House time bomb
Q. I bought a flat jointly with my fiancé, putting down a deposit of £10,000. We spent about £7,000 modernising the property but I never actually moved in and we split up six months later. I gave him the option of buying me out but when nothing happened I insisted it was put on the market. He’s making no effort to sell the house though, and I’m worried about the consequences should he fail to pay the mortgage.

A. You could get your own estate agent involved and make sure potential buyers are accompanied on viewings. But selling the house may not be the most attractive option: your former fiancé will lose his home, and with estate agents’ fees and the like you will probably both end up out of pocket considering the amount you have already spent on the house. I suggest you approach a solicitor to work out what your ex fiancé owes you and what you would accept in settlement. If you can’t persuade him to co-operate you can apply for a court order to sell the property. But your solicitor should be able to convince him that this is in neither of your interests.

Need to know basis
Q. I have bought a house but I haven’t received a “property information form”. Should this have been shown to me by my solicitors?

A. Under the standardised conveyancing procedure the seller’s solicitor should have asked his client to complete a property information form. This is an important document which asks questions ranging from the ownership of boundaries to whether the central heating system has the benefit of a maintenance agreement, and the seller will normally be bound by the replies he gives. The seller’s solicitor should have sent the completed form to your solicitor before contracts were exchanged, A solicitor acting for a buyer will not automatically copy the client in on the form. It is however the duty of the solicitor to report to the buyer any adverse information disclosed by the form, so that the buyer can take a view as to whether it should affect the decision to proceed.

No ex-pectations
Q. If I was to die without making a will who would inherit my property – my brother or my ex-wife?

A. If your ex-wife was receiving maintenance from you she could apply to continue to receive maintenance out of your estate. She could also apply to the court for provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 unless her right to do so had been dismissed within financial proceedings ancillary to the divorce. Otherwise she would receive nothing, and the entire estate would go to your brother, assuming there were no other relatives. Even if you made a will leaving your ex-wife something the gift would not take effect unless it was made clear in the will that the ex-wife was to inherit despite the divorce.

Partners of a sort
Q. My son is living in a house which he owns and his girlfriend is paying him rent. He also has some capital in shares. I have been told that, if they were to split up after living together for two years she would have a claim on his money. Is this correct?

A. No. The two-year rule applies only on the death of one of the partners. The Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995 gives a co-habitee the right to make a claim against the estate of a deceased partner whether or not they were supporting the surviving partner financially. Your son’s girlfriend is unlikely to have any claim on his house or capital if they separate unless she makes a substantial investment in the property or your son promises (either verbally or in writing) that she will have a share in it. If they marry or have children the position will change.

Safe parking
Q. I want to sell a garage that I own, which is quite separate from my house. The man who is interested in buying it says there’s no need to use a solicitor to carry out the transaction and that it will save money.

A. In my experience it can be more complicated to buy or sell a garage than to buy or sell a house! I’d advise seeing a solicitor every time, but especially where the land isn’t registered with the Land Registry or is leasehold. Also it’s unwise to do one’s own conveyancing where the other person is acting for himself; if at least one solicitor is involved the conveyance is unlikely to be a total mess! Obviously mistakes in conveyancing will probably be more costly for a buyer than for a seller, but considering the pitfalls and the comparatively small amount of money involved it’s hardly worth the risk.