Do we need a solicitor to re-assign ownership of houses on divorce?

[Dentalflossie]

Hi,
We are getting divorced and planning to do it ourselves using the gov website so as not to spend too much money on legal fees. Our children are adults and so there is no custody to arrange - just savings and assets to divide up. We own two houses jointly and don't want to sell them at the moment. The one who takes ownership of the more valuable house plans to pay the other one the difference in value. I guess we will need to involve a solicitor to change the ownership of the houses? Is this right.
Many thanks for your advice.

following... no idea on answer, but suspect it's possible to do this just yourselves with D81, draft consent order & banks.

I would get a conveyancer to sort this.
A couple of TR1's needed to be done to change ownership at the land registry.

Thank you peanut and marmight. I will look up TR1, which I had never heard of.

Of course you do - you need a conveyancing solicitor as with any other sale.

Depending on rules/amounts the government may regard this as a sale and there may be stamp duty or capital gains to pay.

Yes you need a conveyancing solicitor to remove the other party from the land registry etc (I was quoted £1k) and the mortgage company usually charges a fee of £185 for their side

What about pensions...

I do it myself google that form TR1 & there’s guidance. The land registry people are very helpful. I called a few times to check that I was filling things in correctly. You will need to find someone to confirm both of your identities- hopefully you have a friend who is a doctor, police office etc like when you get a passport. It took a bit of time but not worth paying a solicitor if you can do it yourself.

Depending on the values of the houses you pay a sum to the land registry

Thanks vintage, usererror, whattodo and meno. I'll look at the notes on the TR1 and ask the land registry people and if it all seems too daunting I'll find a solicitor.

I did it myself (joint house into my sole name), but not mortgage complications as already paid off.

You need to ensure its done reasonably promptly to avoid any CGT implications, although the timeframe is changing (favourably for the taxpayer) www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/insights/tax/private-client/changes-to-capital-gains-tax-on-divorce looks like a good summary.

Whilst doing the divorce yourself will save money, and is just form filling, you should still get a financial consent order submitted to court & approved to "close" the position between the two of you. I'd get a solicitor to prepare that, even if you are happy to agree yourself and do the leg work of providing the basis of the agreement.

Thank you Chasingsquirrels. That is a very helpful link. Congrats for doing it yourself. I will take your advice re the financial consent order.