I'm the sole recipient of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Stow on the Wold. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in January. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in January. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this provision primarily exists to identify subsales or the quick reselling of properties.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Stow on the Wold property lawyer on the Barclays panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Barclays mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I have a mortgage with RBS for my property in Stow on the Wold. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform RBS?

You must advise RBS in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of RBS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that RBS will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact RBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a RBS conveyancing panel lawyer.

I have been recommended by a number of estate agents in Stow on the Wold to choose a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?

We refuse to give any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Stow on the Wold for my house move. Is there any facility to check a solicitor's complaints history with the legal regulator?

You may find documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor call for training reasons.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Stow on the Wold. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently had a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the service charge as usual as all rents and maintenance charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I invested in buying a studio flat in Stow on the Wold, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Stow on the Wold with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2092

With 67 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Living abroad it is not practicable to travel my Stow on the Wold conveyancing practitioners office to sign documents for conveyancing in Stow on the Wold – will this be problematic?

You need not be concerned. Stow on the Wold conveyancing solicitors can undertake conveyancing transactions for clients across the country. You are unlikely to be required to visit a Stow on the Wold conveyancers office. They can handle all communications remotely from their Stow on the Wold office.