Advice please - our solicitors don’t want to represent us anymore

Thrugelmir

[Deleted User] said:

SDLT_Geek said:

Poppyka said:

Hi all
hope you’re doing ok. 

I was wondering if I could kindly have some advice. 

Our parents wanted to give us some money to help buy a house and wanted to secure their money by way of a second charge based on independent legal advice given to them. However our bank have spent 6 weeks deciding whether they can accept this so to prevent further delay our parents said they would rather gift us the money instead of it means we are able to get the house. 

We updated our solicitors  on this and explained that our parents understood the risk of not having the second charge and want to solely gift us the money without wanting it returned at any point. 

Our solicitors have since turned around and say they no longer wish to represent us because they don’t want to take on the risk of our parents gifting us the money as they’re under the impression they’ve been pressured to do this!
this really isn’t the case and they’re willing to sign all paperwork stating this. 

We’re really concerned this might impact us in trying to find another solicitor to help us complete and our bank would have concerns about why the solicitors no longer wish to work with us. 

We were able to secure a fixed rate mortgage offer before the rates went up so this will have a massive financial impact on us if the offer expires and we have to get a new one. 

Does anyone have kind words to offer on where we stand with this and can solicitors really just turn their back on you like this? Thanks in advance 

Perhaps your solicitors are concerned that the same attitude could be taken here as by a couple of posters on this page https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6337766/accidentally-committing-mortgage-fraud/p2 who seem to think it is acceptable to say the advance is a gift but that the family can "sort it out later"!! 

Your solicitors are presumably also representing the commercial lender and so have to look after their interests as well.  They cannot act for both parties where there is a conflict of interest.

Sanctimonious solicitors I suppose.

Just using their common sense. 

lesalanos

Is there not now a huge risk of your parents losing money if the relationship breaks down?

user1977

lesalanos said:

Is there not now a huge risk of your parents losing money if the relationship breaks down?

It's a gift - the parents "lose" the money as soon as they make it. It becomes the OP's money, so it's up to the OP what steps they take (if any) to "secure" it from a possible break-up. It's hardly an unusual scenario