Can solicitors exchange contracts on a Saturday?

[DotTheCaddy]

We have had lots of email correspondence so we know they work Saturdays.

We wanted to exchange today but the solicitor for the bottom of the chain is holding things up and I can see it not happening.

Will we have to wait until monday now or can they do it tomorrow?

I don’t think they can do it on Saturday because the deposit money would need to be transferred and I don’t think banks will do this out of normal banking hours.

Even if the solicitors are working in their own time, their accounts staff wouldn't be there to deal with the money side of things.

they could in theory if someone was prepared to release the money on Friday and the receiving solicitors held it to the purchaser's solicitor's order in the meantime. In reality - it's quite a lot of extra legal hassle around the deposit

Deposit money doesn't necessarily need to move anywhere but to exchange you'd need every solicitor in the chain to be working, which is probably unlikely.

Also, when I work on a Saturday I generally avoid doing anything that could go pear shaped, just for my own piece of mind!

They can do it on undertakings but I can't see a conveyancing house / high street firm doing it. If you are hnw (and willing to pay for it) anything can happen though!!