Obtaining the Deeds to a property?

[yelenots]

My elderley mother went into a Rest Home last for permanent care and today i have had to have a financial assessment from the council and they have requested copies of the Deeds to her property. They are at the solicitors she used to purchase the house and as I havent got Power of Attorney yet I wont be able to get them.
If I wrote a letter from my mother and got her to sign it, would they send them out? Do they charge anything for keeping them? Thanks

[dotty.]

Nowadays when you sell/buy a house they let you keep the deeds anyway as tey store them electronically. Ring the solicitor and ask them the policy and ask what sort of fees they tend to charge.

[dotty.]

actually did they ask why they wanted the copies? some deed bundles can be very unwieldy, do they just need to know she is the legal owner? they can check the land registry for that surely.

[Red_John]

most of the time deeds are irrelevant these days, you can get the land registry entry on their site.

[Eve]

As above, you need to work out exactly what it is they need, if just a copy of the title then it depends whether the property is registered with the Land Registry or not. When and how did she come into ownership/buy (or last mortgage/remortgage) the property (some land transactions trigger compulsory registration of the land after certain dates)?

If registered then a copy can be downloaded from the Land Registry website for a small fee (could be cheaper and easier than getting a copy from solicitors - anyone can download them). You should be able to find whether it has a title number by postcode and house number. Just be careful if the house might be a leasehold that you get the right title.

If unregistered then the solicitors will be needed to provide copies unless your mother has copies herself (do they just need copies or certified copies?).

[yelenots]

Thank you! Forgot all about the Land Registry! They have just asked for copies for proof of ownership as my Mums has to make a financial contribution to the rest home fees. Think I'll just get a copy from the Land Reg!