Seeking advice re: probate court situation
Hi - I haven't posted before but hoping to get some more informed opinions on an odd situation I have.
Husband and I are in the process of selling our house and buying a new one out of state. Closings for both are scheduled middle of next month. Yesterday we found out that the place we're under contract to buy was owned by a married couple and one of them passed away, but they were on the deed as tenants in common. The title company flagged this as a title defect and I guess the surviving spouse is just now filing it with probate court. I talked to someone at probate court in the county we're moving to today, and they said that typically once something is filed the probate hearing can be scheduled within 6-8 weeks, and is resolved quickly after the hearing (they didn't have any children, so we're hoping that it's a straightforward case with no objections). We were supposed to close two weeks from Monday. I've also talked with people who have had experience dealing with probate court and they said it can take many months, if not years....
Our realtor is optimistic and is thinking we can get something arranged so we can stay on schedule with the move if we get a temporary lease set up with the owner. Is this crazy? I have a million questions... What if probate court takes way longer than expected? Could the "rent" we pay go towards our closing costs or something, so we aren't just eating this cost? What happens if something in the house breaks during this limbo period- I guess that would need to be established in the lease, that the owner is responsible for it? Can we go ahead and start getting work done that we planned, or would it be smarter to wait until we've closed?
Any thoughts, wisdom, or perspective welcome... While I don't want to go back to house hunting or live in a hotel in the short term, I also don't want to deal with this if it's going to be a massive headache and I'm trying to gauge how big of a risk we would be taking to make this massive move without a firm closing date due to this issue.