My wife and I are refinancing our maisonette in Castleton with Barclays. 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, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he did not need 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.
As someone unfamiliar with the Castleton conveyancing process what’s your top tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in Castleton
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Castleton and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of room for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the home moving process. For example, the vendor, property agent and sometimes your mortgage company. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Castleton should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the transaction whose interest is to look after your best interests and to protect you.
Sometimes a third party with a vested interest may try and convince you that it is in your interests to do things their way. As an example, the estate agent may claim to be helping by claiming that your conveyancer is slow. Or your mortgage broker may advise you to do take action that is contrary to your conveyancers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the home moving process.
What does a local search tell me about the house my wife and I buying in Castleton?
Castleton conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Castleton conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (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.
My wife and I have a terraced Victorian house in Castleton. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. Is it worth asking Virgin Money to clarify?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Castleton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Castleton ahead of retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some banks may refuse to issue a loan on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Castleton. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.