Cost of name change on house deeds after divorce

Thamnophis

My husband and I divorced in March of this year after many years of separation. My solicitor and I wanted the financial agreement completed before applying for the Decree Absolute, but for various reasons (he is already engaged to a lady in Thailand and needed the paper work at a certain date, so he could organise her visa) I allowed myself to be talked into accepting the provisional agreement. I expected the offical order to take a few days, however after 3 months I have still only received the draft. One main part of our arrangement is, that I was to be able to keep his share in our house (it's shared ownership with a housing association, too), as I still live here with our children and am currently unable to work.

My current problem is, that I have been contacted by a collegue of my solicitor's, who requested an initial payment of almost £300 to change the name on the deeds to the house and a further £300 estimated payment to complete the paperwork. This seems terrible steep to me and is also completely out of my reach! Unfortunately it also comes at a time when my cooker has packed up, my garden wall is falling down and we have to turn the water off on the stop tap inbetween uses as the pipes and taps leak. My solicitor informs me that I would no longer be entitled to Legal Aid as I had gained property from our divorce, though technically speaking, that isn't yet the case as the financial order hasn't been finalised.

In your experience, wise people of this forum, is this estimate the norm? I'd be very, very grateful for your advice!

Filey

If you mean at the Land Registry, you can download the necessary papers from the Land Registry site. It is a bit confusing so I suggest you phone their customer services dept and explain the situation. They are very helpful. I think it costs £40 to process the papers. It is a bit like the conveyance when buying or selling a house. You can pay a conveyancing firm to do it. Several advertise on the internet and will give you quotations.

You need proof of identity which is a nuisance and may involve getting a solicitor to check your passport photo with your appearance and so on. I'm not sure what you do if you haven't a passport. I expect someone will post on this forum who knows more than me but I would have thought you could get it done for less than £600. Certainly a conveyance off the internet doesn't charge that.

Gloomendoom

I used an online conveyancer after my divorce. I was removing my ex's name from the deeds and sorting out a new mortgage.

I don't care how much cheaper they are, I will never use one again!

mookiandco

Ring round a few solicitors and get some quotes. You are not just changing the name on the land registry deeds, you are transferring a property to yourself from your ex. Therefore the transfer deed needs to be drawn up by the conveyancer etc. I would no use an online conveyancer when you are dealing with something so important and something you want done quickly. Some firms charge a fixed fee for this type of work so its worth ringing around. Also, you could ask your solicitors if they will agree to a payment plan for the conveyancing fees so you dont have to pay it all up front. Bear in mind though that solicitors are not obliged to carry out work without money being paid on account first.

You dont get legal aid for conveyancing as far as I know. In respect of the property, once it is in your name then due to being over the capital limit you are unlikely to be eligible for legal aid for anything else. You will also no doubt have been advised by your Solicitor that the statutory charge will arise and you will need to pay back all of your legal costs if you obtain any money or property from the divorce. If they havent mentioned it, I suggest you do because otherwise on top of whatever it is going to cost you for the conveyancing, you are going to be landed with a Solicitors bill for the divorce and financial matters.

JaneRN

I used a solicitor and it cost me £150 - but that was over 10 years ago and there was no onjection from my ex. It is worth phoning a few solicitors and getting quotes, as even allowing for inflation £600 sounds excessive.