My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our apartment in Hagley with Kent Reliance. We have a son 19 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. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance. This is solely used to protect Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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.

We are purchasing a flat and need a conveyancing solicitor in Hagley who is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Can you recommend a local conveyancing firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Skipton . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Hagley.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unseasoned as a 1st time buyer of a garden flat in Hagley. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Hagley?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the completion advance to the seller's lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be invited to pick up the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.

When it comes to lenders such as Co-operative, do Hagley solicitors face a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are not aware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Kent Reliance are being pedantic. The Hagley solicitor who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Kent Reliance are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Kent Reliance have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Kent Reliance have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kent Reliance may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Should our lawyer be raising enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Hagley.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Hagley. Plenty of people will purchase a house in Hagley, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that can be undertaken by the buyer or by their lawyers which can figure out the risks in Hagley. The conventional set of information sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual inquiry of the seller to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an inaccurate reply. A purchaser’s lawyers should also carry out an environmental report. This should higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be conducted.

I am purchasing a flat with all finances in place. My lawyer has been handed with two separate proof of photo identification, bank statement, endless utility bills. Now he wants a copy from a probate lawyer stating that the money is in order and that it has come from inheritance and not dealing E's in Ibiza.

For some years now requires conveyancing solicitors as well as banks, building societies and other financial institutes to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of the client. This is because solicitors who deal with money and property on behalf of their clients can be used by criminals wishing to launder money. In order to comply with the law of money laundering, your Hagley conveyancing lawyer will need to obtain evidence of your identity as as well as make sure that your funds are legitimate.