Transfer of property without solicitor ?

peasant

If one were to transfer ownership of a property from parent to child, in other words a simple change of name on the deeds, no money exchanging hands ...

Could the involved parties simply state their intent to the land registry and the'yd change the deed/registry (for a fee of course) without involving a money-grabbing solicitor? (as there would be no need to check titles, outstanding mortgages, planning permission, etc, etc)

(NB the tax implications of such a transfer are a different matter)

Victor

To my knowledge, you need a solicitor for any conveyancing. In the UK it is different.

It is worthwhile for both parties to have independent advice to prevent the transfer being challenged in the future by either party or a third party. A court will often presume undue influence in the absence of independent advice.

Of course, there need only be one solicitor doing the conveyancing.

antoinolachtnai

I believe it can be done. Registered land should certainly be possible. But I wouldn't advise it. If there is anything not done correctly, you will have problems selling or remortgaging later on.

juke

In theory I suppose it could, but IMO inadvisable.

Conveyancing, even Land Registry, is not simply a matter of submitting the transfer and fee to the relevant Land Registry - all paperwork has to adjudicated by the revenue commisisoners first, especially in cases like this where no money passes hands, even if no stamp duty is payable.

Rather than going to a money grabbing solicitor, why not find one that charges a fair fee for the work done - there are hundreds - and it's simple enough to ring up and get quotations...