My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Chessington with RBS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the RBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your RBS 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 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.
As someone with no idea as to conveyancing in Chessington what’s your top tip you can impart for the home moving process in Chessington
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Chessington or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of room for conflict between you and other parties involved in the house moving process. For example, the seller, estate agent and even potentially a bank. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Chessington should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the legal process whose responsibility is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.
Every so often a potential adversary will attempt to convince you that you should follow their advice. For instance, the selling agent may claim to be helping by claiming that your conveyancer is slow. Or your financial adviser may tell you to do take action that is against your conveyancers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the home moving process.
We are downsizing from our house in Chessington and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers used an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Chessington. We have lived in Chessington for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)
How does conveyancing in Chessington differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Chessington come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is completed. This is because house builders in Chessington usually acquire the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Chessington or who has acted in the same development.
I have been pointed in your direction by a number of property agents in Chessington to select a solicitor on your site. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your lawyers ahead of a competitor’s?
We don’t offer any financial incentive for sending work in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because 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.
Should I instruct a Chessington conveyancing lawyer based in the area that I am buying? I have an old university friend who can execute the legal work however they are based 400miles away.
The primary upside of using a high street Chessington conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to sign paperwork, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were happy that must trump using an unknown Chessington conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.