PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS TO SOLICITORS ON THE SALE OR PURCHASE OF ESTATES BY THEIR CLIENTS. Duty of Vendor's Solicitor. IT has been noticed in the preface to this work, that prac- PURCHASES. tical remarks would be either prefixed or subjoined to each class of assurance, by way of directions for the solicitor of each party to the transaction, as to what it belongs to him to perform on the part of his client, whether during the pendency of the negotiation, or at or after its conclusion. The first precedent will be found to be "An agreement for the sale of an estate of inheritance in fee-simple," as to which I shall notice, first, what is necessary to be done by the solicitor for the vendor; and secondly, what by the solicitor for the purchaser, to secure the interests of their respective clients; and for the sake of method, and the greater convenience of reference, I shall consider these requisites as 1st, BETWEEN THE INCEPTION of the contract, and the de LIVERY OF AN ABSTRACT OF TITLE. 2dly, FROM THE Delivery of the ABSTRACT TO THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF THE TITLE, AND VOL. I. b PURCHASES. Duty of Vendor's Solicitor. 3dly, FROM THE APPROVAL OF THE TITLE TO THE EXECUTION OF THE CONVEYANCE. And I shall moreover subjoin to each precedent some observations on what remains to be attended to by the solicitor for the purchaser at or after the execution of the assurances. 1. OF THE DUTY OF THE SOLICITOR FOR THE VENDOR. Agreement to be put into writing. Signature of purchaser to the draft of agree ment. I. Between the inception of the contract and delivery of the abstract of title. If the contract be not already reduced into writing and signed by the parties, the vendor's solicitor should see that this be done forthwith, for unless it be in writing no more will the purchaser than the vendor himself be bound (1). But this will be the province of the purchaser's solicitor to prepare, and afterwards submit to the vendor's solicitor for approval. When the contract is in writing, if the estate is considered to be well sold, it will, in order to guard against intermediate accidents, be in general proper to procure the signature of the purchaser to the draft of the agreement as soon as the terms of it are finally settled, more particularly where there are several purchasers, as some of them, either from subsequent reflection, or the intervention of some unforeseen event, may be desirous of departing from the contract. And it may here be noticed, (1) See post AGREEMENTS, No, I. n. (1). The mode often practised of receiving a small sum of money by way of deposit, and as an earnest of the bargain, it may be proper to observe is wholly fallacious and nugatory. As to when it will be proper on the part of the purchaser that the agreement should be put into writing, and when not, see post. Duty of Vendor's Solicitor. that where the contract for sale is entered into by an agent on PURCHASES. the part of his principal, by virtue of a power given to him for that purpose, the agent must not sign his own name to the agreement, but that of his principal, lest he become himself liable to guarantee the performance of the stipulations he has Agent to sign entered into on his principal's behalf (a). The next thing which it belongs to the solicitor for the vendor to do is to apprize his client of the consequences resulting from the contract. The immediate consequence of the contract for sale is an equitable conversion of the land into money, it being no longer considered as real but as personal estate in the hands of the vendor, and will consequently be subject to all the incidents consequential upon this conversion; thus, in case of the vendor's decease intestate, it will belong to his personal representatives, and not to his heir at law; who will therefore not only lose his inheritance to the amount of the value of the land, but the widow of the vendor her dower (unless where her concurrence by fine is necessary to complete the contract), and that although the contract should eventually be abandoned, and no sale actually take place (b). And if the vendor have devised the estate, the devisee will not be entitled to the purchase money in lieu of the land, but it will go in augmentation of the personal estate of the testator, for the contract for sale (if such as the court would decree to be performed) will operate as a revocation in equity of the devise (c), and it is by no means name of principal. Vendor, on agreement for sale, should be apprised of the consequences of the contract. (a) See White v. Cuyler, 6 Durn. and E. 176. Wilks v. Black, 2 East, 142. (b) See Lechmere and Carlisle, 3 P. Wms. 211. and Elements of Conveyancing, p. 6. second edition, where this subject is more minutely discussed. (c) Cotter v. Large, 2 P. Wms. 623. Vawson v. Jeffrey, 16 Ves. 519. |