Can executors sell property themselves?

Yes. Once the grant of probate is issued, the executor has authority to sell estate property and does not need beneficiaries' consent to do so. An executor buying the property themselves is a different matter: that is self- dealing, it needs the informed agreement of the beneficiaries or the court, and it should not be done informally.

Are cash offers legally binding?

Not when they are made. In England and Wales a property sale becomes legally binding only on exchange of contracts, so until then either side can walk away. That cuts both ways: it protects the estate if a better route appears, and it means an accepted offer is not a guarantee until contracts are exchanged.

Do executors need permission to sell property?

Not from beneficiaries, once the grant is issued, the authority comes from the grant itself. The obligation is to act in the estate's best interests and to be able to show it, which means keeping valuations, offers and reasoning on record. Where the will names more than one executor, they generally have to act together.

For solicitors and estate professionals

What we offer

What does Augusta offer a professional acting for an estate?

A completion date you can give a client: We buy with our own funds. There is no mortgage offer to wait for and no chain behind us, so the date we commit to is the date we complete on.
No renegotiation at the searches: We price on the property as it is, having seen the problems. A survey or a search result that would reduce another buyer’s offer does not move ours.
We take the cases that have failed: Withdrawn listings, failed auctions, unmortgageable stock, title defects, tenants in place. These are the instructions that sit on a file for a year.
Your client’s legal fees covered: We cover the estate’s conveyancing costs and the property clearance, which removes two line items from an estate that may have no liquidity yet.

Working together

How does the referral actually work?

Send us the postcode, the condition, and where the estate has got to with probate. We come back with a position, normally within 48 hours, and we will tell you if we think another route serves your client better.

We deal directly with the estate’s solicitor from that point. We do not require exclusivity, we do not charge the estate a fee, and we do not ask a professional to recommend us, the completion record is the argument or it is not.

We also work alongside surveyors, clearance firms and renovation contractors where an estate needs them, and can introduce them without taking a commission.

Questions

What do professionals ask before referring a file?

Can an executor sell the property themselves?

Yes, once the grant of probate is issued the executor has authority to sell without the beneficiaries’ consent, provided they act in the estate’s best interests. Most instruct a solicitor anyway, because the duty is personal and the exposure is theirs.

Is the offer legally binding?

Not until contracts are exchanged, in the ordinary way. What differs is what sits behind it: no mortgage offer, no chain and no survey condition, so the figure agreed at the outset is the figure at completion.

Does the executor need anyone’s permission to sell?

No. Beneficiaries have to be kept informed and their interests protected, but they do not hold a veto. Where there is a real dispute we would rather it were resolved first than have the sale become part of it.

Read the full FAQ

Where can you read more before referring a file?

Files where the obstacle is title, condition or a collapsed chain are covered in how we handle a complex estate. Where you want something to send the client rather than read yourself, the comparison of the three ways to sell is written for them, and what an executor is responsible for sets out the duty they are actually under.

Being straight about it

When should you not send an estate to us?

If the property is in good order, the estate is not under time pressure and the beneficiaries are in agreement, the open market will almost always achieve more. We are the right answer when certainty, condition or a broken chain is the binding constraint, rather than by default.

No obligation

Would you like to discuss a file?

Send the details and we will give you a straight answer on whether we can help, including when we cannot.

Talk through your options