My wife and I swapping mortgage lender for our apartment in Stamford with Barclays. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement 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 Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays 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 Barclays 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 is a decade since I bought my property in Stamford. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find the title deeds. Will this cause complications?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who acted in your purchase. Secondly in all probability the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Stamford relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more problematic but is resolvable.
Do I need to have a meeting at the offices of the solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Stamford so that I can attend their offices if required.
These days approved lawyers for banks undertake their communications through Royal Mail, internet or over the phone. This means that they can undertake the legal work for your home move no matter where you live in the country. That being said you can check if you can still book an appointment to visit conveyancing lawyer if just in case this is required.
We are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in Stamford and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. A local lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Stamford. We have lived in Stamford for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of 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 health insurance to cover that same sickness)
Am I best advised to go with a Stamford conveyancing practitioner based in the vicinity that I am buying? We have a good friend who can deal with the legal work but his firm is located 400kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a high street Stamford conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, present your ID and pester them where appropriate. Having local Stamford know how is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and they were content that must outweigh using an unknown Stamford conveyancing solicitor just because they are round the corner.
I've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Stamford. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?
Most houses in Stamford are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Stamford in which case you should be shopping around for a Stamford conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.