Anyone done a 'transfer of equity' diy?

[todayiamfat]

I am trying to save a bit of money. I am in the process of divorcing stbxh and he has agreed to sign over the house for me and the dc. I have a mortgage offer from bank etc.

My solicitors have quoted me £700 to change over the deeds to my sole name. I have been doing a bit of searching online. Am i missing something? Can I not just fill in the appropriate forms on the land registry website myself and pay the small fee? I assume ex would also have to sign something? What else do the solicitors do?

Thank you to anyone who can send me a bit of advice. I can't really afford to use £700 unless it is something I can't do myself.

Really need someone legal to advise
i know my situation was different, but when my husband died I contacted land registry to change property into my sole name and there was no charge for this from them
All simple and straightforward
Not sure how yours would work but £700 seems quite a lot

Suggest you phone your mortgage company and ask them how they feel about someone unqualified doing the conveyancing work.

Ouch, Alice.

But that's what I'm asking really. Surely there isn't any 'work' to be done? No searches or anything like if I was buying this as a 'new' house. Unless there is something more complicated I haven't thought of.

Thank you Nana. I have looked on the land registry site and it looks like a fee would be relatively small. If it is just this form I don't understand the cost involved. I have no objection paying a solicitor to do it for peace of mind, but £700 for this seems steep?

Ask around for quotes I paid £350 on top of the banks conveyancing for the new mortgage when I did the same thing there were various indemnities that ExH had to complete for both land registry and mortgage company.

Your mortgage lender will insist no solicitors I'm afraid. Shop around, but they must be on the lender's panel of approved solicitors otherwise they'll appoint their own second firm and you'll have to pay for them too.

I did a transfer of equity recently. My solicitor quoted a high amount too. I asked my lender, and they insisted on a solicitor and I used their panel solicitor. I think they just added the cost onto the mortgage, but it was less than £700, which is very steep. Bet your solicitor doesn't really want the work and has priced high to put you off!!

Thanks for the advice. I'll speak to my lender for a list of their panel i think.