Coutts & Co Conveyancing Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
I was advised recently by my financial adviser that my solicitor is not on the Coutts & Co Solicitor panel. What can I do to be certain that this is indeed the case?
The best course of action for you to take is to contact your lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a firm that is on the conveyancing panel for Coutts & Co.
I do hope you can help me. My conveyancer is assuring me that she is duty-bound to conduct a Local Authority search because the firm are on the Coutts & Co approved lawyer panel. The searches cost a lot of money. Can this be avoided?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with Coutts & Co your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Coutts & Co’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Coutts & Co. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I see that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I retain them for my own conveyancing?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint.
I would like to get my former partner taken off the mortgage deeds. Can Coutts & Co really tell me which solicitor I can or can not retain?
You can use any solicitor you like but Coutts & Co then has the right to appoint a different solicitor to act for them at your expense. It might be more cost effective and quicker to instruct a lawyer who is on the Coutts & Co solicitors panel
Do most lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel requirements are different to Coutts & Co’s conveyancing panel criteria.
I have a mortgage with Coutts & Co. My uncle retired last week and wants to pay off the mortgage left on the property. After Coutts & Co is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long will it roughly take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the Coutts & Co mortgage is discharged.
You
will need a solicitor but they need not be on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel.
You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and
to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to
consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about
the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die
within 7 years of this. As the property is your main residence you need
not pay CGT but you should speak with your accountants in any event.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Coutts & Co mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Coutts & Co mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the Coutts & Co mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Coutts & Co in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.
