Selling a property as an executor

Where the estate includes a property, it will be your responsibility to take care of the sale – unless, of course, the beneficiaries wish for it to be transferred into their names.

If you have never lived in the property, then your knowledge of the property will be very limited as an executor.

Therefore, this should be reflected in any answers to any enquiries a purchaser’s solicitors may wish to raise.

Whilst it is your duty to find out as much information about the property as possible, if you have never lived in it, you will not be expected to know specific details. Therefore, your answers should reflect this.

As an executor, you will have a duty to ensure that you are selling the property for the best possible price, for the benefit of the estate.

For example, you must not sell the property at an undervalue to yourself, a member of your family, or indeed to one of the beneficiaries in the will. In addition, particular care needs to be taken where a property is to be sold to a beneficiary or indeed an executor.

The net proceeds of sale must be paid to an account in the name of all of the executors, and each of the executors of the estate will need to sign the ultimate transfer document.

You should bear the following points in mind to ensure that the sale process is as smooth as possible.

If the deceased owned the property in his or her sole name, a grant of probate will be required to enable you to sell or transfer the property.

A grant of probate is a form of certificate issued by the court that gives the executors authority to deal with the deceased’s estate and also confirms the validity of the will.

You should not underestimate the time it takes to obtain the grant, particularly where tax is payable. Even if the estate is relatively straightforward, it can take up to six months to obtain the grant.

As part of the application process for the grant of probate, you will need to complete a financial account detailing the deceased’s assets and liabilities, with balances or valuations at the date of death. You should obtain two or three estate agents’ valuations and take the average as the property’s value or instruct a surveyor to undertake a full professional valuation.

You should also check the title to the property. If the property is registered with the Land Registry, this should be a relatively straightforward matter of downloading a copy of the title entries and plan, checking that the property is in the deceased’s name, and that the plan shows the full extent of the property.

However, the property may not be registered, particularly where the deceased had owned it for a significant amount of time. In this case, you will need to locate the paper title deeds, which may be held by the deceased’s solicitor or bank, or they may indeed be kept with the deceased’s papers at home.

Once all the title documents have been located, you should ask a solicitor to check the title entries and plan, or the paper title deeds, in case there are restrictions affecting the property, or defects in the title, which may need to be dealt with before the property can be sold.

It is not unknown to find that the property was never transferred to the deceased on the death of their spouse. You will want to find out this before the property sale has been negotiated to avoid any unnecessary delays.

The estate agent may suggest that they have a potential buyer already when they have valued to property, and they may also insist it should be placed on the market immediately. In most cases, this is not advisable, as it can be difficult to manage expectations on timescales before grant of probate has been obtained. You also cannot exchange contracts until the grant has issued.

You must also be aware that the deceased’s property will need to be completely cleared of its contents before the property is sold. This can also be quite time‑consuming, and you should ensure that you leave plenty of time to do so.

This article is a brief overview of the points to consider when selling a property as an executor and does not cover all aspects of the procedures involved. Executors should take legal advice on the title to the property before placing the property on the market.

Contact our private client solicitors

At SO Legal, we can help you with all aspects of your role as executor, including obtaining the grant of probate and the sale of the deceased’s property. If you would like to discuss your role as executor with one of our team, please contact us. 

Our team of solicitors in Eastbourne, Brighton, London, Hastings and Uckfield can help you understand your options.