Independent legal advice from £200 + VAT
✓ No in-person meetings required
✓ Same-day appointments
✓ Quick turnaround
✓ From £200 plus VAT per Director*
✓ ILA Certified
✓ SRA regulated law firm
Independent Legal Advice (ILA) is impartial advice, intended to protect an individual from signing any document before they understand the risks. It’s often required in property transactions and is a requirement of the lender, who won’t proceed with the main transaction without it. At KLG we provide prompt and convenient online ILA services, meaning you can get your desired outcome in the quickest turnaround possible.
How it works
- Once we have received your documentation, we schedule a convenient video appointment (usually 10-15 minutes).
- We’ll discuss the transaction and the associated terms.
- Real ‘wet’ (non-digital) signatures are still required, and this signing must take place live during the video call, which will also be recorded.
- Once the relevant documentation has been signed and witnessed, these hard copy documents will need to be sent to us at KLG.
- Once received we’ll countersign, stamp and certify the documents. These will then be scanned, and a copy emailed to you, while the originals are posted to your solicitor via first class post.
Our Independent Legal Advice cover
We provide ILA in the following situations:
- Director’s Personal Guarantees – for property purchases made within limited companies. Each director will need to sign a Deed of Guarantee; we’ll provide a solicitor’s certification and witness any documents where required.
- Personal Guarantees – for when the borrower is different to the person offering the lender security. ILA is required to ensure there has been no “undue influence” where pressure is applied.
- Occupier’s Consent to a Mortgage – for when a property is occupied by more than one person but not owned jointly. The lender will require a document that waives the rights of the occupier who is not on the title deeds.
- Transfer of Equity – for when there is change to the mortgage/ownership of the property.
- Bridging Loans – for when short term funding is needed quickly. The lender will require the borrower to have ILA to ensure they understand the terms of the loan
- Equity Release – for when people would like to turn the equity in their property into capital we provide ILA about the risks, rewards and obligations attaching to an Equity Release plan.
Working with KLG
We understand that getting ILA is necessary and time-critical, so we focus on providing prompt, simple and convenient services. When obtaining independent legal advice from KLG you can expect:
- A dedicated Independent Legal Advice Service
- Instant video, same day appointments
- Quick turnaround
- Fixed, transparent fees from just £200 + VAT
- A convenient, online service
- Quick and convenient video communications using platforms like Zoom or Teams
- Regulated by the SRA
- Straightforward and simple language
PLEASE NOTE: While the majority of lenders accept independent equity release legal advice provided by video conference, there are a very small number who do not, e.g. Canada Life. It is your responsibility to check your lender will accept a signature which has been witnessed by video conference. If your certificate is refused by your mortgage lender because your ILA was conducted by video conference, KLG Law reserves the right to withhold any refund of our fees.
Case studies
Case study 1
Category: Independent legal advice
Services: Director’s Personal Guarantee
Anant and Taara started up a property development business together and in order to purchase their first development property within their limited company, they were required to provide Personal Guarantees as the lenders required security outside of the protection afforded by the company’s limited liability.
What did KLG do to help?
Both directors were required to sign a Deed of Guarantee, and KLG offered Independent Legal Advice in plain, jargon-free language to ensure that all the associated risks were completely understood by both parties. We provided solicitor’s certification and witnessed all document signatures. Following our advice, Taara and Anant and were able to swiftly purchase and proceed with their first property development project.
Case study 2
Category: Independent legal advice
Services: Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor
We were contacted by Chris, who was in the process of purchasing his first property. Like many first-time buyers, Chris had been struggling to afford a property on his own but was lucky that his mother, Sheena, was supportive and wanted to help. Having found a property and had his offer accepted, Chris needed to finalise his offer and mortgage, a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage.
What did KLG do to help?
With a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage, the parent may not be on the title deeds and therefore not directly benefit from the loan. In this situation, Independent Legal Advice is required to ensure there has been no “undue influence” has been applied. We discussed the situation with Sheena to ensure that no pressure was being applied to her by Chris to persuade her into an arrangement which would potentially benefit Chris and be detrimental to Sheena.
Case study 3
Category: Independent legal advice
Services: Occupiers Consent to a Mortgage
When Max purchased a flat where he would be co-habiting with his long-term girlfriend, his mortgage provider informed him that his girlfriend would need to sign an Occupier’s Consent form. This is because an occupier can obtain a legal interest in a property even when they are not a registered owner of it, which is of particular concern to a mortgage lender in the event that mortgage payments are defaulted upon. As condition of the mortgage, completion on the property could not be permitted until the document waiving Amanda’s rights was signed. Max contacted us at late notice for Independent Legal Advice on the matter.
What did KLG do to help?
Due to the urgency of the timings we arranged a same-day video call to make sure that Amanda was fully aware of the rights that Max had over the property, and that in the worst-case scenario she would be forced to move out if the mortgage lender had to repossess the property. We advised Amanda of the benefits and risks of signing the document along with all obligations imposed on Max. This was important to ensure that everyone involved understood the situation so that there were no issues in the future.
