selling a property after the death of a parent or other loved one can become complicated.
Delays in Getting Probate Granted
Sometimes, getting probate can take months if the estate is complicated, if the will is unclear, or if there is an inheritance tax to sort out.
While you wait, you can still put the house on the market and prepare all the paperwork.
Disagreements Among Family Members
Nothing tests family relationships quite like sorting out someone’s estate. Even the closest families can fall out when emotions are running high.
Common issues include:
- Some family members want to sell quickly, and others want to wait for a better price.
- Disagreements about who gets to keep furniture or sentimental items.
- Arguments about how much work to do on the property before selling.
- Disputes over who’s doing all the legwork versus who’s getting the money.
If things get difficult, it might be worth having a proper sit-down meeting with everyone involved. If that doesn’t work, a professional mediator can help you find a way forward that everyone can live with.
Unregistered Property Issues
It can take longer if your relative has owned their home for many years and has never registered it with the Land Registry (registration only became compulsory in the 1990s).
Unregistered properties need to be registered before they can be sold, which means:
- Finding the old paper deeds
- Proving a clear ownership history
- Possibly sorting out boundary issues that have never been properly documented
- Paying extra fees for the registration process
Need Support to Sell A Deceased Relative’s Home? Trust Triangle Legal Services.
We know that losing someone close and the process of selling a house is a lot to take on. It involves so much more than the paperwork, it’s about saying goodbye to a place filled with memories. Our team will make the conveyancing journey as smooth as possible for you by talking you through each step and keeping everything moving at a pace that works for you.Let us take some of the weight off your shoulders during this difficult time. Contact us today to talk through your options.