Death of the seller or buyer between exchange and completion


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Property expert
Practice notes

Death of the seller or buyer between exchange and completion


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Property expert

Practice notes
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Status of the contract

During the process of buying a property, exchange of contracts is when the parties exchange signed contracts, and the buyer pays the deposit. Once this has taken place, the agreement becomes legally binding and major penalties apply if either party backs out.

Given exchange constitutes a binding agreement, the death of one party to the contract does not affect the validity of the contract. The benefit and burden of the contract will pass to the executors of the deceased (if they had made a will) or their administrators (if they died Intestate) who are bound to complete. Note that the term 'Personal representatives' (PRs) is often used to mean both executors and administrators. The surviving party would be entitled to insist that the PRs continue to meet the terms of the agreement. However, it is likely that there will be delays beyond any fixed Completion date (see below). If Completion is delayed, the party causing the delay (in this case, the deceased’s PRs) will be in breach, and the usual remedies

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Completion definition
What does Completion mean?

means completion of this agreement in accordance with clause[s] [insert number of the clause(s) dealing with completion of the agreement];

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