mortgage deed of consent

[carlo76]

I'm transfering my mortgage to another lender and they sent me a deed of consent for my wife to sign. Is this a formality or my wife could lose any interest in the property if something will happen to me.

why should she sign it?

[Didwot]

No it is not just a formality. If they are doing their job properly the lender will insist on your wife being advised by an independent solicitor before signing the deed, and that the solicitor must witness it. This is because the deed will put your wifes's rights after all claims by the lender. It has been known for wives to sucessfully claim an interest in the property ahead of the claims of a lender. The deed stops this from happening. As an added twist iot has been known for wives to sucessfully claim that they were forced to or tricked into signing the deed. Hence the need for independent advice. The solicitor is effectively underwriting the deed for the lender, and although the amount of time spent will be small, the risj he takes on is large, and his charges will be larger than you might expect.