use an attorney in real estate purchase?

I used a lawyer to represent my interests. I am glad I did.

Prior to the sale, he met with the seller and went over all of the documents and had the seller confirm that all of the information was correct.

Then, before completion he met with the seller again and went over all of the documents again. The seller confirmed everything again. The lawyer then told the seller that if he lied about anything in the documents he could go to jail.

L: “You’re sure that everything is correct?”

The lawyer then touched on some of the key points including, “You are not married.”

S: “Well, we weren’t really married.”

L: “What do you mean, not really married?”

S: “We didn’t have any children.”

L: “But were you married? Was there a civil marriage registered?”

S: “Well, yes, but she left me”

L: “We’re you ever divorced?”

S: “No. I don’t know where she is. You’ll never be able to find her.”

The sale screeched to a halt. If it had not, I could have bought the property and years later the ex-spouse could have surfaced and claimed that the sale was not effective.

The lawyer put out word that if the ex-wife reported to him and provided her consent to the divorce and the seller would give her settlement money from the proceeds of the sale.

Within a week or two, the ex-wife appeared. The divorce was done, settlement money paid and the property sale completed.

I considered the fees paid to the lawyer to be money well spent.

(The lawyer is not practicing in the Zihuatanejo area anymore. They are practicing elsewhere in Mexico.