What is a Remortgage A Remortgage occurs either when a mortgage is placed on a property which has no mortgage or you transfer to a new lender. When our fees apply The fees in our remortgage calculators only apply if you are using a Mainstream/ High Street Lender. If that does not apply, then our fees will be higher. Please ring about this if you wish. 6-month period It is important to note that you cannot normally remortgage unless you have owned the property for a period of six months. If you wish the remortgage to go through within the six months period you must check with you ..read more

I have had an On Line Quote for Right to Buy in Leicester. Is that a fixed fee or can it vary? Campions Solicitors Fees will not vary on a Right to Buy. They are totally fixed no matter what work is needed. That is true of Right to Buy in Derby and Nottingham- Campions Solicitors operate fixed fees. That is true of anywhere in the country that Campions act. I am buying a Right to Buy Flat in London. I believe the Title is Leasehold. Campions Property Solicitors charge an additional Leasehold Fee. Why is that? More work is required for a Leasehold Purchase.  The Lease is a lengthy document ..read more

Can Campions Property Solicitors give Independent Legal Advice when they are acting on the Purchase of the property? No, that is not possible. It is a conflict situation. I am aware I am required to sign a Guarantee Certificate. Can the Solicitor advising witness it on the video call? Please refer to our blog page and the individual requirements of your lender. If the Solicitor witnesses the signature of the Director to the Guarantee then how is this done? The witnessing maybe done in person. Some Lenders may accept video link and some will not. Please refer to our blog page for indi ..read more

What is a Deed of Trust? Deed of Trust is a legal document whereby a Trust is set up. The basic elements are that the Trustees have legal ownership of a property and this legal ownership is subject to what is termed “beneficial” or “equitable” ownership. Those terms define true ownership. The majority of property purchases are made as joint tenants. This means that the buyers are joint legal owners. It also means that they are joint beneficial owners, e.g the actual ownership is in equal shares. You have explained the ownership position over Joint Tenants. Can you explain ownership further in ..read more

Can I make alterations to a Shared Ownership Property? If you want to make significant alterations, you must request the Housing Associations’ written agreement to what you want to do. This would be in addition to any statutory requirements such as planning regulations. Can I buy further shares of the property? You will normally be able to buy further shares of up to 100%. However, sometimes you will be limited so that you cannot buy further shares over 80%. This would normally have been made clear to you by the Housing Association when you purchase the property. When is it likely that I will ..read more

Pre-Nuptial Agreements Significant weight was given to them in the case of Radmacher v Granatino [2009] FLR1566 Court of Appeal. In that case the Judges decided the division of marriage and assets on the basis that “decisive weight” should be given to the [Prenuptial] agreement. Thorpe LT stated that it was becoming “increasingly unrealistic now to recognise the rights of adults to enter into agreement governing their future financial relationship” The Husband has appealed to the Supreme Court. The Law Commission has confirmed that various proposals will be put to the government including ..read more

Can Campions confirm that there are also no hidden extras in their quotes? This is confirmed. Can Campions Transfer of Equity Solicitors also tell me what the basic fee covers? It covers all the work involved in transferring the property into the name of the purchaser/acquirer who is normally one of the existing owners. It also covers Registration at the Land Registry Can Campions Solicitors, Transfer of Equity, tell me why there is a Leasehold fee which is additional? Yes. If you transfer a flat (Leasehold) there is generally more work involved. On the Transfer of Equity quote from Campions S ..read more

How much will the reservation fee be on a new build and is it taken into account on final purchase? A builder for a new build will normally ask for around £500 as a reservation fee. This will normally be lost if the buyer withdraws. On completion any reservation fee will be credited against the purchase price Is there any difference in SDLT when buying a new home or buying an existing property? There is no difference. The same rates and exemptions apply to both. For instance if you are a first time buyer then you will get the £300,000 exemption whether or not you are buying a new home or an ex ..read more

What exactly is a MIAM? A MIAM is an initial assessment meeting when information is given to the couple about Mediation. The parties involved will give information about their situation and the issues that have arisen. At the end of that session there might be an agreement that Mediation is suitable, or it may be decided that it is not appropriate.   Can Mediation be provided to unmarried couples? Yes, Family Mediation is available to couples who are either married, in a Civil Partnership or not married.   When giving advice on Mediation can Campions also give advice to me on what I ..read more

We have recently done a Blog on “ A View from the President’s Chambers November 2022.” Both that document and the one in July 2023 were produced by Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division. The previous document November 2022, was about the relaunch of the Public Law Outline( PLO). What does this document-we will call it a “View”- consist of? It is a highly informative document about all aspects of the Family Division- which includes Financial Remedies, Domestic Abuse Law, Child Care Law, both Public and Private. What does he say about the PLO? That the relaunch, by that time fiv ..read more