My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in North Somerset with Virgin Money. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Virgin Money had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
As someone not used to conveyancing in North Somerset what’s your top tip you can give me concerning the legal transfer of property in North Somerset
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in North Somerset or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. For instance, the vendor, estate agent and on occasion the mortgage company. Selecting a lawyer for your conveyancing in North Somerset an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose interest is to act in your legal interests and to protect you.
On occasion a third party with a vested interest may attempt to sway you that you should follow their advice. For example, the selling agent may claim to be helping by claiming that your conveyancer is wrong. Or your mortgage broker may advise you to do take action that is against your conveyancers recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
Do I need to have a meeting at the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in North Somerset so that I can attend their offices if necessary.
As opposed to ten years ago, the vast majority mortgage companies no longer oblige their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the mortgagors signature. You will still be obliged to supply ID documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local ayer, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in North Somerset.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in North Somerset. I now require my papers but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in North Somerset of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am buying a new build apartment in North Somerset. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in North Somerset
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Please supply a car parking plan. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?
I have been pointed in your direction by two or three local selling agents in North Somerset to find a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to market your site rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to give any referral fee for sending work to this site. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.