This is the instruction sheet which the Conveyancing Department receive and which the Solicitor will need, to prepare a conveyance of the property.

Transcription

1 CONVEYANCING PROCESS The Steps / Statuses on Tracker Explained Awaiting Further Info (PPPT) When an order for a PPPT is received we cannot start any work on the conveyance until a conveyance sheet has been FULLY completed and submitted together with payment for the PPPT. Although a conveyance is part of the PPPT, the conveyance sheet and certified ID documents are still required. Awaiting Conveyance Sheet This is the instruction sheet which the Conveyancing Department receive and which the Solicitor will need, to prepare a conveyance of the property. A search will be made at the Land Registry to check if the property is registered and who is the legal owner of the property. An official copy of the register will be obtained and kept on the Conveyancing file for reference. This will be cross referenced with the conveyance sheet. If this does not match a query will be raised with the advisor. The conveyance sheet will also be checked to ensure that there are no Capital Gains Tax issues or other issues as a result of completing the transfer. If we have a question surrounding the percentage of the property being conveyed into trust or the action that is being taken we will raise a query with the adviser at this point. If the client s property is being conveyed into trust we will need to make sure that this is being conveyed into the correct trust and that it has been established. Property cannot be transferred into the Trust until we have sight of the signed Trust. Conveyance Sheet Received This relates to the Conveyancing Instruction sheet which enables Countrywide to start the work. A conveyance sheet is required in ALL circumstances where the property is to be transferred into the Trust or to Joint Owners. Letter sent to client requesting information A letter will be sent to the client when a conveyance sheet has been received and checked. The letter will be to request any outstanding paperwork at this point. We may need to clarify a few things to establish how the property will be conveyed. If there is a mortgage or a lease the client will be advised that the property will be transferred by way of a Declaration of Trust as opposed to a Transfer. This means that the legal title will not be changed as the Mortgage Lender and the Landlords will not allow us to do this without their written consent. This can prove costly to client and delay matters. We have found that mortgage lenders will not consent to a property being transferred to anyone who is not a party to the mortgage and the same applies to a leasehold property.

2 Things that we may request in our first letter are: Identification in respect of the client and the trustees if they have not already been supplied. Proof that a mortgage has been paid if a mortgage appears on the land registry entry to see if it can be removed (this is not always automatically done by the lenders when the mortgage is paid and it may be that it can be done at this point to allow the conveyance to go through). If the mortgage has not been repaid then we will proceed with the conveyance by way of a Declaration of Trust. The original signed trust deed if we have not received this. Title Deeds: If the Land Registry search reveals the property is not registered, we will need the original title deeds to enable a first registration to be effected. The letter will ask the client for details of the whereabouts of the deeds. We will also send a form of authority to be signed by the clients. Once we receive the signed authority we will then request the deeds. If the client does not know where the title deeds are they could be at the solicitors who acted for them or kept at a bank or building society for safe keeping. Alternatively if the client has the originals then they will need to send these to us. If clients are sending original deeds we would request that these are sent to us by recorded or special delivery. Once the matter has completed we will return the title deeds to the clients again by recorded or special delivery. We will give the clients an outline of the disbursements due. These are payments due to third parties such as the Land Registry for their registration fee, electronic ID search fees which we have to carry out to satisfy money laundering regulations and the Land Registry requirements, office copies of the land register. Documentation to explain the appearance of someone else that appears on title but is not referred to in the conveyance sheet. For example a death certificate of a registered owner, marriage certificate or change of name deed. This is required as we will need to provide this form of evidence to the Land Registry when we submit our application to change the legal ownership. We will also advise the client that because of our status as In House solicitors they are free to seek independent legal advice if they wish as we cannot provide this as a solicitor acting on behalf of the Trust Corporation. This is a regulatory requirement. Documents sent to client When we send the initial letter to the client and receive any outstanding information we will prepare the appropriate documentation and these will be sent to the client with a detailed explanatory letter. The required documents we will send will be : Transfer Deed (also known as a TR1). This is the formal document that transfers the legal title/ownership of the property to the Trustees of the Trust. The Transfer Deed will stand as written evidence of the trust. This document will be sent to the Land Registry and will instruct them to Transfer part or all of the property into the Trust depending on what the conveyance sheet instructs us to do.

3 The client will be advised that when the Transfer is registered, in addition to their name, the Title Register will show the full names and addresses of all of the trustees of the trust. The register will show no information about the Trust as this is personal information. However to indicate that the property is subject to a Trust the Title Register will also show a restriction which states: No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court. This means that at least two of the individual Trustees must join in any sale or other disposition of the property to ensure that the Terms of the Trust are followed. We, as a Trust Corporation, will only act in accordance with the terms of the Trust. Declaration of Trust If there is a mortgage on the property, this will affect how we deal with the property. Where there is a mortgage on a property mortgage companies will not allow anyone who is not a party to the mortgage being registered as the proprietor at the Land Registry. If the property is a leasehold property such as a flat the lease will state that the landlord s consent will have to be obtained to change the legal title. This can be a long and lengthy procedure and the landlord will also charge a fee to grant the consent. It is also likely that the landlord will not give their consent. In these 2 circumstances the trust will still be effective. To protect the interests of the trust in the property we prepare a Declaration of Trust. The Trustees will not be registered as proprietors but there will be a restriction registered in the title registers for the trustees to be notified of any disposition of the property such as a sale or a mortgage. The declaration of trust will confirm who holds the property and will set out details of the trust and the percentages held. RX1 Where there is a mortgage on the property or the property is leasehold this form will be sent to the clients for signing. When we receive this back we will send this to the Land Registry and will ask them to enter a restriction in the register to protect the Trust and makes sure that the trustees are notified of any dealings with the property Invoice for Disbursements The invoice will be sent for settlement. The application will not be submitted to the Land Registry until this payment has been received by us.

4 Deed of Appointment If Countrywide are not Trustees they will need to be appointed for the purpose of the conveyance. Countrywide are only allowed to act in transactions because of our In-House status. This document is a temporary measure and is sent to the clients for signature. Deed of Retirement Where Countrywide are appointed as Trustees temporarily they can be removed once the conveyance has completed. This document will also be sent to the clients for signature. As the documents have to be signed and witnessed by all the Trustees there is sometimes a delay in the documents being returned to us. Documents returned from client Once the documents are returned to us, they may be reprinted and sent back to the client if they have been signed or witnessed incorrectly or if a signature has been accidentally missed. If the documents returned have been signed correctly and invoice for disbursements has been paid and signed trust has been received we will proceed to the next stage. If not the client will be notified and the matter will be put on hold on our online tracker system so that the advisor will be able to see the reasons why. Documents co-signed Countrywide will need to sign all documents where they are Trustees. This will be the Transfer and will need to be signed by a Director. Disbursements Paid An invoice for the disbursements will have been sent to the clients with the documentation for signing. This will need to be paid before the application can be sent to the Land Registry. Documents Sent to Land Registry The application to change legal ownership will be sent to the land registry. We cannot give timescales of when these will be returned as this will largely depend on the nature of the application. If the land registry raise any issues known as requisitions this can delay the application being completed. However applications in respect to registered properties tend to be dealt with much quicker than for unregistered properties.

5 Registration Complete This confirms that the Legal Ownership of the property has been changed at the Land Registry and the property has been placed into the Trust or in joint names as per the instructions on the conveyance sheet. We will check that this has been registered correctly. Documents Scanned After the matter has been completed all signed documents will be scanned onto our electronic system for future reference. Closing Letter to client The completion information document will be sent to the client to inform them that the conveyance has been registered at the Land Registry. We will return original documents to the client at this stage if they do not have storage. If the client is storing we will keep the original documents in secure storage facility and send the client copies for their records together with a storage certificate. Any other documents that we have on our file will also be returned to your clients.