Legal Fees and Pricing

Residential Property

The following figures are based on an average estimate, and are exclusive of VAT.

Property Price	Freehold Property Fees	Leasehold Property Fees
Up to £450k	Sale Purchase £1,800.00 £2,000.00	Sale Purchase £2,500.00 £2,800.00
£451k – £800k	£2,000.00 £2,400.00	£2,800.00 £3,300.00
£801k – £1m	£2,700.00 £3,200.00	£3,500.00 £4,500.00
£1.1m – £1.4m	£4,000.00 £4,500.00	£4,800.00 £5,500.00
£1.5m +	£4,800.00+ £5,700.00+	£5,800.00+ £7,000.00+

All estimates given above are based on our current fee earners’ hourly charging rates and are calculated on the assumption that there will not be complicating factors in the transaction. If the matter becomes more complicated resulting in an effect on costs we shall contact you to bring this to your attention and provide you with a new fee estimate where possible. All these fee estimates are exclusive of VAT, meaning that VAT will be added when the bill is issued, at the rate prevailing at that time, currently 20%.

What is included in these costs?

Our Sale fee includes:

• Taking your instructions
• Obtaining the necessary documentation from Land Registry
• Compiling a draft contract package and sending this to the Buyer
• Dealing with any enquiries raised by the Buyer
• Procuring and arranging any necessary insurance indemnity policies
• Obtaining any necessary redemption statement from mortgage lenders and redeeming the mortgage
• Arranging to pay an estate agent’s commission
• Providing a financial statement at the end of the matter

Additional Costs

When selling property you are likely to incur the below costs which are not included as part of our fees:

Land Registry Fees

We will incur fees when obtaining necessary documents from Land Registry. We will recover these costs from you at the end of the matter – £14.00-£60.00 typically.

Indemnity Insurance policy premiums

It may be necessary to arrange an indemnity policy in order to facilitate the sale if title documents or certificates relating to the property or any work undertaken there are not available – Costs dependent on the nature of the policy and the value of the property

Management Pack (leasehold properties only)

We will need to obtain information from the managing agents relating to the property. The managing agents will charge for providing this information and this charge will be recovered from you – £500.00 – £800.00 plus VAT

Our Purchase fee includes:

• Taking your instructions.
• Reviewing documentation sent to us by the solicitor acting for the Seller and checking this against any applicable Land Registry information and reporting to you.
• Arranging searches and reporting on the results.
• Raising appropriate enquiries relevant to the property and reporting to you.
• Providing breakdown of monies required for completion.
• Dealing with any mortgage lenders to arrange for monies to arrive in time for completion.
• Dealing with completion, including transmitting funds to the solicitors acting for the Seller.
• Arranging payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax and filing associated paperwork.
• Submitting Land Registry application to update the property’s title register.

Additional Costs

When purchasing property you are likely to incur the below costs which are not included as part of our fees:

Searches

We will arrange searches for you including a search at the local authority. We will report the results of these searches to you prior to exchanging contracts with the Seller – £650.00 approx.

Land Registration Fee

The Land Registry charge a fee to register your purchase of the property which transfers legal ownership of the property from the Seller to you. The fee is based on the value of the property. We will inform you of the fee to be paid when we provide our fee estimate.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

This is the tax which is payable on the purchase of property. The fee is dependent on the price that is paid for the property and your own circumstances.

Deeds of Covenant or Licences to Assign (leasehold property only)

We may need to provide proof that covenants in the property’s title register have been complied with. Deeds of covenant and Licences to assign will be provided by the Landlord or management company’s solicitor. Typically £350.00 plus VAT.

Whether buying or selling the following factors may lead to additional costs being incurred in your matter, please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and that VAT will be added at the prevailing rate at the time the bill is issued, the rate is currently 20%.

Building Safety Act 2000

Fire risk assessments and other building regulation requirements apply to blocks of flats. Typically £400.00

Dealing with unregistered land	£800.00 in addition to estimate given
Leasehold elements within a freehold sale e.g. leasehold garages	£800.00 in addition to estimate given
Drafting approving or arranging Statutory Declarations or Statements of Truth	£500.00 (depending on complexity)
Giving access and undertakings	£300.00
Repaying any mortgage over property which is not a first mortgage	£500.00 per mortgage
Additional electronic fund transfers (CHAPS or BACS payment)	£35.00 per payment

Any other unforeseen complicating factors such as:

• Particularly demanding or extensive enquiries
• Unusual complexities surrounding title
• Particularly lengthy or time-consuming negotiations
• Site inspections
• Gifted deposit from Family member and/or Friend
• Inexperienced conveyancers acting for other parties

Timescales

As a guideline we expect a straightforward transaction to take around 10 weeks to complete from first being instructed. However, in many cases there are factors which affect the speed of the transaction such as the need to obtain additional information and any issues which affect other transactions in the chain. Whilst we also ensure that we carry out your work as efficiently as possible, the speed of the transaction will be affected by the efficiency and the wishes of third parties.

PROBATE

We set out our fees below where:

• There is a valid Will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible assets (investments)
• The Will names the beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries regarding the division of assets
• There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit an account to HMRC
• No claims are made against the estate
• The executors are beneficiaries
• There are no assets abroad

Grant of Probate only

This applies where you ask us to obtain a Grant of Probate only and you then deal with the administration of the estate after the Grant of Probate.

Our fees are charged at our current hourly rates plus VAT. We anticipate that the Grant of Probate will take between 6 and 12 hours of work and estimate our fees to be between £2,400.00 and £4,800.00 plus VAT plus disbursements. Please see below for usual disbursements. VAT is charged at the rate prevailing when the bill is issued, and is currently 20%.

Our work will involve checking the Will, obtaining from the executors details of the assets of the estate and obtaining from the relevant financial institutions accurate information as to the value of the accounts and any deeds deposited with them, checking the identities of executors and beneficiaries, preparing the probate application and having it signed, filing it on-line and having the legal statement signed, depositing the Will with the Probate Registry and sending the grant of probate to the executors so that they can deal with the distribution of the estate.

As there can be substantial delays at the Probate Registry, the process of obtaining the grant of probate could take between ten to twelve months.

Administration of Estate (including obtaining a Grant of Probate)

This applies where you ask us to deal with the entire administration of an estate, including obtaining the Grant and dealing with the collection and distribution of assets.

Our fees are charged at our current hourly rates plus VAT. We anticipate this work to take between 10 and 40 hours of work and estimate our total fees therefore to be between £4,000.00 and £16,000.00 plus VAT plus disbursements.

The work involved is the same as for obtaining a grant of probate, following which the financial institutions are contacted to release funds, the Land Registry transfer is prepared so that the property can be registered in the name of the relevant beneficiary or alternatively arrangements made for its sale, the deceased’s accountant is contacted to deal with income tax and possibly capital gains tax issues, and the preparation of estate accounts.

The process of administering the estate from start to finish could take between twelve and thirty-six months.

Variation in Costs

The exact cost for the dealing with the whole of your matter will depend on the individual circumstances surrounding the matter. Where the matter is relatively straightforward, such as where there is one beneficiary with no property involved, costs will be at the lower end of the range. Where the matter is more complex such as where multiple beneficiaries and bank accounts are involved, costs will be towards the higher end of the range or above. Where circumstances are more complex then fees will be discussed with you and parameters set when such circumstances become apparent.

Disbursements

We will handle the payment of any disbursements on your behalf in order to ensure that the process takes place smoothly. Disbursements which are not included in our costs are likely to include:

• Probate application fee – £300.00 (plus £1.50 per additional copy required) at the present time but please note that the Government regularly increases the fees.
• Bankruptcy only Land Charges Department Searches – £7.00 per beneficiary
• Statutory Advertisement – £150.00 to £300.00
• Land Registry fees – £14.00 for a copy of the deceased’s title plus a fee to register the new owner which varies according to the value of the property and will generally be between £25.00 and £200.00.
• Landlords fees where there is a leasehold property

Further Information

No two estates are the same, so legal fees will always vary. The following circumstances will involve additional solicitor’s time and therefore additional fees:

• A full inheritance tax account
• A life interest or other trust
• Overseas assets
• Payment of inheritance tax where funds are unavailable
• Shareholdings
• Inactive executors
• Deeds of variation
• Income tax returns for the estate
• Intestacy
• Disputes between beneficiaries or claims against the estate

Accountants should be instructed where income or capital gains arise in the estate, and accountants may need to be instructed to prepare an income tax return for the final year of the deceased’s life.