The Exmouth conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Exmouth have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I needed a solicitor on the conveyancing panel and my previous Exmouth lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the 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 assist.

I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in Exmouth. Now, I need my documents however cannot find the solicitor. 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 Exmouth 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 was pointed in your direction by numerous estate agents in Exmouth to find a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to market your site over and above another?

We refuse to make any referral fee for directing people in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

As co-executor for the estate of my grandmother I am selling a residence in Neath but reside in Exmouth. My solicitor (approximately 300 miles from mehas requested that I sign a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Exmouth who can witness and place their company stamp on the document?

Technically speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Exmouth

I own a leasehold flat in Exmouth. Conveyancing and mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Exmouth who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Exmouth conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Exmouth, conveyancing was carried out 1995. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Exmouth with a long lease are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 50

You have 50 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.