Divorce - transfer of equity

[Kittley]

Currently going through a divorce process with my ex-husband. No children, we jointly own a house with a mortgage. We're amicable and still live together and decided that he will buy me out as he wants to remain in our house and I will move out. We've agreed on the equity amount he will give me and he's hired a separate firm to prepare a financial consent order. He's been in contact with our bank/mortgage provider and they've approved his application to take on the mortgage alone (checked affordability etc).

He contacted a conveyancing solicitor today to get a quote to start the process for the transfer of deeds and been advised that they can't be appointed until the other party/myself have appointed a legal representative. Can someone please advice with the process? If I look for my own solicitor to appoint, is that for them to look over the transfer of deeds that my ex's solicitor will deal with? Trying to understand why I need a legal representative when we're amicable and have both agreed on everything and will also have a financial consent order. He will be paying my equity to me using savings once the court has approved the financial consent order.

Thanks

It is recommended both parties have their own legal representation to ensure they are getting advice on their circumstances. It’s a professional approach to prevent anyone in 5he future they didn’t understand the deal they were agreeing to.

This was probably the easiest part of my divorce. My divorce solicitor recommended someone (they were experienced in this). It was one hour appointment. We went through all the details and signed the paperwork, showed ID etc. I had to send over copies of the deeds, information about the property from the purchase. They then sorted out the details and completed the transfer.

In my experience, having legal representation meant that the Judge could sign off the paperwork as a desk job. If one party did not have representation he wanted a hearing so that he could see the unrepresented party and make sure they understood what they were agreeing to.

Having a lawyer speeds the process up.

My ex didn't have legal representation. I got the lions share as we had young children at the time and the judge signed off the consent order without calling us in. The house equity was transferred just before the divorce.