Vehicle Finance Agreement & Deed of Trust

[Sydney11]

My mother in law took out a vehicle finance agreement on a car for her then partner. It was early into the relationship and so her solicitor drew up a deed of trust stating that the car was his responsibility in regards to payments, fines etc and that he had paid the deposit for the vehicle etc.
He pays my mother in law each month and she pays that on to the finance company.
They have since split and my mother in law wants to terminate the agreement so it isnt on her credit file.
He tried to raise finance to take on the agreement but was j able to do so but is now refusing to return the vehicle and has changed the registered keeper details to himself.
She has now been blocked by him on phone and email and when speaking to police over the weekend about his stalking asked them about the car and they said that they couldn't recover it as he is now the registered keeper.
Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated.

[des8]

What on earth was that solicitor thinking of?
fronting a finance agreement (ie taking out finance in your own name for someone else) is a fraudulent activity and a criminal offence.
The solicitor had a duty of care to the mother in law and IMO by failing to advise her correctly he failed in that duty.
Also he possibly colluded in a criminal act

The ex partner should have applied for credit with mother in law acting as guarantor

What to do?
Keep paying the finance agreement.
Is he still keeping up his side of the agreement?

Consult another solicitor regarding the original solicitor's failures

[Sydney11]

What on earth was that solicitor thinking of?
fronting a finance agreement (ie taking out finance in your own name for someone else) is a fraudulent activity and a criminal offence.
The solicitor had a duty of care to the mother in law and IMO by failing to advise her correctly he failed in that duty.
Also he possibly colluded in a criminal act

The ex partner should have applied for credit with mother in law acting as guarantor

What to do?
Keep paying the finance agreement.
Is he still keeping up his side of the agreement?

Consult another solicitor regarding the original solicitor's failures

They are still paying their standing order to my mother in law so keeping up their side of the agreement in regard to that. They don't understand why she won't just leave it as it is for the next 4 years with it on her credit file though. She has since had confirmation through from the finance provider that the vehicle must remain in her possession at her home address whilst there is existing finance and that, as the finance company are the legal owners of the vehicle, the vehicle must also have her as the registered keeper.
This information has been forwarded to her ex partner to see if that can elicit a response and to persuade him to return the vehicle to her.

[des8]

Did the finance house not warn that if those terms are reached they might repossess the vehicle?

Legally it is a mess.

[R0b]

I would have to disagree with Des on the professional negligence point. Yes a solicitor owes a duty of care towards their clients but based on the original information, the duty of the solicitor was to draft a deed of trust, not to give advise on the legal implications. Obviously if the instructions were changed and the mother in law then asked for advice on whether the deed was lawful and the solicitor agreed, then the solicitor would probably owe a duty of care and would likely be deemed to have assumed responsibility.

If the deed allows her to terminate the arrangement and recall possession of the car at any time, then she should exercise that option in accordance with what the deed says and failing that, take him to court for a possession order. It does depend on the wording of the deed as it may not be enforceable i.e. you can't transfer legal title of something to another person if you didn't own it in the first place so in any event asking the court to determine the deed as void and a possession order might be the only option.

As for any fraud/misrepresentation, I would be looking to the broker arranging the finance if they were aware that your mother in law was not going to be using it for her own purposes. Police are talking rubbish in my view, as long as she can prove the contract is in her name and is on a hire purchase agreement, then that would be sufficient evidence - it's well established the name of the registered keeper does not prove ownership. She could try to go down the complaint route with the police to see if that would elicit any further action.

[des8]

I would be surprised if a solicitor drafted a deed of trust without first enquiring into the circumstances necessitating it.
And once the circumstances were related I would hope he would warn his clients if their course of action was illegal.