My wife and I are looking to buy a flat in Driffield and have appointed a Driffield conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Halifax have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Driffield solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Driffield lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

I require conveyancing for a flat in a relatively new development (6 years old) in Driffield. 95% of the appartments are already occupied. Do I need carry out the conveyancing searches as part of conveyancing in Driffield?

Where you are obtaining a loan, your mortgage company will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Driffield conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have the searches done, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you insist that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in Driffield.

Do lenders provide you with an approved list of Driffield conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Skipton conveyancing panel?

Driffield conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Skipton directly.

My partner has encouraged me to appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Driffield. Do I follow his guidance?

No doubt the ideal way to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to have recommendations from friends or family who have previously instructed the firm that you are considering.

My mother purchased her house in Driffield 9 years past. She has been married, widowed and in recent months got married again. She now wants to the sell the Driffield property. I believe she will simply be asked to supply copies of her marriage certificates to the conveyancer however she is anxious it will frustrate the house sale. Is it worth updating the title documents for the house?

It is not absolutely necessary to bring up to date the register on the basis that you have the evidence required to demonstrate how the change of name occurred.

The buyer’s solicitor should review the registered information and require evidence to prove the name change for example marriage certificates.