Solicitor Holding Money from Property Sale For 24 hours because they are closed on Completion Date

usejean

Due to complete tomorrow and just found out solicitor is closed tomorrow! They didn’t point this out when we agreed the completion date …..

Is my money protected in any way?

Can I delay handing over keys until money is received by me?

TIA

user1977

How do they propose to effect completion if they're closed?

m0bov

You need to urgently talk to them rather than the forum.

usejean

user1977 said:

How do they propose to effect completion if they're closed?

They say one Partner is working tomorrow so my guess is they need more than one to approve transfer or another member of staff does it on Friday

usejean

m0bov said:

You need to urgently talk to them rather than the forum.

I am but not getting very far hence asking here 

saajan_12

No, the buyer is only obligated to get the money to "your side" ie your solicitor for completion to occur, making you obligated to hand over the keys on the same date. If you don't then the buyer could claim reasonable costs from you if they can't move in on the day, eg hotel, storage, etc. 

Usually, the steps are
- buyer (/buyer's solicitor) pays seller's solicitor
- seller's solicitor confirms to the seller that completion has occurred
- seller releases keys to the buyer or agent
- Later, seller's solicitor settles any other bills and transfers the net to seller

The question to your solicitor is how they plan to do the bit in bold if they are closed. 

saajan_12

usejean said:

user1977 said:

How do they propose to effect completion if they're closed?

They say one Partner is working tomorrow so my guess is they need more than one to approve transfer or another member of staff does it on Friday

Ok so then that partner can confirm completion has occurred and then you release the keys. The transfer to you can happen later (that's normal, even if they were fully open). 

Grumpy_chap

usejean said:

Due to complete tomorrow and just found out solicitor is closed tomorrow! They didn’t point this out when we agreed the completion date …..

Is my money protected in any way?

Can I delay handing over keys until money is received by me?

TIA

Are you just selling and not also buying on the same day?

If so, I don't think the delay in releasing the sale funds to you by one day is a concern.
What does need to happen is the Solicitor needs to confirm the funds are received and confirm that Completion has taken place to both the seller (you) and the purchaser so that you can hand over the keys.
How does that happen if the Solicitors are closed?

You need to contact the Solicitor's office today for clarity on process.
You do not want to be the party that prevents Completion.

user1977

usejean said:

user1977 said:

How do they propose to effect completion if they're closed?

They say one Partner is working tomorrow so my guess is they need more than one to approve transfer or another member of staff does it on Friday

Ok, so just short-staffed rather than closed. They can complete the transaction, depending on timing it's always possible that the funds don't get forwarded on to your bank on the same day. Nothing to worry about.

usejean

user1977 said:

usejean said:

user1977 said:

How do they propose to effect completion if they're closed?

They say one Partner is working tomorrow so my guess is they need more than one to approve transfer or another member of staff does it on Friday

Ok, so just short-staffed rather than closed. They can complete the transaction, depending on timing it's always possible that the funds don't get forwarded on to your bank on the same day. Nothing to worry about.

No definitely closed but one person working to oversee transaction but not the transfer of funds.

usejean

Grumpy_chap said:

usejean said:

Due to complete tomorrow and just found out solicitor is closed tomorrow! They didn’t point this out when we agreed the completion date …..

Is my money protected in any way?

Can I delay handing over keys until money is received by me?

TIA

Are you just selling and not also buying on the same day?

If so, I don't think the delay in releasing the sale funds to you by one day is a concern.
What does need to happen is the Solicitor needs to confirm the funds are received and confirm that Completion has taken place to both the seller (you) and the purchaser so that you can hand over the keys.
How does that happen if the Solicitors are closed?

You need to contact the Solicitor's office today for clarity on process.
You do not want to be the party that prevents Completion.

Grumpy_chap said:

usejean said:

Due to complete tomorrow and just found out solicitor is closed tomorrow! They didn’t point this out when we agreed the completion date …..

Is my money protected in any way?

Can I delay handing over keys until money is received by me?

TIA

Are you just selling and not also buying on the same day?

If so, I don't think the delay in releasing the sale funds to you by one day is a concern.
What does need to happen is the Solicitor needs to confirm the funds are received and confirm that Completion has taken place to both the seller (you) and the purchaser so that you can hand over the keys.
How does that happen if the Solicitors are closed?

You need to contact the Solicitor's office today for clarity on process.
You do not want to be the party that prevents Completion.

Just selling. Issue is not finding out they’re closed until one day before! Someone is working to oversee transaction though which they didn’t tell me initially