A solicitor isn’t required to advise in relation to any particular application. It is very much up to the individual applicants to decide whether or not they use a solicitor or seek legal advice.
Here at KOD Lyons, we see a whole host of people who come in to seek advice; some people have very basic queries that they want answered, and there are other cases which are extremely complicated.
You’ll see from the form itself a signature doesn’t have to necessarily be witnessed by a solicitor. There’s a whole host of people who can witness the signature.
Our strongest advice though is that if you are seeking professional advice that you actually seek out a professional advisor who’s either duly regulated by the Law Society or is in an NGO that has significant experience and expertise in the area because when an application goes wrong it can go very wrong.