My fiance and I intend to remortgage our flat in Almondsbury with Lloyds. We have a son 19 who lives with us. 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 forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 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 Lloyds 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 Lloyds. This is solely used to protect Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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 a first time buyer what is the most important number one tip you can give me concerning purchase conveyancing in Almondsbury?

Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Almondsbury or throughout England and Wales is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for confrontation between you and others involved in the house moving process. For example, the vendor, estate agent and sometimes a bank. Choosing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Almondsbury is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the legal process whose interest is to act in your best interests and to keep you safe.

There is a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you must always trust your lawyer above the other players when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

The Almondsbury conveyancing firm that just started acting on my purchase in Almondsbury have without warning shut down. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel and my previous Almondsbury lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT on account. What are my options?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors 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 Kent Reliance 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 solicitors may be able to help.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property are lost. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Almondsbury 5 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?

As long as the title is registered the details of your proprietorship will be documented by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is possible to carry out a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and obtain up to date copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for £20 inclusive of VAT.

I want to sublet my leasehold apartment in Almondsbury. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Almondsbury do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Almondsbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability? It would be wise to find out as much as you can about the company managing the building as they can either make living at the property much simpler or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to daily issues such as the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that the service charges are due to the managing agents and precisely what it includes. For most Almondsbury leaseholds the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Almondsbury obliged leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.