The title still names a dead proprietor. The estate solicitor says probate is “in hand”. The broker sends a death certificate and asks for a bridging loan against the sale. Credit does not stall on LTV first. It stalls because nobody has shown a sealed grant that proves who can sell.
StatusKWO prices short commercial facilities for professional investors, developers and corporate borrowers. Main-home owner-occupier files sit outside that book. Published figures currently show a monthly rate from 1.25%, an entry fee of 2%, an exit fee of 1.5%, LTV up to 85%, loans from £10,000 to £10,000,000+ and terms up to 16 months. Those numbers do not replace executor papers when the seller is a personal representative.
The estate DIP that stalls when the grant never leaves the solicitor file
A tidy decision in principle on the asset alone is not a funded facility. Most specialist desks still need proof that the people instructing the sale can deal with the legal estate.
Our sale-exit pack covers diaries, STC papers and Plan B. The source-of-funds pack covers deposit trails. The page you are reading is narrower. It is the probate grant evidence a specialist desk wants before it funds an unregulated commercial bridge tied to a deceased estate.
Start the enquiry with one page. Address and title number. Gross and net loan. Term. Named exit. Full legal name of the deceased. Date of death. Whether there is a will. Full names of every executor or administrator who will deal with the property. Say whether the grant has issued, has been applied for or is still stuck on Inheritance Tax. Then attach the sealed grant or a clear timeline before the glossy brochure. Credit can read a brochure in five minutes. They cannot invent capacity from a covering email.
GOV.UK’s what is probate page is blunt. Probate is the legal right to deal with someone’s property, money and possessions when they die. Without that right evidenced, a specialist lender cannot treat the seller as able to complete.
Grant of probate versus letters of administration and who can sell
Brokers often say “probate” for every estate file. The paper matters.
If there is a will, the named executors apply for a grant of probate. If there is no will, the closest eligible relative applies for letters of administration. GOV.UK sets that out in the apply for probate steps and in the before you apply checklist. Credit wants the right document for the estate in front of them, not a label.
Name every personal representative who will sign. If one executor has power reserved and another will act alone, write that on page one. Silence forces credit to assume every named person must sign and then unwind it later.
A professional buyer purchasing from an estate still needs the seller’s grant in the legal pack. The borrower’s own SPV papers do not replace the seller’s capacity. Auction clocks make that worse. A hammer date with twenty-eight days to complete does not invent a grant that has not issued. Pre-check the estate papers before the catalogue goes live if the lot is marketed as a probate sale. Our auction finance process still needs seller capacity as well as the lot papers.
Portfolio finance files that pick up one estate asset inside a wider book create the same ask on that title. Do not hide a missing grant behind cleaner sister properties. Credit will open the estate title on its own.
Sealed grant copies death certificate and executor identity credit will open
Credit will not fund a sale they cannot prove the seller can complete.
Send a clear sealed grant of probate or letters of administration once it has issued. Office copies ordered with the application help when several parties need originals at once. GOV.UK notes that extra copies can be ordered with the application so organisations can be served in parallel. Screenshots that crop the court seal fail. A draft application form is not a grant.
Death certificate evidence sits beside the grant when the title still needs updating or when the file is early. It does not replace the grant for a sole proprietor sale. Treat it as supporting paper, not as capacity.
Identity for each acting personal representative still matters. Passport or photocard licence. Recent proof of address. The residential address that will sit on facility documents if an executor is also borrowing. Our general bridging pack note already asks for identity. The probate zip must not skip it because the death certificate arrived first.
Limited grants need a flag on page one. If the grant is limited in time, purpose or age of a named executor, say so before solicitors draft. Credit would rather restructure early than discover a limitation in the lender’s solicitor’s preliminary report.
Foreign grants need a UK path. GOV.UK’s update property records when someone dies guidance is clear that a grant issued outside the UK usually needs a UK grant or resealing before Land Registry will update ownership. Do not treat a foreign probate scan as enough for an English registered title.
Land Registry deceased proprietor path and why a title still naming the dead stalls funding
Official copies that still show the deceased as proprietor are common. They are also a red flag if nobody explains the next Land Registry step.
GOV.UK’s practice guide 6 on devolution on the death of a registered proprietor sets out the evidence Land Registry wants. For a sole proprietor, personal representatives prove entitlement with a grant before they can be registered or transfer. For a joint proprietor, form DJP plus evidence of death can remove the deceased where the legal estate passes to the survivor. Write which path applies on the one-pager.
A sale by personal representatives to a third party needs the grant in the buyer’s hands. GOV.UK’s update guide says the buyer must be given an official copy of the grant of probate or letters of administration issued in the UK. That is not optional paperwork for completion day theatre. It is how title moves.
If personal representatives will first register themselves and then sell, show that plan. If they will transfer straight from the estate using the grant without an intermediate registration, say that too. Credit prices delay. An unexplained proprietorship entry that still names the dead burns days while solicitors chase the grant.
Joint tenancy survivorship is different from a sole estate sale. A surviving joint proprietor who can sell without a full grant still needs the register cleaned where form DJP applies. Do not assume every “probate sale” label on a portal listing matches the title. Open the register first.
Development finance files that later sit on an estate purchase need the same title hygiene before works money moves. A planning pack does not cure a dead proprietor on the register.
Inheritance Tax IHT400 timing and what lenders ask before the grant issues
Some brokers ask for bridging while the grant is still months away. That only works when the timeline is honest.
GOV.UK’s before you apply steps require the estate to be valued for Inheritance Tax first. If full details are needed, form IHT400 goes to HMRC before the probate application. Where tax is due, payments usually start before the grant issues and HMRC then sends a unique code. The Inheritance Tax reporting page is clear that you need that code before applying for probate in England and Wales.
Put the IHT status on page one. Excepted estate with probate applied. IHT400 lodged and waiting for the code. Tax on instalments because the house is hard to sell. Or grant already sealed. Soft language such as “tax being dealt with” forces a question list.
A bridge that funds a professional buyer of an estate asset still needs the seller’s grant path. A bridge that funds executors who need cash for tax, repairs or to clear a first charge needs even tighter papers. Show who is borrowing. Show whether the facility sits against the estate property with personal representatives as borrower or against a purchasing SPV. Our personal guarantee pack covers director liability when an SPV buys. It does not replace the seller grant.
Do not invent a completion date that ignores HMRC timing. GOV.UK currently points applicants to expect weeks after a clean online submission and longer when more information is needed. Auction lots marketed as “probate granted” need that claim checked against a sealed copy, not a brochure sentence.
How estate bridges sit with sale refinance auction and insurance packs
The grant sits beside the rest of the file. It does not replace it.
Sale exits still need a diary, asking history and a Plan B. Our sale-exit evidence note covers that residual. A sealed grant without a credible sale path is only half a pack. Refinance exits need a live illustration and redemption statement figures on any first charge being cleared from the deceased’s name.
Auction purchases of probate stock need the legal pack plus the grant trail. Our auction legal pack note covers searches and special conditions. Add the sealed grant or a dated solicitor letter on when it will issue. A twenty-eight day clock does not forgive a missing capacity paper.
Buildings insurance must still name the right insured interest. Empty estate houses often sit unoccupied. Our buildings insurance pack already flags occupancy. Estate files need the same honesty. An unoccupied clause that lapses mid-bridge is a credit event, not a clerical footnote.
Works bridges on estate stock need a budget and a who-signs map. Personal representatives instructing contractors are not the same as a trading developer SPV. Put the contracting party next to the grant names so credit can see capacity against the works risk.
What brokers should put in the first probate zip
Brokers who send one clear zip save a day of chase. Name the files so a human can open them.
- One-page summary with title number, loan ask, exit, deceased name, date of death, will or intestacy and named personal representatives.
- Sealed grant of probate or letters of administration, or a dated solicitor letter on application status and expected issue.
- Death certificate copy where the register still needs updating or the grant has not issued.
- Official copies of the register and title plan showing the current proprietorship entry.
- Note on the Land Registry path (sale by personal representatives, registration of personal representatives, or DJP for a deceased joint proprietor).
- Inheritance Tax status in one paragraph with IHT400 or excepted-estate wording where relevant.
- Identity and address proof for each acting personal representative who will sign.
- Sale diary, auction special conditions or refinance illustration that matches the named exit.
- Buildings insurance schedule with occupancy stated.
- Any limitation on the grant called out in plain English on page one.
Identity for a purchasing SPV, source of funds and company papers still sit in the general packs. They are not replaced by a grant. They sit beside it.
Rates and fees only move when capacity and exit are both credible. A soft ask with no sealed grant still costs entry fee, exit fee and monthly interest from 1.25% on the published schedule. Stretching the term because probate is “nearly there” does not make the residual stronger. It usually makes it weaker.
If the grant has issued and the sale can complete inside the term, redeem on time and close the file. If the grant is still with HMRC or the Probate Service, bring a dated timeline before you ask credit to price a completion that cannot yet happen.
Frequently asked questions
Is a death certificate enough to fund an estate sale bridge?
No. A death certificate supports the file and may help update a joint proprietorship, but a sole proprietor sale normally needs a sealed grant of probate or letters of administration before personal representatives can deal with the legal estate. Credit wants the grant or a dated path to it, not a certificate alone.
Can credit price while the grant is still with HMRC?
Sometimes a DIP can issue on a clear timeline. Funding usually waits for the sealed grant or for lender solicitors to confirm a completion-ready path. Put the IHT400 status and any HMRC unique-code wait on page one so nobody pretends a hammer date invents capacity.
What if the title still shows the deceased as proprietor?
Explain the Land Registry path. Sale by personal representatives with the grant, registration of personal representatives first, or form DJP where a joint proprietor has died and the survivor takes the legal estate. An unexplained dead name on the register stalls legal work.
Do auction probate lots need the sealed grant in the legal pack?
Yes when the seller is dealing as personal representative of a sole deceased proprietor. Check the special conditions and ask for the sealed copy early. A catalogue line that says probate is in hand is not evidence.
Does StatusKWO lend on consumer estate bridges against a main home?
No. StatusKWO’s facilities are unregulated commercial lending for professional and corporate property borrowers. Owner-occupier main-home cases sit outside that perimeter. Use the DIP engine only for commercial investment and development stock that fits the product set.
