Settlement Services

Robertson Hayles Lawyers has a dedicated settlements department to meet your property settlements and other conveyancing needs in Perth and regional Western Australia.

Many buyer and sellers are under the impression that property settlement is an administrative process of transferring title from the seller to the buyer.

Thus, they choose a settlement agent based on the lowest fee quoted.

While the settlement agent does perform administrative tasks such as informing the authorities of the change of ownership, many tasks in the conveyancing process have important legal implications including:

  • Checking the title to the property and advising the buyer of any encumbrances impacting on the property
  • Ensuring that all relevant encumbrances are withdrawn by the seller at settlement
  • Ensuring that the seller is notified of the unsatisfactory aspects of the building and termite reports within the time specified in the contract as a failure to do so may result in the buyer losing the opportunity to terminate the contract
  • Determining whether approval from the Foreign Investment and Review Board is required for the purchase when a foreign buyer is involved
  • Determining whether foreign buyer’s duty is payable
  • Preparing the transfer of land correctly so that title is passed from the seller to the buyer
  • Ensuring that the seller discharges the mortgage and other encumbrances at settlement

In Robertson Hayles Lawyers, the Settlements Team has the required skills and experience to ensure that your interests are protected and that your settlement proceeds smoothly.

Settlement and Conveyancing Services

We provide the following property settlement and conveyancing services:

  • Settlement service for buyers and sellers of residential, commercial and rural properties
  • Application to replace lost title
  • Application for new title upon sub-division
  • Application to register strata / strata-survey plans
  • Survivorship application upon the death of a joint tenant
  • Transmission application for deceased estates
  • Transfer of property ownership in family law matters
  • Application to change the registered proprietor upon a change of trustee
  • Application to register an easement
  • Registration and discharge of mortgages
  • Registration and withdrawals of caveats
  • Registration and discharge of memorials, notifications and other encumbrances

Settlement Agency or Legal Practice?

A settlement agency is only qualified to carry out settlement work and is unable to provide legal advice. Hence, when legal issues arise, a settlement agent cannot proceed further and will inform the client to seek legal advice from a lawyer. In contrast, a legal practice is qualified to carry out both settlements and provide legal advice and representation. At Robertson Hayles Lawyers, we have an experienced and professional settlements team to ensure that your property transaction proceeds smoothly and in a timely manner. At the same time, we have lawyers with expertise in property law to provide legal advice and representation when the need arises and in complex property transactions. Our settlement fees are reasonable for the quality of our settlements work plus the comfort of knowing that when required, you have the support of our legal expertise.

Contact us

For all enquiries please contact Robertson Hayles Lawyers on (08) 9325 1700 by email at setts@robertsonhayles.com or via our contact form and we will be happy to assist you.