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Posted Tue, 02 Dec 2025 10:50:34 GMT by Aidan Grant
OK, this may be a bit long-winded, will try and keep it as short as possible, but I'm pretty new to all this, so some pretty general questions!

Scenario is that, following my divorce, it has been agreed, and recorded in the Court Order, that I will transfer all my interest in the marital home to my ex-wife. 

I will have a legal charge on 45% (don't ask... she drives a hard bargain!) of the value of the property, enforceable on its sale, or my ex-wife cohabiting, or at a specific date down the line.  The details are all laid out in a specific charge document produced and recorded along with the court order.

I've been looking into quotes form conveyancers to get the transfer and charge all recorded with HMLR, and a) I'm getting a lot of not-very-confidence-inspiring confusion back from them and b) the sort of amounts being quoted seem pretty high.  

The way I see it, there are no elements of contention or query in the details of the transfer, as this has all long since been nailed down (at plenty of expense!) by the divorce lawyers, and detailed in the Court Order & Charge Document.  So it's just a question of ensuring the correct forms are correctly completed and registered, and the correct fees paid.... which appears to be something you can, in theory at least, just do yourself.

From what I can see, it's an AP1 form to change the registry, a TR1 to transfer the titles, an ID1 to confirm identity, and a CH1 to record the legal charge.

My question at this point is simply how practical this is to do yourself, and what pitfalls there may be?  (I'm sure further more specific questions will follow though!)

 
Posted Tue, 02 Dec 2025 11:16:21 GMT by Adam Hookway
Aidan - well summarised and spot on re forms needed if transferring the legal ownership and securing a personal legal charge. Only caveat is that your identity verifications can be ID1 or ID3 as appropriate but suspect you are aware of that but left it out for brevity
All the forms come with online guidance/explanatory notes to assist. I suspect the key form will be the CH1 to ensure that it includes/captures the conditions referred to in the court order itself to ensure the legal is and ts are all dotted and crossed 
How practical it is for you to do yourselves isn't something I can answer for you - some do it themselves but the vast majority use a conveyancer/solicitor with many, in similar situations, using the same one that's got them to this stage of the divorce/home etc
All professionals will charge a fee and those will vary from firm to firm. You are paying for their legal and professional expertise as well as any legal advice given. They also provide you with someone to 'blame' should anything go wrong which of course is your sole responsibility if you go the DIY route. Professional fees include insurance to cover them should anything go awry re the work/advice involved in the future for example and such 'indemnity' costs have increased markedly over recent years hence why some professional fees may appear to be much bigger than others
If you are looking for wider commentary then forums such as Money Saving Expert can be useful resources re DIY conveyancing and many will comment based on own personal experiences - but remember you, your ex and your home/ownership/charge are all unique to You so the experiences of others are a guide only 
Posted Tue, 02 Dec 2025 11:37:00 GMT by Aidan Grant
Thanks for the detailed reply Adam, all makes sense.  I'll have to look into it a bit further and take a view on whether I'm confident in getting the forms all filled correctly, or would rather pay out for the indemnity of a solicitor!

One question if I take the latter route... should my ex wife and I be able to agree on and engage one solicitor to carry out the work (as essentially they are being employed purely for their ability to fully understand and correctly complete paperwork, rather than to advise on or defend either of our individual interests), or would we need to each have our own, as would be the case in a traditional conveyancing situation, such as a house purchase?
Posted Tue, 02 Dec 2025 11:58:30 GMT by Adam Hookway
Aidan - that will all depend on the firm used. Solicitors might suggest a conflict of interest and only act for one. Conveyancers may take a different view and be happy to act for both 
We have no say in such matters as we deal with each application on merit and one solicitor/conveyancer is enough for submitting a complete application to us

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