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Services
Immigration
At W & J Solicitors we have an immigration team that is full of potentials. Our team is very dedicated and diligent and also well acquainted with every aspect of the immigration and nationality law as it applies to private and corporate clients. We are always linked to the immigration authorities and therefore are in a position to advice and make all necessary representations to achieve any set goal.
We can assist, for example, in:
- Students Visas
- Marriage Applications
- Investors and persons of independent means
- Immigration Appellate Representations
- Nationality
- Settlement visas and Family Reunion
- Emergency Airport and police station interviews
- Sponsorship Applications
- Work permits and Work experience permits
- Citizenship
- Visitors Visas and Working holiday visas
Debt Recovery 
One of the basic and traditional reasons why people turn to solicitors is to get paid debt which the debtor has failed to pay; or from the other viewpoint, to defend claims made against them. We recognise that the procedures and costs involved have to be effective, and commensurate to the sums involved. We have both the experience and procedures in place to provide clients with an efficient service either for the one off case, or for a portfolio of recoveries.
As a firm we also recognise that the pursuit of litigation can be costly not only in terms of money, but also in time and emotional energy. The decision to follow the route of litigation is one to be taken with care and with sound advice; and we have the experience and resources to assist you in those preliminary considerations.
We can assist, for example, in:
- letters before action
- Issuing of small claims, County Court and High Court proceedings
- Preparing defences to claim and counterclaims
- Taking enforcement proceedings including attachment of earnings, charging orders
- and sending of bailiffs or sheriffs officers to seize goods
- Issuing statutory demands
- Taking and defending insolvency proceedings
Conveyancing
At W & J Solicitors we consider it necessary that everyone must have a roof over their head, hence see property as forming the corner stone of our business and have therefore simplified the conveyancing process.
As we are committed to providing the highest level of services we try to avoid changing the people who have conduct of your matter so that you receive the same personal service throughout the moving process. To abreast you of this simplified process we have created the guide below:
Conveyancing Guide
We have prepared this guide to assist you in understanding the processes involved in buying and selling your house or flat.
Selling
After obtaining your title deeds, we will assemble a complete package of information and documents to send to your buyer’s solicitors. These will include the following:
- a Contract based on the information we have taken from your title deeds.
- copies of parts of your deeds, so that the buyer’s solicitors can see that you own the property, and see what rights or obligations are attached to the property.
- a Property Information Form which you will have completed.
- a Contents Form which you will have completed.
- any guarantees, permissions or similar documents
If your property is leasehold (usually a flat), other documents will be needed such things as insurance, service charges, ground rent and shared facilities. The buyer may raise other queries and then it will be for them to place themselves in a position to proceed.
Buying
We will ask the seller’s solicitors for a contract and supporting documents which we will check in detail, report any relevant information to you with copies of the appropriate documents and, on receipt from you of the fee, send off a search to local authority. This seeks anything in the council’s records about the property but applies only to the property itself and not to neighbouring property.
If you have applied for a mortgage, you will need to have received a written offer from the lender before fully committing yourself to buy. In most cases the lender instructs us to deal with their legal requirements. Any condition on the mortgage offer will have to be met, or we must be certain they can be met before completion.
Our enquiries do not relate to the physical condition of the property- this area should be dealt with by your own inspection and survey. Be aware of the limitations of certain types of survey. We would advise you to consider a more detailed type of survey than the basic mortgage valuation.
If defects become apparent which were not clear when you made your offer for property, it may sometimes be possible to re-negotiate the price. Until these stages have been completed satisfactory, neither seller not buyer is legally bound to go ahead, and there is no penalty or compensation if either pulls out.
Exchanging Contracts
Exchanging contracts is the stage where both buyers and sellers become legally bound and if you are buying and selling at the same time, we will make sure that you
Do not become bound on one transaction without a binding agreement on the other. You should note that it is exchanging contracts, and not the physical signing of the contract, which is the binding act. You may, therefore, sign the contract some time before we exchange it.
If you are buying, you will need to pay a deposit of up to ten per cent of the price at exchange of contracts. We will need to have cleared funds-usually a bank draft or building society cheque- before we can pay over the deposit. If you are selling the deposit received on your sale can usually be used as all or part of the deposit on purchase.
At exchange of contracts, a completion date is fixed. This is the date upon which the actual sale or purchase will take place. The completion date is fixed by mutual agreement and this will be your moving day.
When buying, you must have the property insured from exchange of contracts any life policies must be in force from then.
Preparing for completion
By the completion date all the final documents will already have been prepared and signed and all the financial aspects finalised. We will need to have all the necessary money, including our charges and expenses, and again in cleared funds before completion.
If you are selling, you should have booked your removals, arranged all meter reading and notified all the proper authorities. If you are buying, you should arrange to take over the gas, electricity, telephone and other such supplies from exchange of contracts.
Completion
If you are selling, you must leave and empty your property by or on the day of completion. This is what ‘vacant possession’ means. Your buyer’s solicitors will not normally be able to pay the purchase money to us until your property is empty. Since the purchase will usually take place in the morning of the day of completion should try to be out early. If your buyers do not already have keys, these should be left with your estate agent, or be handed over directly to the buyers. We will see to paying off your mortgage and, with your authority, pay your estate agent.
If you are buying, you will not normally be able to collect the keys until completion has taken place. If you are buying only, we will try and arrange for completion as early as possible on the day of completion. If you are selling and buying, we will need to have received your sale money from your buyer’s before we can complete the purchase with your seller’s solicitors. This can cause delays in the release of keys, we will do all we can to minimise these.
After completion
After completion we will see to payment of stamps duty, registration of your ownership and to other formalities. The Land registry usually takes several weeks to complete registration, after which we will get your deeds back and, if you have a mortgage, they will be sent to your lender.
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