House transfer/buyout - Divorce

[Scabutz]

I recently got divorced, final order is in and financial consent order has been approved by the court.

Im giving up a large chunk of the equity and my ex is buying out the remaining mortgage and my share for a few notes. Ive got correspondence from her conveyancers saying I need to sign the transfer form and get an ID1 form verified by a solicitor / notary etc.

The letter says, we note you dont have a solicitor, you really should, but dont need one, but definitely do need one, but dont actually (thats me paraphrasing obvs but thats the gist.

Do I actually need a solicitor? It seems I am signing a form to transfer ownership at Land Registry to her and providing bank details to receive my wedge,

Dont really want to pay for one if not needed, just dropped £2k getting one to draft all the docs to lose most of my equity, dont want to pay any more to get whats left :-)

[Jester86]

Myself and my ex wife did the same thing.

I had to put a massive amount of faith in her, as I transferred the money and then she signed the forms. The only solicitor we used was to get the Financial Consent order made legally binding with the court, otherwise we agreed completely on split of assets, no children and the court was happy.

So as long as you have considered the risks and know what you are getting into. Go with your gut.

[Sheepshanks]

Jester86 said:

Myself and my ex wife did the same thing.

I had to put a massive amount of faith in her, as I transferred the money and then she signed the forms. The only solicitor we used was to get the Financial Consent order made legally binding with the court, otherwise we agreed completely on split of assets, no children and the court was happy.

So as long as you have considered the risks and know what you are getting into. Go with your gut.

Did you do the Land Registry transfer yourself? I looked at that a few weeks ago for a friend and the ID requirements were bonkers with a very limited number of options.

In the end her lender’s suggested conveyancing firm did it as part of the mortgage transfer into her sole name for a few hundred quid. She had some money to pay to her ex-husband and that was done through the conveyancer, which she was glad about as it provided a trail. The ex didn’t have a solicitor.

[Scabutz]

Thanks both, my ex has solicitors/conveyancers doing her mortgage and the transfer. I will sign the transfer form and return to them and they will send me the money. So there is solicitors on one side, but they seem to be suggesting I need one.

The divorce has been amicable so I trust her but just dont want to make a mistake, on the other hand doesnt seem like there is much I can do to mess it up

[BAMoFo]

Perhaps I'm being cynical, but solicitors will always cover their backsides. Recommending that you use a solicitor achieves that and also increases the wealth of the solicitor population. Win win as far as they are concerned.

[Jester86]

Sheepshanks said:

Did you do the Land Registry transfer yourself? I looked at that a few weeks ago for a friend and the ID requirements were bonkers with a very limited number of options.

In the end her lender s suggested conveyancing firm did it as part of the mortgage transfer into her sole name for a few hundred quid. She had some money to pay to her ex-husband and that was done through the conveyancer, which she was glad about as it provided a trail. The ex didn t have a solicitor.

If I remember right the mortgage company pretty much carried it out for me. They wouldn't lend to myself without the title being in my sole name, so they contacted my ex wife with the forms. I covered the cost to her for getting proof of ID.

[Sheepshanks]

Jester86 said:

If I remember right the mortgage company pretty much carried it out for me. They wouldn't lend to myself without the title being in my sole name, so they contacted my ex wife with the forms. I covered the cost to her for getting proof of ID.

Ah, that sounds the same as our friend just did. The ID requirements are simpler than if you do the transfer directly with the LR yourself. Her ex just had to get a random solicitor to confirm his identity.