My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Tewkesbury with RBS. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the RBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS 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 RBS 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.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my property in Tewkesbury. Conveyancing solicitors have now been instructed on the sale but I am unable to track down the deeds. Will this cause complications?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be retained by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Tewkesbury relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
We are selling our house in Tewkesbury. Does my conveyancer need to be required to be on the Lloyds conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently in recent years.
What does a local search reveal concerning the house I am purchasing in Tewkesbury?
Tewkesbury conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Tewkesbury conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search will reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject sections.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Tewkesbury is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Tewkesbury are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Tewkesbury you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Tewkesbury may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
If instructed can a conveyancer remove a name from the title of my home in Tewkesbury ?
Extracting or adding someone to the title of your home is relatively straightforward. You’ll need to appoint a lawyer to discuss your legal rights before you can proceed with a transfer of property. Contact us to book a free consultation with one a solicitor