Purchasing a deceased estate dilemma- Urgent

Hello everyone. A friend came to me and my husband with a dilemma regarding the contract of a property that he really wants and is going to auction tomorrow 1/5/21. Any last minute commentary would be greatly appreciated!

The property is well priced for the area he is looking in and needs significant cosmetic works, though is structurally sound as per the building and pest. If it goes for 10-15% over asking price I personally think it's a great buy.

Context: The house is a deceased estate (the owner went to a high care facility prior to her death) and had been put up for sale by the owners 2 children previously while their mother was still alive. It had to withdraw previously as they couldn't sell it while she was still alive. It is now up for auction tomorrow, however the death certificate is not ready and the vendor does not have probate granted yet as the vendor can't apply for probate without a death certificate.

Therefore the sale of the contract is subject to the vendor being granted the probate in the first place... The vendor is the daughter of the other who died. For family context the deceased owner had had 2 children and was wife number 2 of 3 of their father (so we are unsure if any other family members will come out of the woodworks to contest the sale of the property). Until the probate has been granted, the sale of the contract is in limbo per se as the vendor does not have the legal right to sell the property. Therefore can not settle the house with the purchaser and deposit is held in limbo for an unknown period presenting opportunity costs to our friend. This is the worst case scenario. Or correct me please if this could be any worse from experience?

Best case scenario is vendor gets the death certificate within 2 weeks, applies for probate and after 2 weeks is granted probate and is ready to settle.

Thoughts?
(Our friend also has his conveyancer looking through the contract, but we thought it might be a good idea to get a diverse perspective).

 

No one has any legal authority to sell the contract without probate granted (or administration). Probate will take ages to be granted because notice must be given to give a chance for others to apply or contest probate.
There is also a chance that the person who applies for probate may not be granted it.If this happens and someone else is granted probate you won't have a contract. you might be able to negotiate with them, but they may sell it to someone else.
So take this into account and don't plan on a settlement for 6 months or so.

 

Best case. When it came to my parents the death certificates took a little longer, but I did the Administration and Probate applications myself, once lodged they took less than two weeks. If you are using a solicitor they seem to take a long time before lodgement, maybe on the premise there's no urgency to do them withing 6 months? This is in NSW though.

TBH the auction sounds premature, I would have thought the probate applicant wouldn't technically even have the capacity to sign a contract with the REA to advertise or conduct an auction. It wouldn't surprise me if the auction doesn't go ahead, and I would be asking the REA if they have considered this?

 

Thanks for your prompt replies. I passed them onto my friend. He still went ahead with the auction and won at 22% over top estimate price (the property was very much underquoted based on actual comparables in the area).
If it takes longer to settle I think he will be OK as he is living with family and has no immediate need to move. Hopefully for his sake it's a smooth process from here.
Thanks for your advice.