The Myth of Missives

One of the most frequently asked questions from clients who are buying and/or selling is “when will we sign the missives”? The assumption amongst many clients is that as part of their conveyancing transaction, they must need to sign a contract on the dotted line making sure to dot the i's and cross the t’s.

It is a fair assumption. But in that sense the missives are a bit of a myth.

“Missives” is the fancy name for the contract that is entered into between a Purchaser and a Seller. The missives are the exchange of Formal contractual Letters between a Seller’s Solicitor, and a Purchaser’s Solicitor. There is no requirement for either a Purchaser or Seller to sign these.

The first of the Formal Letters will be the Offer submitted on behalf of a Purchaser. Then there will be a Qualified Acceptance on behalf of the Seller - this is the Formal response to the Offer, and it often comes with a few conditions. If the terms of the Qualified Acceptance are acceptable to the Purchaser, then their Solicitor will then issue a Concluding Letter. However, if the terms of the Qualified Acceptance are not acceptable to the Purchaser, their Solicitor will issue a Qualified Acceptance of their own. And so it is the case until the terms are agreed and a Concluding Letter is issued.

Once a Concluding Letter has been issued, the contract between the Purchaser and Seller is concluded aka finalised aka “tied up”, and at this stage it becomes legally binding. This means no further changes can be made to the terms of the contract, and crucially, it means no party is able to change their mind, or walk away from the transaction.