Mortgage independent legal advice
Putting your property up as security? Get advice on the mortgage first.
When you grant a mortgage over your property to secure someone else’s loan, your home is on the line for a debt that isn’t yours. We provide the independent legal advice your lender requires — online, Australia-wide, same day.
The security you’re giving
Your title, someone else’s debt.
A guarantee is a promise to pay. A mortgage goes a step further: it gives the lender a direct claim over a specific property. When those combine — you guarantee a loan and offer your property as security — you become what’s often called a third-party mortgagor.
It’s a common arrangement. Parents mortgage their home so a child can borrow. One company in a group secures another’s facility. A property owner supports a related borrower. In each case, the person granting the mortgage isn’t the one receiving the loan — but their property is what the lender can pursue if things go wrong.
Because the stakes are your property, lenders require you to receive independent legal advice before signing the mortgage and guarantee. Some also require a specific declaration — for example, a declaration by a third-party mortgagor or guarantor — confirming the advice was given. We provide the advice and issue the certificate the lender needs.
What we cover in your appointment
- The mortgage document and exactly what it lets the lender do;
- The guarantee and the debt your property is securing;
- What happens to your property if the borrower defaults;
- Any lender declaration confirming you received independent advice; and
- Your questions — until the risk is clear.
Understand the risk
What a third-party mortgage means for you.
Your property is the security
The lender’s claim attaches to your specific property, not just a general promise to pay.
Default isn’t yours to control
Whether the loan is repaid depends on the borrower — but the consequences can fall on your title.
Enforcement can mean sale
If the debt isn’t paid, the lender may ultimately move to sell the mortgaged property to recover it.
It can limit your own options
A mortgage over your property can affect your ability to sell, refinance or borrow against it.
Common questions
Mortgage advice questions.
What’s a “third-party mortgagor”?
It’s someone who mortgages their own property to secure a loan made to another person. You’re providing the security, even though you’re not the borrower — which is why independent advice is required.
Do you complete the lender’s declaration form?
Yes. Where your lender requires a specific declaration by a third-party mortgagor or guarantor, we complete and witness it as part of the appointment.
Is this different from ordinary guarantor advice?
It covers the same guarantee, plus the mortgage over your property. The extra focus is on what granting security over your specific property means and what the lender can do with it.
Can it be done online?
Yes — by video, anywhere in Australia, with the certificate issued the same day. Wet-signed originals can be posted where a lender insists on them.
How much is it?
A fixed $595 including GST, per person receiving advice, covering the document review, the appointment and the certificate.
About the founder
Advice from Kevin Yau.
Your advice is provided by Kevin Yau, founder of this service and principal of LW Williams and Associates. Kevin has worked as a banker and a mortgage broker, and now practises as a lawyer in banking and finance law — regularly advising both individuals and financial institutions on matters requiring independent legal advice.
LW Williams and Associates is a law firm with a 90-year history spanning four generations, so the person explaining your guarantee is backed by a practice that has advised Australian families and businesses for decades.
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Book your mortgage advice today.
Bring your mortgage and guarantee documents, choose a time, and we’ll explain what’s at stake.