Solicitors Deeds and Dispositions

japlah

Friends sold their flat in 1994 and bought a new flat all in Edinburgh all through one solicitor now retired, gone to ground or even departed this world.

Recently these friends have sold again and moved to Norfolk. This is their final move after buying and selling a further 4 houses in the space of 18 years. I suspect they are closet gypsies but that is irrelevant. Today they phoned me to ask my opinion about a request they had received from some other solicitors currently engaged in a further sale of the flat they sold back in 1984 (flat exchanged owners at least twice since then).

The request is that they MUST sign a disposition and deed for the independent garage that they had with that flat. However when they sold that flat, the garage was not specifically mentioned. Being part of a new build it would have had a separate title and nothing further about the garage was heard from either the lady who bought the flat nor the two solicitors involved in that sale/purchase of that flat at the time.

As far as I can gather these friends were not aware that the garage had a separate title.

Now a letter has arrived (some eight solicitors later) declaring an error in the process of the dispositions and my friends are being requested to resolve it by signing a disposition and amended deed.

My thoughts are they go canny. Solicitor(s) making errors of omission may well have a financial liability which is not being mentioned. If this independent garage(1 of 10) did not clearly form part of the contract or has been short of a correct disposition for so long, then presumably the ownership may well remain with my friends ?

There is also the complication of their original solicitor not being around so there may be no "contract exchange letters" to hand. My friends don't have such as they historically have relied completely on their solicitor. Brave !

Interestingly the garage is worth between £15K and £30K. Edinburgh garages in this prime property area readily attract such sums.

Could it be that the latest solicitor/agent has just noticed this "omission" and clocked there might be some pennies to be made ?

Any thoughts ?
1 must they sign ?
2 should they consider signing ?
3 and/or have they in their "innocence" handed over the garage ?

G_M

japlah wrote: »

Any thoughts ?
1 must they sign ?
2 should they consider signing ?
3 and/or have they in their "innocence" handed over the garage ?

1) of course not.Only if they wish.
2) of course. It is wise to consider all options
3) How can they have handed it over if they have not yet signed...?

Either

A) they still own the garage without being aware of it, due to an error/omission when they sold or
they don't

If nothing needs to be signed/done
If A) they should consider their options:

i) lay claim to the garage - ie start keeping their car in it
ii) sell the garage
iii) resolve the problem amicably by giving it up

If i) or ii) they are likely to need legal advice to ensure their legalposition is sound
If iii) they are alsolikely to need legaladvice, but it would be fair to insist the party who is going to benefit (I guess the current owner who is trying to sell) pays their legal costs.

ValHaller

japlah wrote: »

If this independent garage(1 of 10) did not clearly form part of the contract or has been short of a correct disposition for so long, then presumably the ownership may well remain with my friends ?

I would say not to bother trying it on for a claim. They will muddy the waters for the current owners and create a lot of hassle, but they stand very little chance IMO of benefiting.

If they refuse to sign, they will have a big struggle to actually prove ownership now. The current owner's solicitor will go down the path of proving title by adverse possession - or whatever the process will be in Scots law (I am open to correction over how this works in Scotland).

Bear in mind that the current owner's solicitor has managed to track them down after 19 years and could presumably track down the next owner if they have not already done so. A declaration by this owner would probably scupper your friends' potential claim. And bear in mind that the current owners will be very motivated to fight your friends tooth and nail.

I would suggest that the best that could be done is to sign the disposition and get it witnessed correctly or whatever. It would get up my nose mightily to be told I MUST sign a disposition. So I would not feel inclined to return it to the solicitor but I would think about contacting the current vendors and arranging to hand over the deed to them in exchange for cash as the price of my extreme displeasure at the tone of the solicitor.

jedsonack2

Hi Jarplah,
I think you must take a leagal advice.

tim123456789

I would write back to them saying:

thank you for your letter blar blar blar...

1) We note that you are asking us to sign a legal form which, as we are not lawyers we do not understand the consequences of so doing.

2) we are thus not prepared to sign this form without independent legal advice

3) as this is not a problem of our making (and one which appers not to suffer us adverse consequences if we ignore it) see no reason why we should have to pay for this advice ourselves

So in order to proceed, please confim that your client is prepared to pay our costs in obtaining this legal advice, what sum you consider approprite, and that they will undertake to pay this bill directly to the laywer of our choice (I.e. not by you paying it and them refunding you - or not!)

And no , I not suggesting a "try on" here. The above is a perfectly reasonable request, IMHO

tim

japlah

ValHaller most helpful. I understand that no such concept of adverse possession exists in Scots Law but there is a mechanism to deal with confused title that seems to operate through the Scottish Land Register. In this case there is a clear title(though I am awaiting the results of a search) but doubt about a disposition. Ownership by 8/10 yrs uninterrupted unchallenged use will have some bearing but I think there is a need somewhere in that time for the users to legally record such use.

japlah

Thank you tim123456789. That is good advise on a strategic way forward. It neatly pushes the costs in the correct direction.....away from these good friends.

japlah

jedsonack2. Thanks, subject to the results of a search I have put into the Scottish Land Registry I agree they are perhaps best to seek advise from their current solicitor and deal with the aspect of costs as indicated by tim123456789