Tenants in Common and Solicitors charging extra...

bobmeister2k

I am currently in the process of moving from my flat to a house.

Based on recommendations I avoided the "bulk conveyancers" and paid an extra couple of hundred to get "proper" service from Phillips-Law.

We currently have our flat registered on a "Tenants in common" basis with myself and my fiance owning 90% of the flat and my parents about 10%. Setting this up was included in the conveyancing when we bought the flat.

When moving house, I need the same thing (me and fiance 95%, parents 5% due to new house being higher value).

Crazily enough(!) I had assumed that the document outlining legal ownership of the house would be included in the (very high) fees charged by the solicitor responsible for helping with the buying of the house. Apparently, this is not the case.

They are attempting to charge me £300 +VAT for a "declaration of trust" which is apparently necessary in this situation. This seems insane and also crazily expensive for a 1 page piece of paper.

More annoyingly, they are demanding I see them in person, during work hours, in Basingstoke (I live in London) - which means I essentially need to take a day unpaid.

Is this as strange as it seems? Any advice as to what I should be doing?

Thanks!

pete1968_2

Do it yourself! Do you know the title number of your property, if so download a form SEV from Land Registry web site and apply to severe the joint tenancy.

You could prepare a form of Deed of Trust yourself to confirm the shares in the property, could you not copy the one done previously for the flat and weak to suit (although not needed for Land Registry purposes). All registered proprietors must sign the form SEV.

If you don't know your title number, the Land Registry web site will give you info on how to find out your title number and get a copy of your register for £4

landregistry. gov.ukwps/portal/property search

bobmeister2k

pete1968 wrote: »

Do it yourself! Do you know the title number of your property, if so download a form SEV from Land Registry web site and apply to severe the joint tenancy.

You could prepare a form of Deed of Trust yourself to confirm the shares in the property, could you not copy the one done previously for the flat and weak to suit (although not needed for Land Registry purposes). All registered proprietors must sign the form SEV.

If you don't know your title number, the Land Registry web site will give you info on how to find out your title number and get a copy of your register for £4

landregistry. gov.ukwps/portal/property search

We have not moved yet - does this need to be done prior to / at the same time as moving or can we do it afterwards?

Was just thinking about copying the one we already have (amending the percentages).

So am I right in saying:

(1) The declaration of trust - we only need copies of this for our purposes (not for land registry)

(2) We would just need to severe whatever agreement is set up upon moving with the Land Registry

(3) We then register that we have a declaration of trust under tenancy in common in place

Thanks very much for the advice, getting quite worked up by all the extra costs with moving (trying to plan a wedding at the same time is double the fun!)

timmyt

bobmeister2k wrote: »

I am currently in the process of moving from my flat to a house.

Based on recommendations I avoided the "bulk conveyancers" and paid an extra couple of hundred to get "proper" service from Phillips-Law.

We currently have our flat registered on a "Tenants in common" basis with myself and my fiance owning 90% of the flat and my parents about 10%. Setting this up was included in the conveyancing when we bought the flat.

When moving house, I need the same thing (me and fiance 95%, parents 5% due to new house being higher value).

Crazily enough(!) I had assumed that the document outlining legal ownership of the house would be included in the (very high) fees charged by the solicitor responsible for helping with the buying of the house. Apparently, this is not the case.

They are attempting to charge me £300 +VAT for a "declaration of trust" which is apparently necessary in this situation. This seems insane and also crazily expensive for a 1 page piece of paper.

More annoyingly, they are demanding I see them in person, during work hours, in Basingstoke (I live in London) - which means I essentially need to take a day unpaid.

Is this as strange as it seems? Any advice as to what I should be doing?

Thanks!

never seen a declaration of trust that much £195 plus VAT but hey ho.

G_M

As well as getting the Title documents instantly online for £4, you can ring the Land registry who help answer Qs about how to register/change etc. Call their help line.

Richard_Webster

Yes, do it yourself and then when something goes wrong some litigation solicitor may be paid thousands to sort out the problems when there are arguments about what the document means.

It is entirely reasonable that there should be an extra charge for providing a deed of trust, which is not something that most people will want.

Part of the issue with these "simple" declarations of trust is that those concerned often assume they know what will happen. Then something happens they weren't expecting, but quite predictable, like a fall in property prices. In this case, for instance, the parents are to have 5%. Do they realise that if the property goes down in value they will only get 5% of the reduced figure or were they expecting to get at least the lump sum they put in initially?

Are the percentages to be calculated out of the sale proceeds and the mortgage paid off out of the 95% or are the percentages only to be applied to the net proceeds after the mortgage etc has been paid off? Quite a difference.

In this case those concerned may have addressed all that and fully understand the implications but solicitors will not necessarily know that and will want to make sure that all do understand what they are signing. There are a lot of people out there who are not that numerate and can't really understand the figures and the implications.