Conveyancing.

When a property is sold without being advertised it’s known as a private sale. This means the buyer and seller negotiate the sale directly, usually without input from any sales agents.

If you’re buying or selling a property privately, it’s especially important to enlist the expertise of an experienced property conveyancer to make sure the settlement process is as smooth as possible.

If you’re buying or selling a business in South Australia, you should keep in mind that it’s a very different process from buying or selling property.

The conveyancers in all our South Australian offices work alongside our expert business contract lawyers to provide comprehensive, practical advice. We can reduce your risk by making sure you’ve considered all the necessary factors and completed the steps required for a successful transaction.

The first step in dividing your land is instructing a surveyor. Johnston Withers’ conveyancers in Adelaide and regional South Australia will work closely with your surveyor to make sure your land is divided as quickly as possible.

No matter the size of your land division, our experienced conveyancing lawyers are here to help. We can prepare and lodge your application for you and take care of all of the associated paperwork for an efficient, hassle-free land division.

Family farm transfers are a complex area of the law. Our team of property conveyancers have extensive experience in regional conveyancing, including transferring family farmland or farm businesses.

We work closely with our rural clients, their accountants and financial advisers to provide comprehensive advice about intergenerational farming land and business transfers. This includes the assessment of stamp duty, which is one of the most important and common issues relating to family farm transfers.

Section 71CC of the Stamp Duties Act provides an exemption for family farm transfers from one generation to the next, but to qualify for this you need to meet a number of conditions.

Subject to accounting advice, we often see farming families take the opportunity to transfer their land or farming business to a family trust, which is then controlled by the next generation. It’s important to remember that there are limitations on who can be named as the beneficiaries of a trust (they’ll be the ones that the land or business is eventually transferred to) if you want to receive a stamp duty exemption.

If you need help preparing a family trust deed, our conveyancers in our Adelaide and regional South Australian offices can make sure you comply with all of the relevant requirements.

A commercial lease is one of the most important documents a business owner can sign. It outlines the rights and obligations of the commercial property owner (also known as the landlord or the lessor) as well as those of the third party who’s agreed to rent the property (known as the tenant or lessee).

Poorly drafted, ambiguous and non-existent commercial lease agreements are often the subject of legal disputes where one or both parties have failed to understand their rights and responsibilities under the terms of the lease.

Our team of experienced conveyancers in South Australian offices work closely with our commercial lease lawyers to help property owners prepare watertight agreements. We also work closely with tenants to help them understand the lease agreements for properties they’re considering occupying.

If you’re a private lender or borrower, our team of conveyancers in Adelaide and regional South Australia are here to help you prepare the loan documentation you need to secure a debt. We have years of experience assisting clients with everything from preparing simple loan agreements to more complex loans involving mortgages, caveats, guarantees and bills of sale.

Need expert advice about putting a caveat on a property? Our experienced property conveyancers are here to help.

A caveat is used to protect your interests in a property. If you have a legally-recognised caveat interest, you can use a caveat to let other parties know about it and to put a freeze on the property in question.

Examples of legally-recognised caveat interests include:

• A right of an individual who’s contributed to acquiring, maintaining or improving the property

• Unregistered mortgages and loan agreements

• Unregistered leases

• Caveats by authorities, including those for unpaid taxes or rates

• Charges on the land for commercial ventures

• A purchaser’s interest in a contract to buy land

• As a beneficiary to a will (more on this here)

• As a beneficiary of a trust

Need to make changes to the registered proprietor’s name on a certificate of title? Our conveyancing lawyers can prepare and lodge applications with the land titles office on your behalf. We can help with updates or corrections due to:

• Marriage

• Reverting to a maiden name

• Changing of company name

• Change of address

• Correcting incorrect registration details currently on the title

• Death of a proprietor

When a person other than the property owner is allowed to access and use the land, this is known as an easement. An easement can also restrict how the owner can use that section of their property.

Common easements include:

• The right to walk across the land

• For the supply of utilities, including water, electricity and gas

• For access roads

• The right to park a vehicle

• Party walls

It’s important to remember that easements can only be removed from a property when both the easement holder and the property owner agree. Registered easements on a certificate of title will remain in place regardless of whether the land is bought and sold.

If you’re looking for assistance with easements relating to your property, Johnston Withers’ team of experienced property conveyancers is here to help with honest, practical advice.

We recommend enlisting the help of a conveyancer as soon as you decide to buy or sell.

If you’re a vendor whose property has recently gone on the market, it’s important to consider who your property conveyancer will be. Securing a conveyancer as soon as you accept an offer will help make sure the settlement process is as smooth as possible and that all requirements are met.

If you’re purchasing a property or business, make sure you seek the expertise of an experienced conveyancer in Adelaide or regional South Australia before you sign any contracts.

Yes, all registered conveyancers at Johnston Withers are covered by professional indemnity insurance to protect you in the unlikely event that an issue arises.

Also known as electronic conveyancing, eConveyancing is a mandatory process for managing a settlement and completing the conveyance via PEXA.

A Form 1 Statement is one of the most important documents you’ll encounter when you buy a property. It outlines the property’s specific details, including planning restrictions and covenants, as well as your cooling-off rights. You can learn more about the ins and outs of a Form 1 Statement here.

It’s important you pay careful attention to the Form 1 Statement and carry out your due diligence. If you don’t understand something, our team of experienced property conveyancers in Adelaide and regional South Australia is here to help.

When our property conveyancers complete your conveyance transaction, they need to verify your identity in accordance with the Registrar-General's verification of identity requirements.

This process is a little different to the usual 100-point check that your bank will undertake. You can only use certain forms of ID together. The two combinations are:

Medicare card, driver’s licence and Australian passport

Medicare card, driver’s licence, birth or citizenship certificate, and marriage or change of name certificate

It’s important to remember that any birth or marriage certificates you produce must be the full certificates from the office of Births, Deaths & Marriages, which are stamped by the Government. We can’t accept birth extracts or a marriage certificate from the day.