Limited Title Guarantee

When I got home from work last night we had received a letter from our solicitor with a copy of a letter they had received from the sellers solicitors.

The letter is all about the fact the they will only be offering a "Limited Title Guarantee" as it appears the house we are buying was left to somebody in a will who subsequently died as well, leaving their assets to somebody else.

That all seems quite sad to me. The person who was supposed to get the house never got a chance to enjoy their inheritance, I am sure this would not have been what the original owner would have wanted.

The letter goes on to confirm that they will not be able to exchange until they have probate. That's OK. It will give us more time to work on budgets etc.

Whilst I shouldn't really criticise the use of English I am struck by the grammatical and other errors in the letter from the sellers lawyers. I will resist the temptation to scan a copy of the letter in but the highlight has to be the phrase:-

"..... selling in that capacity. and so the title"

When I was at school (a long time ago) sentences started with a capital letter and not the word "and". Perhaps they don't proof read letters any more.

Looking up what a "Limited Title Guarantee" is I am finding lots of definitions similar to the one below.

"This is the title guarantee given by a seller where because of their limited knowledge of the property the full title guarantee cannot be given (e.g. a personal representative of a deceased owner or a mortgagee in possession)"

I guess this is OK but I'll will know better when our solicitors gives me a report on title prior to exchange.