Solicitor acting on my behalf taking instructions

Danielle1985x

From someone I haven’t agreed to...

Just a quick question. Me and my ex partner are selling our house. His mum seems to be dealing with everything on his side. Since it is both of our houses, should I not have had to give permission that she can be involved?

Also, she has taken it upon herself to tell the solicitor that if we have not exchanged by tomorrow, we will be remarketing the house. The solicitors then went on to threaten my buyers with this. Should I have not been informed by the solicitors that this was what they were going to do and my stance on situation? Any update I am receiving is through my ex partner from his Mum.

AdrianC

Your joint solicitor is taking instructions from one of his two joint clients. That client has given permission for another individual to act on their behalf.

Did you not like the replies when you asked the same question last week?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5798084

eddddy

I'd guess that the solicitor is acting for you jointly, on the basis that there is no 'conflict of interest' between you and your ex. i.e. You are in agreement on everything.

So if your ex tells the solicitor to take instructions from your MiL, the solicitor assumes that you're in agreement.

If you are not in agreement on everything - then there is a 'conflict of interest' and you and your ex would need separate solicitors.

However, that would ramp-up the costs, add complexity, and slow things down.

The cheaper, easier route is for you and your ex (and the MiL) to reach agreement on everything first (like exchange deadlines), then tell the solicitor what you have agreed.


If you can't agree between you, you can't really expect your solicitor to arbitrate. You'd need to get separate solicitors.