My husband and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Lichfield with Santander. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 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 Santander 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
I note that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to have this when acquiring a property in Lichfield? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that could mean that homeowners residing in a parish church boundary will be compelled to pay for repairs towards the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this suitable for conveyancing in Lichfield?
Unless a prior acquisition of the property completed after 12 October 2013 you can expect lawyers handling conveyancing in Lichfield to continue to propose a a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in Lichfield. Now, I need the documents but the law firm has closed. 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 Lichfield of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am purchasing a new build house in Lichfield with a loan from The Mortgage Works. The sellers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about this deal as it will impact my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Lichfield is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Lichfield are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Lichfield you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Lichfield may ascertain 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 premises.
As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a property in Swansea but I am based in Lichfield. My solicitor (who is 235 kilometers from mehas requested that I sign a statutory declaration ahead of the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Lichfield who can attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are based in Lichfield