My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse in Culcheth with Virgin Money. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 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 forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.

The Culcheth conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Culcheth have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my preferred Culcheth lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What should be my next steps?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Barclays conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.

I have recentlydiscovered that Wolstenholmes have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Culcheth for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is in my name in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest method to check if the property is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Culcheth conveyancing specialists.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Culcheth I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Culcheth for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage that many years may be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.

I am are looking to find a value for money conveyancing lawyer in Culcheth to purchase a apartment. I I am concerned about appointing the wrong one but with many Culcheth conveyancing practices out there...who do I opt for?

If you have never used a lawyer previously, a trustworthy recommendation through family or friends is a preferable starting point and is often the best barometer of quality. Alternatively, take a look at the client feedback presented on your solicitor’s website or use our search tool to choose a conveyancing lawyer in Culcheth.