My husband and I intend to remortgage our flat in New Forest with . We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your 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 . This is solely used to protect 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 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 close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in New Forest and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used an online conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in New Forest. Having lived in New Forest for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer already. Are they able to advise? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)

I have been advised by a few estate agents in New Forest to get a quote from a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to recommend your site over and above another?

We refuse to make any commission for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Am I better off to use a New Forest conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am buying? An old friend can deal with the conveyancing however her office is over three hundred kilometers drive away.

The benefit of a high street New Forest conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and the majority were impressed that must outweigh using an unfamiliar New Forest conveyancing lawyer just because they are based in the area.

New Forest Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What restrictions are contained in the New Forest Lease? It is important to be aware if fixing the lift or some other significant cost is pending that will be shared amongst the tenants and could well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance fees or require a specific payment. The answer will be helpful as a) areas may cause problems in the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will want to have full disclosure