Bought a house - Moving day - what if I go into labour and can't move/sign missives thay day?

[FunkyPigeon35]

Hello! We're moving a month before my due date lol, I was wondering what would happen if on the day of our move (or the day before) I go into labour and we can't actually complete the move/exchange the missives on thr agreed day? Would we have to pay fees/fines even though it was for a medical reason?

Don't you conclude the missives well in advance of moving day?

Last time we moved house I spent the whole day at work! You sign everything in advance of the day. On the day it is mainly the solicitors doing their thing. The only thing you might want to do is book packers as well as removal men.

Do you not have friends/family or moving company helping because they would crack on and you and partner would go to hospital. If you don't have help get help as you will be 8 months pregnant and shouldn't be moving sofas and bed

The day i got my keys and moved i had no forms to sign. I just waited for the call to say the keys were available.

As pp said I'd have removers booked so worst case scenario the move can go ahead without you

@FunkyPigeon35 As others have said - you won’t sign anything on the day 😊 it’s all done in advance so don’t stress over that 😊

But be organised with packing and rope in as much help as you can. Do you have a removals company organised? Do you have a friend/family member you can have deal with things if you do happen to be in labour?

Unless you are buying a new build then most likely your missives will be signed the day before your move. It used to be the case it was done much further in advance in Scotland however, this is not how it’s typically done anymore. You cannot move without signing the missives. If you know that signing may be a problem then you should speak to your lawyer and push to sign early. Regarding the move itself, you may need someone on standby to let the removals in, you could consider paying for their packing service. Once you have signed the missives you are legally obligated to move on whatever date you have agreed.

I went into labour the day after I moved house. I didn’t manage 24 hours in it! The people who bought our old house had their baby 24 hours before they moved in. I managed it the right way round!!!

my only advice is hire removal company that will move all your furniture and make up the beds. It was absolutely essential!

This actually happened to my parents when I was born 50 years ago.

Paperwork was all done in advance.

Are you planning on exchanging and completing on the same day? Can you book movers who pack too?

I've just realised.... this was in England (and 50+ years ago).... the situation in Scotland (and now) may be different.

Hahaha thanks everyone I thought the contract was signed by us on the day, that makes life easier🤣

We have movers who will pick everything up and deliver on the other end so that should be ok!

Sadly on the agreed move date all our family will be on a massive family holiday that we are skipping due to pregnancy😅

Local friends are all working so would be quite a big ask to take a day off. How does it work with exhanging keys? Could we meet anywhere ie ask both parties to meet my boyfriend outside the hospital?

You really need to speak to your lawyer. Unless it’s a new build, in Scotland, you will most likely be signing the morning of the move or a day or so before. All the people saying you sign way before can not have moved recently. This is no longer the case. You can ask your buyers to collect the keys from wherever you want but it needs to be convenient. I don’t no how far you are from the hospital but I’d personally not be happy collecting from a hospital car park. Can your partner not take them to the estate agents or leave them with a neighbour?

Usually it’s keys through solicitors.

You can always give a key to your solicitor early as a back up plan.

Youll collect your new key from your sellers solicitor. If you don’t get it on the day they’ll hold it til you do (or someone you’ve arranged to do it for you).

You can do the whole thing while out of the country, so you’re fine.

Only bit will be if you haven’t actually vacated the property. Then you’re liable for breach of contract and costs incurred by the buyer as a result of the delay. So factor this into your planning and have a back up plan that ensures you’re out in time.

You don’t sign the missives, your solicitor will sign them on your behalf so you don’t need to worry about that. There will be other paperwork for you to sign if you are getting a mortgage but that can be done in advance.

I'm pretty sure that regardless of the recent thing for missives to be concluded closer to moving date you still don't need to sign anything at that point. We had to sign stuff to authorise solicitor etc but the conclusion of missives really means that the lawyers have stopped inserting clauses that prevent conclusion - you don't go and sign a contract or anything at that point. we didn't see our lawyer in the 4-5 weeks before we moved two years ago.

This happened to a friend of mine! Baby delivered early in an unexpected emergency on the day of completion. Their movers were amazing - did it all without them, solicitors/estate agency arranged for keys to be given to the movers etc. No family were around to help.

As all have said, all the signing/bits you need to be physically there for will have taken place in advance.

We've actually managed to move the date back by three days so family will be around to help - but sounds like it would have been ok anyway! Thanks for all the info everyone😊

My cousin had the opposite - the seller died three hours before the contract was due to be signed.

(Elderly seller, no baby)