My fiance and I are refinancing our apartment in Chichester with . We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 . This is solely used to protect 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 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.

Is it necessary to pay for insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a house in Chichester?

Unless a prior acquisition of the property took place after 12 October 2013 you can assume that conveyancing practitioners carrying out conveyancing in Chichester to continue to suggest a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in Chichester. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do call 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 Chichester of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Chichester. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have recently received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would given that all rents and service invoices should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Chichester - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

Best to be warned whether redecorating or some other significant cost is due in the near future to be shared by the leaseholders and could well dramatically impact the level of the service charges or necessitate a specific invoice. Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block? Is there a share of the freehold?

My partner and I are buying a studio flat in Chichester. At the point of instructing our , they told us that they were on all major UK bank panels. The mortgage broker contacted us just now to advise that they are not on the approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Do we simply pick a different that is on their panel or should we cover the costs for separate representation, with selecting their own preferred .

When buying a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchaser’s solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the has to fulfill. Some lenders now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your should contact to discover if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on 's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Chichester lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.