I am getting conflicting advice as to whether I really need a solicitor for the cash purchase of an apartment in Umbria...

As in France & unlike the UK, surely the Agent and the Notary do most of the work? I am hearing of horror stories where solicitors are charging up to €5,000 for doing... not a lot! I can't afford that sort of money... Others advise that it is not really necessary, so I am unsure what to do. I do speak & understand Italian, though not all the 'legal jargon', so I accept I will need an interpretor at completion.

All advice welcome (including 'cheap' solicitors if definitely required!).

By solicitor do you actually mean a Notary (notaio)? Yes, you would be well advised to use one. Preferably not the agency one. Paying in cash makes no difference. And yes, they are costly. Lost track of the exact cost because it's been a while since we used one. Hopefully, Modicasa will chip in.

Thanks Concierge, but no, I meant an English/Italian speaking solicitor as well as the Notary. I know I have to have the Notary..

Then it's no. A Notary is sufficient. What would the solicitor do?

Exactly! Thanks for that... This was suggested by the Agent in the UK, but I think he's recommending a 'friend', so hoping for a back-hander maybe!

I've heard the advice for foreigners buying in Italy to use an English speaking solicitor as well but I think it applies mainly to foreigners who don't speak Italian. It seems like silly advice to me as solicitors are expensive and if you need a translator just get a translator.

Also here in Italy 'conveyancing' is done by the notaio rather than a solicitor as others have noted.

As others have said - forget the extra expense of a solicitor. If you get stuck with anything just ask us or place a quote in the talk talk thread and we'll help you undertsand the legal blurb or any unusual vocab.

Wonderful advice... So glad I signed up for this forum/web site! Thanks to all.

Yep - we're brilliant Stick around.

It all goes a bit quiet in the summer but plenty of us still check in to give advice, bitch, moan or just have a laugh and share things.

There is a great bunch of people on here, really.

Savycat, we did not get a solicitor but an English speaking Notaio. Although we both speak decent Italian, we thought it would help with certain terms to hire an English speaking notary.
He also translated the Rogito in English.

That's good. Nobody offered me any extra help or advice or translations ...... but I never asked for any and I presume that they just figured my Italian OH would explain anything to me that I couldn't or didn't understand. Turns out I asked more questions than he did being the untrusting, cynical foreigner that I am.

[QUOTE=Lorna at Vicenza;10132957]That's good. Nobody offered me any extra help or advice or translations ...... but I never asked for any and I presume that they just figured my Italian OH would explain anything to me that I couldn't or didn't understand. Turns out I asked more questions than he did being the untrusting, cynical foreigner that I am.[/QUOTE]

Funny that, I also behave as the untrusting cynical foreigner, it must be a defence mechanism.

[QUOTE=Isakat;10132974] It is funny ... not in the ha ha sense.

There are times when I just trusted on instinct and it worked out. Other times I have been a little naieve and been burnt. Now, now I guess I am more cynical - or older or not Italian and I want to make bloody sure what I'm getting into.
The odd thing with buying the house was that even though OH is Italian, he'd never really seen or signed any kind of contract in his life apart from simple work ones but I'd be doing it for years at work. Foreigner as I am, I knew more legal blurb than him.

It was easier for us. OH did the preliminary. We were happy to use the other party's notary because he was also a client of OH. He'd already done the inheritance on the apartment so had all the documents. He read out the contract, but no one asked about my level of Italian. We had a mortgage lined up, but didn't need it.

Isakat... How did you find your English speaking Notaio, search, or was he/she recommended?