Thomas H. G. Stewart are solicitors and estate agents based at our office in Edinburgh, a complete house buying and selling service under one roof. We also write wills, wind up estates and look after small business property, across Edinburgh, the Lothians and beyond. Office hours 9.00 to 1.00 and 2.00 to 5.00.
Estate agency.
A complete house selling service under one roof. The sale and the legal work sit in the same office, so there is one person to ring, one set of papers, and nobody waiting on anybody else to post a file across town.
Thomas H. G. Stewart market your house, arrange the Home Report, prepare the schedule, run the viewings and take you through the offers when they come in. We are small enough to build the package round your house and part of the ESPC, which in Edinburgh and its surroundings is where most buyers start looking. Everything we have for sale goes on houses2go.co.uk and on the ESPC. When you accept an offer the same office does the conveyancing.
What this covers
- A free valuation of your own property
- Home Report arranged with a chartered surveyor
- Digital photography, and you choose the shots
- Full ESPC insertion: the weekly list, the George Street centre and the website
- A FOR SALE board
- Handling notes of interest and setting a closing date
- Conveyancing handled in the same office
Ask us for a free valuation before you commit to anything. Call 0131 229 4939.
Residential conveyancing.
Conveyancing is the legal work that turns an accepted offer into a house that is actually yours. It is mostly paperwork, and most of it is invisible when it goes well.
Thomas H. G. Stewart handle the whole of it. We negotiate and conclude the missives, examine the title, order the searches, deal with your lender, prepare the deeds and settle on the date of entry. You get told what stage things are at without having to chase us for it, and if something in the title looks wrong we say so at the time rather than after it has become your problem.
What this covers
- Missives, from qualified acceptance to conclusion
- Examining the title, the burdens and the boundaries
- Property and personal searches
- Local authority property enquiries
- Mortgage instructions and reporting to your lender
- Advance notices and letters of obligation
- Settlement on the date of entry
- Registration in the Land Register of Scotland
Do not sign anything or agree a date of entry before you have taken advice on it. Call us on 0131 229 4939.
Buying a house.
Buying is the biggest thing most people ever sign for, and in Scotland it moves faster than people expect. Once missives are concluded you are committed, so the time to ask questions is before the offer goes in.
We go through the Home Report with you, tell you what the title actually allows, and put in an offer at a price and on terms that make sense for you. If there is a closing date we will give you an honest view of what it is likely to take. First time buyer or fifth time mover, you get the same explanation in the same plain words.
What this covers
- Reading the Home Report with you
- Deciding what to offer and when
- Drafting and submitting your offer
- Negotiating the date of entry and what is included
- Telling you what the title actually allows
- Liaising with your mortgage lender
- Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and first time buyer relief
- Getting the keys on the day of entry
Speak to us before you offer, not after. An offer accepted on the wrong terms is much harder to fix than one that has not gone in yet. Call 0131 229 4939.
Selling a house.
Selling is mostly waiting, punctuated by two or three days when everything happens at once. Our job is to make sure those days are boring.
We get the Home Report organised, get the house on the market, handle the notes of interest and set a closing date when there is enough interest to justify one. When the offers come in we go through them with you, because the highest number is not always the best offer once the date of entry and the conditions are read properly. Then the same office does the conveyancing through to settlement.
What this covers
- Getting the Home Report in place before you market
- Setting a closing date and going through the offers
- Missives and the qualified acceptance
- Redeeming your existing mortgage
- Discharging the standard security
- Settlement, the disposition and the keys
- Lining up a sale and a purchase on the same date
- Additional Dwelling Supplement reclaims where you have moved
If you are selling and buying at the same time, tell us early. Lining up the two dates of entry causes more stress in a move than anything else, and it is far easier to arrange at the start. Call 0131 229 4939.
Wills and executries.
A will is a short document that saves the people you leave behind a great deal of trouble. Without one, the law decides who gets what, and it may not be who you would have chosen.
We write straightforward wills and complicated ones, and we will tell you honestly which yours is. When somebody dies we act for the executors: gathering in the estate, applying for confirmation, dealing with HMRC where inheritance tax arises, and getting the estate to the people entitled to it. Executries take months rather than weeks, and we keep you told rather than leaving you wondering.
What this covers
- Wills, simple and complex
- Reviewing a will after a marriage, a divorce or a death
- Legal rights, and what a spouse or child can claim
- Trusts, and whether you need one
- Executry administration from start to finish
- Applying for confirmation
- Inheritance tax returns and HMRC correspondence
- Ingathering and distributing the estate
If you are an executor and do not know where to start, that is normal. Bring what you have and we will tell you what is missing. Call 0131 229 4939.
Powers of attorney.
A power of attorney says who makes decisions for you if illness or an accident means you cannot make them yourself. It has to be granted while you still have capacity, which is why it is worth doing before you think you need it.
We prepare continuing powers of attorney, which cover money and property, and welfare powers of attorney, which cover where you live and how you are looked after. Most people grant both in the one document. We take you through what you are handing over and to whom, certify it, and register it with the Office of the Public Guardian, because it does not work until it is registered.
What this covers
- Continuing power of attorney for financial matters
- Welfare power of attorney for care and medical decisions
- Combined documents covering both
- Choosing your attorneys: one attorney or two, and your substitutes
- Living wills and advance directives
- The capacity certificate
- Registration with the Office of the Public Guardian
- Reviewing or revoking an existing power of attorney
Without a power of attorney, a family in this position has to apply to the court for a guardianship order, which takes months and costs a great deal more. Call 0131 229 4939.
Notary public.
A notary public witnesses signatures and certifies documents in a form that other countries and institutions will accept. Usually you need one at short notice, for something that has to be posted abroad tomorrow.
Tom Stewart and Fiona Mason are both notaries public, so documents can be notarised and certified here in the office. Ring first for a fee quote and an appointment. Bring the document unsigned, because a notary has to witness the signature being made rather than confirm one already there, and bring photographic identification and something with your address on it, a passport and a utility bill for instance. If your document also needs an apostille afterwards, we will tell you and explain how to get one.
What this covers
- Oaths, affidavits and statutory declarations
- Authentication of documents
- Certified copies of passports, driving licences and utility bills for money laundering checks
- Certified copies of university and college diplomas
- Sponsorship letters
- Overseas property and inheritance paperwork
- Documents for foreign courts and banks
- Advice on apostille and legalisation
Ring first and we will quote you a fee and tell you exactly what to bring. A wasted trip over a missing passport is easily avoided. Call 0131 229 4939.
Commercial property.
Starting or buying a business is a big step, and we have been there ourselves. Small businesses need the same property work as everybody else, usually with less time to spend on it and a landlord waiting on an answer.
We buy, sell and lease shops, offices, workshops and industrial units, and we act for landlords and tenants both. If you are selling up there is usually a choice to make about the premises: sell them with the business, transfer the lease, or keep them and lease them to the new owner. We will listen and give you an honest view of the advantages and disadvantages of each. We will tell you what something means before we tell you what it costs, and we will tell you both.
What this covers
- Start up advice, and what to sort out before you trade
- Buying a business, and buying or selling its premises
- Types of lease, and which one you are actually being offered
- Lease renewals, rent reviews and assignations
- Whether to survey, and planning considerations
- Standard securities and bank finance
- Title checks and commercial searches
- Land and Buildings Transaction Tax on commercial deals
Book a free initial appointment with our business adviser and we will point out the things worth taking account of at the start. If a lease has arrived with a date on it, send it over before you sign. Call 0131 229 4939.
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