We're waiting for probate. How long before we can sell?

Probate is the legal authority to deal with someone's estate after they die. A grant of probate is issued to the executors named in the will, and until it is issued nobody has the standing to transfer ownership of the property.

How long does a grant of probate take in 2026?

The published court statistics cover October to December 2025 and were released on 26 March 2026. They show a much shorter typical wait than the stories families hear from each other.

The gap between two weeks and fifteen weeks is the whole story. A stopped application is one where the probate registry has come back asking for something: a missing original will, an inconsistency in the inheritance tax figures, a name spelled differently on two documents. Ninety-two per cent of applications in that quarter were made digitally, and the digital route is the faster one.

Can we put the house on the market before probate is granted?

GOV.UK guidance on applying for probate says plainly that you should not make any financial plans or put property on the market until you have got probate. Some families and agents do market earlier, and your own solicitor is the right person to advise on your specific estate, but the official position is the one above.

You may not need probate at all. GOV.UK sets out that probate may not be required where the person who died owned the property as joint tenants with someone who survives them, held only savings, or owned shares jointly. In those cases ownership can pass without a grant.

What actually stops a probate application?

• The original will is not sent in, or is sent with staple marks or attachments that suggest a page was removed.
• The inheritance tax figures on the application do not match what was reported to HMRC.
• The death certificate name, the will name and the application name are not identical, and no explanation is given.
• An executor named in the will has not signed, renounced in writing, or had their position explained.
• The estate valuation is incomplete, most often because a property valuation at the date of death was estimated rather than evidenced.

What can we usefully do while we wait?

1. Get the property secured and insured. Most standard home insurance lapses or restricts cover once a property is unoccupied, and unoccupied property insurance is a separate product.
2. Keep the heating ticking over in winter and have someone check the property regularly. A burst pipe in an empty house is the single most expensive thing that happens during probate.
3. Gather the sale paperwork now: title deeds, building regulations sign-offs, guarantees for damp or timber work, boiler service records, and any planning permissions.
4. Get a date-of-death valuation properly evidenced. It matters for inheritance tax and it gives you a reference point for the asking price later.
5. Compare local agents while you wait, so the marketing can start the week the grant arrives rather than the month after.
6. Tell the local authority the property is unoccupied because the owner has died. A council tax exemption normally applies to a property left empty in these circumstances, and it is applied from the point the council is told, so an early call is worth making.

Will the house lose value while probate goes through?

Over a typical wait, very little moves. Nationwide reported annual house price growth of 1.6% in August 2026, published on 1 September 2026, which works out at roughly 0.13% a month. A five-week wait is not where the money in a probate sale is won or lost.

The bigger variable is the asking price and the agent who sets it. That is worth the time the wait gives you.

The wait is usually shorter than the family fears. The preparation you do inside it is what decides how the sale goes.

This is general information rather than legal advice, and every estate differs. Your probate solicitor is the right person to confirm what applies to yours.

ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents. For an executor that means you can see how multiple local agents would price and market the property, without giving out your details or fielding calls, while the grant is still with the registry.