Author Archive
The Supreme Court changes the rules on Property ownership
Today is an exciting day. You and your partner have bought you first home although you have decided you will not get married, at least not yet. You are in your new sitting room sharing a bottle of wine and contemplating all the things you are going to do to the place.
Simon Pook - Head of Conveyancing Team - Charles Lucas & Marshall
Fast forward a few years, you still haven’t married and the unthinkable happens; one of you dies or your relationship ends. You have paid most of the mortgage or perhaps worked a lot on home improvements. What happens?
Previously the answer could well depend on whether the property had been bought in one of your names or in joint names. If the Property was in joint names the court took a pretty rigid view that the actual ownership was 50/50 unless there was specific agreement otherwise. The Supreme Court has now decided that courts should look at what is fair in the situation. However, that may not be what is fair in your mind or what you would have agreed at the outset, if you had put your minds to it. The position becomes even more complicated if there are children involved.
Many people believe that if they live together as man and wife they have a common law marriage and gain the same rights as a married couple. This is not correct.
You should have prepared a declaration of trust which sets out your joint intentions in respect of the property and you should review that from time to time to make sure that it still sets out what you want.
If you are buying a house with another person and you are not married you should always seek advice on how you should own the property and what documents you need to protect you. As well as a declaration of trust you may need to consider a cohabitation agreement as well. A little time spent now could save a lot of time should you separate later on’
If the unthinkable happens you should take advice.
For more information please contact Simon on 01635 521212 or simon.pook@clmlaw.co.uk
Graduate Delight For Swindon Conveyancer
Lisa Keefe, of solicitors Charles Lucas & Marshall, has qualified as a Graduate Member of the Institute of Legal Executives.
She joined the firm’s residential property team in March 2010 and is an experienced conveyancer. To achieve graduate membership, Lisa has spent years in home study, ultimately passing the Professional Higher Diploma in Law and Practice which is assessed at honours degree level.
In her final exams she specialised in conveyancing practice, land law, criminal law and the law of wills and succession.
“I am so pleased that I have now completed and passed all my exams,” says Lisa. “It has been challenging at times but now I have reached the end, I am so pleased I stuck at it.”
Please contact Lisa on 01793 511055 or lisa.keefe@clmlaw.co.uk
Lisa-Marie Keefe
Thames Valley Law Firm First To Receive Law Society Stamp of Approval For Conveyancing Service
Charles Lucas Marshall, has received accreditation from the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
Accredited Conveyancing Quality Scheme
The scheme requires firms to undergo a strict assessment, compulsory training, self reporting, random audits and annual reviews.
Charles Lucas & Marshall is the first firm in Newbury, Hungerford and Wantage to be accredited under the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) – set up by the Law Society to provide the public with a recognized quality standard for conveyancing services.
The scheme has the support of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Land Registry, the Building Societies Association, Legal Ombudsman and the Association of British Insurers.
“We are delighted to have been recognised by the Law Society for the quality of our conveyancing,” says Simon Pook, head of Charles Lucas & Marshall’s Residential Property Team. “We are very proud to have the accreditation – and particularly to be the first firm in three of our office locations to receive it.”
The Law Society reports that as well as support from the mortgage lending and insurance industries, there is increasing recognition from the public of the scheme.
“We have strong evidence from our own marketing to show the public is actively seeking CQS firms,” says Simon Pook.
Please contact Simon on 01635 521212 or simon.pook@clmlaw.co.uk
Accreditation to the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme
“I am delighted to confirm that we have this morning received confirmation that we have received accreditation to the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme meaning that we have been rated as providing a high quality conveyancing service. We are particularly proud that at the moment we are the only firm in Newbury, Wantage or Hungerford who have gained accreditation. Full details of the scheme can be found at http://www.lawsocietyapproved.com/conveyancing.aspx“
New Associate at Charles Lucas & Marshall
Jackie Waller
Jackie Waller has been made an associate at law firm, Charles Lucas & Marshall.
Jackie is based in the firm’s Wantage office and has worked in residential conveyancing for over 20 years, dealing with all aspects of residential property law.
You can contact Jackie Waller on 01235 771234 or jackie.waller@clmlaw.co.uk
Charles Lucas & Marshall Expand Residential Property Team
Jas Chahal - Charles Lucas & Marshall - Swindon Conveyancing Team
Jas Chahal has joined the residential property team at lawyers, Charles Lucas & Marshall.
Jas has worked in the Swindon property market for 13 years and was latterly with Lemon & Co.
She will be based at the firm’s Swindon office although will handle client work across Charles Lucas & Marshall’s four offices in Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.
“I am delighted to be joining a firm which has a great reputation for client service and which will allow me to maintain the many working relationships and friendships I have established in Swindon,” she says.
Please contact Jas on 01793 511055 or jas.chahal@clmlaw.co.uk
New Senior Associate at Charles Lucas & Marshall
Simon Pook - Senior Associate - Charles Lucas & Marshall
Simon Pook has been made a senior associate at Newbury law firm, Charles Lucas & Marshall.
Simon joined Charles Lucas & Marshall after completing a theology degree at Westminster College, Oxford. He qualified as a legal executive five years ago and is currently joint head of the firm’s residential property team.
“Residential property work has had a bumpy ride over the last couple of years but we have been able to keep building the team here through – largely by keeping the emphasis on quality service and value for money,” he says.
Please contact Simon on 01635 521212 or simon.pook@clmlaw.co.uk
HIP’s Suspended With Immediate Effect!
As you will probably have heard by now, the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Housing Minister Grant Shapps, have today announced the immediate suspension of Home Information Packs. As of this morning, sellers do not need to have a home information pack to market a property for sale.
The requirement to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) has been retained but a seller merely has to have commissioned the certificate to start marketing a property for sale.
The HIP was introduced in 2007 by the previous government and has been plagued by controversy ever since. Hopefully by doing away with the HIP more people will be encouraged to market their property for sale to aid the housing market in what are still shaky times.
Charles Lucas & Marshall are able to arrange EPC’s due to our contacts with long established local providers ‘The Property Search Group’. The Price for an EPC, nationwide, is £65 including VAT. Contact simon.pook@clmlaw.co.uk for further information.
Mortgage Lenders Demand More Transparency In Cost Of New Homes
Traditionally, developers have often included items such as payment of stamp duty or fixtures and fittings such as carpets and curtains in their final price to new home-owners.
However, as lenders try to tighten up on mortgage fraud and ensure borrowers do not over-borrow against property values, they have imposed a change of rules which mean solicitors must declare any incentives given to home-buyers within the conveyancing process.
“Lenders want to be clear as to the true value of the property and that the value is not artificially inflated,” says Simon Pook, head of residential property at solicitors, Charles Lucas and Marshall. “We must now include paperwork which details any incentives.”
The Council of Mortgage Lenders – which has introduced the new ruling – believe the price of newly built homes is often distorted by incentives offered by developers.
They want to ensure that future mortgage offers are based on realistic prices of new property.
“This is just another indication of how tough it is to get mortgages in the current climate and how lenders are trying to tighten up every loophole possible to protect their interests,” added Simon Pook.
For more information contact Simon Pook on 01635 521212 or simon.pook@clmlaw.co.uk
Cheap Conveyancing Quotes Can Cost You Time and Money
I read a horror story recently written by a lady who had entrusted the conveyancing aspect of her house move to a bulk conveyancer. An already stressful situation became much worse thanks to the actions and sometimes inactions of the bulk conveyancer.
The first and probably the biggest lesson to be learnt from the whole sorry experience is that when buying a service you must be very careful indeed. When buying a product such as a specific make and model of washing machine, to an extent you can go to any electrical store and buy that product and it will be identical to that sold by other stores. This is not the case when purchasing a service.
This applies to all professional services whether it be doctors, dentists, accountants or, indeed, solicitors. There are good ones and bad ones in all professions.
In this particular case, the lady in question ignored her Estate Agent’s advice (and she spoke very highly of the Estate Agents in her article) to use one of 2 local solicitors, and she chose to use the bulk conveyancer, partly because they were “slightly cheaper than the local chap”. I am not saying that all bulk conveyancers are bad; there are good ones and bad ones just like solicitors.
Turning to some of the specific problems that she faced, I can say that she would not have faced them had she instructed my firm. For example, her bulk conveyancer was very slow to respond to e-mails and apparently seemed to set her telephone permanently on divert. We pride ourselves here that we answer e-mails as quickly as possible. Sometimes some research is involved before being able to reply but, nevertheless, they are answered quickly. Our telephone divert system is largely controlled by our calendars so that it switches automatically to divert should the conveyancer be in a meeting or out of the office. There is, of course, a manual facility to divert but that is only used when peace and quite is required when, for example, going through a lengthy legal document.
The bulk conveyancer insisted on communicating with everyone by post, even during the recent postal strike. We have been using e-mails as a matter of course for some years wherever possible. Obviously, if there are substantial enclosures then a letter is still more appropriate, although especially in the postal strike we have been sending some fairly bulky attachments with our e-mails to get round the problem.
An issue over an entry on a search was apparently resolved by the lady in question and the person selling the property before the conveyancer’s letter had even reached the other side’s solicitor! There are other issues with unreturned telephone calls and e-mails that were ignored but the final straw came when she found out that her conveyancer had left the firm without anyone from the firm informing her. All in all, it was not a good advert for the profession.
If you are thinking of instructing a professional for a particular service you should ask about the level of service you can expect to receive. For example, with our initial letter we send purchasers a document which sets out how the transaction should proceed, explaining about the draft Contract, searches and how Contracts are exchanged. It is a policy of our firm to return all telephone calls the same day, if at all possible, or if it transpires it is not possible, then the Client is telephoned by another member of the firm to explain the situation and to reassure them that the call will be returned the following day.
We also have a large enough Team that should any one conveyancer go on holiday or be absent through sickness, then cover is provided by other members of the Team so that your transaction will not be put on hold until your conveyancer returns.
At the end of the day, our very philosophy centers around Client Care. This is borne out by the fact that we send out Client Satisfaction Surveys at the end of each transaction and of those who reply 98% on average say that we are either “good” or “excellent.” On one particular quarter, we were rated as “good” or “excellent” by 100% of those who responded and it was a matter of some personal annoyance to me that it went back to 98% the following quarter!
The moral of the story is that cheapest is rarely the best and that when choosing any service provider you need to enquire about the service itself.
For more information contact Simon Pook on 01635 521212 or simon.pook@clmlaw.co.uk
