Why Your Conveyancer Asks About Gifts And Insurance

As part of our September Property Essentials series, we’re looking at some of the key processes and procedures that take place behind the scenes when buying or selling a home.

Imagine: you’ve found your dream home, your offer has been accepted and your solicitor is working through the paperwork. They identify a potential issue that catches many buyers off guard:

“There was a gift of the property three years ago. We may need an indemnity policy.”

For most people, the natural reaction is: why does a gift cause a problem? After all, giving someone a property is usually a generous act, not a suspicious one. But in conveyancing (the legal process of transferring property), a gift of a property, or a share of a property, in the history of a title can ring alarm bells.