You need to take Independent Legal Advice …what at this late stage!

Being told to get Independent Legal Advice is often an unwelcome surprise at the last minute in a deal, it is a condition and often involves third parties, who are not directly involved except for their interest in the security being provided.

Independent Legal Advice is most frequently needed for:

Personal Guarantees;

3rd Party Legal Mortgages, (where the Borrower is not the same person as the person giving lender security);

Occupier’s Consent to a Mortgage.

All of these documents involve you voluntarily waiving some of your pre-existing rights or taking on some sort of additional liability. Obviously, it is vital that you understand the implications of what you are signing.

The Lender’s aim is to ensure that you clearly understand the transaction. The Solicitor giving independent legal advice will confirm to the Lender that they have fully explained the document and its consequences to you. The Lender will then rely on that confirmation to ensure that you will not be able to dispute or challenge the deal in the future.

At Prince Evans Solicitors LLP, we understand how important it is to obtain Independent Legal Advice with the minimum of fuss and delay, so we offer a dedicated Independent Legal Advice service at a fixed fee (see below). We will meet with you in person to provide the Independent Legal Advice and aim to achieve this within 2 working days of you requesting an appointment, (subject to the lender providing us with the documentation in time).

We have frequently come across the misunderstanding that obtaining Independent Legal Advice just means that a solicitor needs to sign a single document, or witness a deed. Legal advice is required to be given on the document. At Prince Evans, the Solicitor allocated to you will consider the circumstances of the person requiring Independent Legal Advice, the nature of the deal and the relationship between the parties, as well as reading every word of the documentation which the person is being asked to sign. This will all take a couple of hours before the Independent Legal Advice meeting ever takes place.

Standard independent legal advice (and the vast majority are standard) for one person: £450 + VAT. If more than one person needs independent legal advice on the same documents: £350 + VAT for each person. Fees can be paid by credit card when you visit our offices. You would need to bring with you your passport and a utility bill or bank statement showing your home address which is dated in the last 3 months.

Ivan Barry and Laura Sainsbury will be happy to provide you with independent legal advice. Contact ibarry@prince-evans.co.uk lsainsbury@prince-evans.co.uk