Well, that is another busy week in the Marlborough Law Office completed! Contrary to what people may think about solicitors not all of us like to drag our Client’s through long and expensive court proceedings so we were pleased to have sorted one out last week through sensible negotiations. We have finished off the financial order that was agreed last week so both our client and the other side can move on and start their lives again. We have had lots of enquiries regarding house sales and purchases, which is exciting for our new clients, and I also had a great BNI 121 with Ollie Hawkins of Avocado Properties on how we can work together to help current and future clients.

This week I would like to talk about the little things we don’t always think about. These are some little details we have come across in the last few weeks which create issues we have to fix. Preventive measures are always better that problem solving.

Divorce — With the new online divorce service you can serve the application by email, which seems convenient to all parties and, of course, creates less paper. However, before you add in your ex-partner’s email, be sure you have a recent email from them. This week, the court has asked us to prove we had the other side’s correct and main email address; this is to ensure that the application can be served correctly.

Probate & Trusts — If you have given your property to your children for tax purposes, you must ensure you do not ‘reserve a benefit.’ This could mean you give away the house but continue to live in it without paying full market rent. If this does happen, then this gift will be caught by inheritance tax even after the 7-year limit. We are currently dealing with a retrospect probate application from 2017, which may now involve penalties.

Conveyancing — When purchasing a house with a mortgage, the lender usually carries out its own survey on the property. However, you still must pay for your own surveyor to look at the property to really assess if there is any structural damage which the lender’s survey may not pick up. Luckily, we have not seen this issue, but what we have seen this week is a property which had not been registered at Land Registry from when they purchased it back in 2021. This means they cannot remortgage, get a new mortgage, or sell until this issue has been fixed.

So, keep the little details in mind when carrying out legal matters, and if you need any help, please let us know.
Pursuing legal excellence together,
Peyton Matthews-Hewer
Founder, Peyton’s Perspective