Sources and research for your novel

[indieauthor]

I wondered if anyone had any insight to what they do to find sources of information for their non fiction book.

In my case I am writing a novel and in one scene the protagonists visit a solicitors office (UK based novel and I am UK based if that's relevant!) to try to stop a particular transaction taking place.

Brief overview:
Fictional father is scammed by a woman
She has coerced him to making an appointment at the solicitors to sign over his house using the Land Registry forms
The solicitor is an old family friend. He didn't know what the meeting was about, only that it's a property transaction.
The father's adult children go to the meeting in advance of the actual meeting time, to intercept the solicitor and communicate the situation with a view to stopping the signing of the forms but also to potentially get this woman arrested.

My question is this:
I don't need in depth legal knowledge but I do want the story to be believable, so an idea of the types of information that a receptionist might take to set the meeting in the first place and how long a meeting of this type would take would be useful.

It would also be useful to have a chat to an experienced solicitor to tell them my hypothetical situation and see how they would handle it or what I'd need to consider.

Obviously solicitors are very busy (and expensive) people and this isn't a real legal problem, existing only in my fiction so I wouldn't want to waste anyone's time with asking. But I would like to know!!

Does anyone have any ideas of how I would approach this situation?

I don't have any friends who are solicitors, so I can't ask them, but I wondered if maybe there was a novelists forum or similar where writers can nip on and ask this stuff of maybe retired professionals who enjoy the chat and using their knowledge!

I figured that this board would be the best place I could ask! Or have any of you gone to the other categories on Mumsnet and asked the people there?

So in my case I would go to the Mumsnet Legal board and ask my hypothetical question for someone knowledgeable to comment on, but of course I'd tell them at the start that this is for a fictional novel and not a real life issue. Do you think that would be ok or frowned upon?

Sorry for the essay, it is my first novel and I wanted to do the best job I can, but I haven't yet built up a network of sources for information!!

WWYD?

Giving this thread a hopeful bump!

Hello @indieauthor -- I'd start off doing loads and loads and loads of Google research, then when you're happy with your draft share it with a beta reader who is a specialist in this field and ask them to comment on whether it is plausible.

Good luck!

Thank you @Alcemeg for your reply and your suggestion. That's great. I've definitely done loads of Google research! But I like the beta reader idea. Great tip.

I second the beta reading suggestion.

It's good to hear you're doing this because I'm one of those people who finds it really annoying when something like this is inaccurate in a book. Sometimes it's clear a writer hasn't even done elementary research on the internet.

My general impression is that, sadly, the bar is quite low for accuracy in fiction.

Good to hear your perspective @WeetabixComesAtAPrice
I find it a little off putting if I read something in a story that I know myself to not be an accurate reading of a situation and I want to release the best work I can!
Thanks for your input.

Hi,

My understanding is that the receptionist would take names of attendees and a brief description of the request or purpose of the meeting which would either be a 'purposeful' request if the client thought they knew what they wanted like a change of will or request to put property in trust or change ownership otherwise a broader question - 'what's the best way of protecting ..'). In effect, the receptionist would ask enough to brief the solitaire or legal exec and to make sure the right person attends the meeting. If it was a long standing client then they might hold records, such as a previous version of the will, property records or related client files. During the meeting, I'd expect the solicitor to take a view of competence and vulnerability and, for example, to ask the potentially coercive or benefitting family member to leave so the solicitor could discuss with their client. They might play for time and might not draw up documents there and then unless it was a known client, a simple will and the client wanted to have it witnessed quickly so they might delay after discussing and say it would take some time to draw up the relevant legal instruments. The solicitor would need to manage their professional duties around coercion, client mental competence and such like.

If the receptionist was speaking to the family members about their concerns when they marched in to head off the coercion or the lack of competence at the pass, the receptionist would ask what the concerns were. When these were articulated around coercion or competence, this would raise a big red flag the receptionist would wave at/mention to the solicitor.

Good luck.

Thanks so much @Zilla1 for your considered answer.