Selling house buyer is a trust

Pat38493

We are selling our house and we are due to exchange contracts this week with a completion date already agreed.

There now seems to be a delay because, if I understand my solicitor correctly, he has told their solicitor that their draft transfer deed is incorrect.

It seems like they are buying our house into a trust (my guess is that it’s a vulnerable person’s trust because disabilities has been mentioned a few times along the process).  

According to my solicitor, they had named the trust itself as the transferee of the transfer deed, and Trust is not actually a person or legal entity so it cannot “own” a house as such.  He is saying that the trustees have to be the transferees from the perspective of the transfer deed as the trustees hold the asset on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries.

Should I be worried about this?  Either because this could put a spoke in the wheels of the transaction, or because it implies that the buyer’s solicitor doesn’t know what they are doing (or my solicitor is wrong)?

HobgoblinBT

When we purchased a house in circumstances similar to that which you describe, the house was purchased in the name of the two trustees (my wife and daughter), and a declaration of trust was also completed confirming the ownership.  I don’t know if my experience is the only way that a trust can own a property.

Should you be worried? ………..  Buying and selling houses is supposed to be one of the more stressful life events and it will take as long as it takes. You have a choice to be stressed about it or take it calmly.  Your choice.

The simple solution is for the solicitor who prepared the contracts to prepare amended contracts which in these days of word processing, Docusign and emails could be completed in a day two at most, subject to the relevant parties wanting to exchange asap.  

Is it worth explaining the situation to your estate agent in order that they can do any expediting required ie liaising between solicitors, you and the buyers?  After all, you are paying them and they will want their fee, ideally before the end of the month to hit their office fees target.  And doing so will likely reduce any anxiety that you may have. 

user1977

Pat38493 said:

Should I be worried about this? 

Only if you've run out of other stuff to be worried about. It is easily sorted.