Transfer of Deeds

[desdemonaj]

My partner and his sister purchased a house 3yrs ago - jointly. There is still a mortgage on the property. His sister didn't invest any money nor has ever paid the mortgage. My partner now wants to sell but cannot find his sister. Can he transfer deeds in her absence? Or what can be done if he does locate her (she is believed to be in the U.S). Will she need to come to the UK? Or can documents be sent for her signature? What is the easiest and most cost effective solution to transfer the deeds to my partners sole name? Thanks!

[lady_p_gold]

If they jointly own the house then he would not be able to transfer it into his sole name as she has an interest in the property. Is the mortgage also a joint one? I think your partner needs to seek some legal advice and also make some stringent efforts to find his sister. Whether or not there is some sort of time limit by which if you can prove you have exhausted all efforts to find someone and then you can sell the property I do not know, another ABer might. However she will be entitled to some of the proceeds, regardless of what she put in and that would have to be sorted out. Best thing would be for your partner to buy her out, but how you do that without finding her I am not sure !

[funnywebsite]

She needs to sign over the house and this can be done by post. My solicitor is in another part of the country to me and when I bought a house everything was done by post. He needs to try and locate her. Hopefully your sister does not want to try and get any share of the house. If she is a nice sister she would not want to take anything of you which she did not contribute to.

[desdemonaj]

Thanks for your replies - they contain some very helpful advice at such a stressful time. "Funnywebsite" - you stated that you managed to do this by post - this is good news to me if we can locate her. But can you advise at little more as to the process - ie. what papers we need to sign, how much did solicitor charge, how long does it take and can all solicitors do this or is yours just a very caring one? I have asked a couple of solicitors and they all say that it can only be done in person. Thanks so much - any more advice will be desperately appreciated.

[buildersmate]

Some solicitors seem to want personal visits because they can then act as the witness to the signing. There's really no need for this - anyone can act as a witness.

Last time I sold my house, I found my solicitor using the web competitively and never went near her - she was in Manchester, I'm in Berkshire - everything was done by post.

'Caring solicitors' - are you having a laugh? Its a paid profession - you pays the money, you get the job done.