Our policy is to be as transparent as possible about charges at every stage of the process. However, we are not “call centre” lawyers with “one size fits all” service and charging structure.
Set out below are some detailed examples of fees for the following:
We recognise that cases that appear quite similar can in fact be different and the amount that you have to pay will depend on many things including the complexity of the case, the timescale within which the work has to be concluded and the level of service that we have agreed with you.
In general our charges are calculated by multiplying the amount of time that we spend by the hourly rate of the fee earner who carries out the work. So, to provide an estimate of the likely cost we have to predict the amount of time that we shall need to spend. This is sometimes difficult because we do not know, at the outset, what issues are likely to arise.
It is important to note that we charge only for time spent working on files by fee earners so, for example, we do not charge separately for the time spent by secretaries and support staff who often deal with telephone and email enquiries, type correspondence and documents and so on. The cost of this overhead is included within the hourly rate.
The current hourly rates that apply to our fee earners are:
Quite often a potential Client will ask us whether it is in his/her interests to engage a fee earner who is less experienced and whose hourly rate is therefore lower.
If we consider that a junior fee earner can easily deal with your work, then of course, we will pass it to him/her but it makes sense to pass more complex work to senior fee earners whose wealth of knowledge and experience will enable them to complete the work more efficiently, in less time so that the cost is no more (and sometime less) than if somebody with less knowledge and experience had undertaken the work. We will discuss the allocation of the work with you when you instruct us.
For information about the cost of the particular services that we offer please see below.
Residential Conveyancing Fees
Sale & Purchase Of Freehold Property
Our fees for a sale or purchase start from £1250.00 + VAT of £250.00 = £1500.00 for a simple straight forward transaction to around £3,500.00 + VAT of £700.00 = £4200.00 for a large estate on unregistered land.
We prefer to discuss the details of your sale and/or purchase with you prior to giving you a fee estimate, so that we can take into the account any special features or complexities of the property you are selling/buying.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs that are payable to third parties, which we deal with on your behalf and include:
Stamp Duty (Purchase Only) The cost of this is dependent on the price you are paying for the property and whether you own any other properties. We will calculate this for you when giving the fee estimate.
Learn more about our conveyancing services.
Sales & Purchases Of Leasehold Property
Our fees for a sale or purchase start from £2000.00 + VAT of £400.00 = £2400.00 for a simple straight forward transaction to around £4,000.00 + VAT of £800.00 = £4,800.00 for a property within a large estate on unregistered land.
We prefer to discuss the details of your sale and/or purchase with you prior to giving you a fee estimate, so that we can take into the account any special features or complexities of the property you are selling/buying.
Mortgages Or Re-Mortgages
Our fees start from £850.00 + VAT of £170.00 = £1020.00, for a simple straight forward property to around £1,100.00 + VAT of £220.00 = £1320.00 for a larger property.
We prefer to discuss the details of your mortgage with you prior to giving you a fee estimate, so that we can take into the account any special features or complexities.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs that are payable to third parties, which we deal with on your behalf and include:
Litigation Fees (To Include Employment And Debt Recovery)
General Advice
Litigation matters to include employment matters and debt recovery are currently overseen by Dervla Nash. Fees are based on our standard hourly rate.
Matters which usually become more complicated and where fees exceed the examples above arise if it is necessary to make or defend applications to the Court, if claims are brought/defenced by litigants in person and if costs applications are made. The number of witnesses and experts also influences the anticipated fees.
The fees set out above cover taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely outcome (this will be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change) and dealing with all aspects of the matter which will include entering into pre-issue correspondence with the other party, preparing a Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, advising on claim or defence from other party, considering settlement possibilities, Preliminary Court Hearings, Exchanging documents, preparing witness statements, instructing any necessary expert, Preparation and attendance at Trial, including instructions to Counsel;
Disbursements
These are costs that are payable to third parties, such as court fees, Counsel’s fees and experts fees.
To issue a claim for money, the fees are based on the amount claimed, including interest. Please see link attached to find the current court fees – https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees
Simple Debt Recovery
For simply debt recovery matters which do not exceed £9,999, are not defended and do not require enforcement action we offer a fixed fee service of £500 + VAT (£100.00) to prepare the claim and obtain a default judgement.
How Long Will It Take?
The time that it takes depends largely on when your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached before proceedings are issued it could take a matter of weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take anywhere from 10 – 24 months.
This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
Wills
Our fees for the preparation of Wills are:-
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney – Health & Welfare and Property & Affairs.
Our fees for the preparation are as follows :-
Each document needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used – the registration fee is currently £82.00 per document.
Probate
For the vast majority of the estates where a grant of representation is necessary (and we handle the full process) fees range from £3,250.00 plus VAT of £650.00 = £3900.00 and £15000.00 plus VAT of £3000.00 = £18000.00. The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the estate. If there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end if there are lots of beneficiaries, more than one properties and multiple investments of varying types, costs will be at the higher end. Some estates can be more complex and the overall costs could exceed the higher end especially if there are disputes against the estate and where all of the assets are not in the UK.
If we deal with the full administration of the estate, we will:
Fixed Fee For Simple Probate Only Applications
The fixed fee for a non-taxable, simple probate application where we are supplied with the financial information by the executors and do not undertake any of the work set out above is £1,500.00 plus VAT of £300.00 = £1,800.00. The probate application fee is currently £300.00 plus £1.50 for each additional copy.
Disbursements
In addition to our fees there will be “disbursements” – these are costs that are payable to third parties.
Probate Timescale
Most straightforward estates are dealt with within three to nine months from when we receive all of the available estate information and are instructed to act. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes eight to ten weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between three to six weeks from the date on which the grant of probate is received. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes two to four weeks.
These are of course estimates only as there can be circumstances that result in a delay or an extension of these timescales such as difficulty in identifying or locating all of the assets relevant to the estate, locating missing beneficiaries, dealing with extended enquiries from HM Revenue and Customs in relation to Inheritance Tax or Income Tax;
Reg Company Number
9428051
Registered Office
57 High Street, Shepton Mallet BA4 5AQ
VAT Number
639 729 882
SRA Number
625272
Castle Cary
The Old Exchange, Church Street,
Castle Cary BA7 7EJ
Tel: 01963 350 888
Cheddar
Bath Street Chambers, Bath Street,
Cheddar, BS27 3AA
Tel: 01934 745 400
Shepton Mallet
57 High Street, Shepton Mallet,
Somerset, BA4 5AQ
Tel: 01749 330 330
