Pricing

Our costs listed are based on hourly rate based on the approximate amount of work carried out by a qualified solicitor at a flat rate of £220.00 plus VAT. Should any works be undertaken by a paralegal, charges would be at a rate of £130.00 plus VAT per hour.

Costs & Disbursements on Your Behalf and VAT thereon

Apart from legal fees as indicated above, there are other costs which you will incur in any residential transaction. These can vary depending on the type of transactions, such as whether you are selling a property or buying a property. Some costs do not have any VAT (such as stamp duty) whereas others are subject to VAT (such as searches). Here is an indicative list of usual costs and disbursements:

Land Registry Fee (No VAT) – There is usually a fee payable to HM Land Registry for any application to change or update the register. For example, when buying a house, we must apply to the HM Land Registry to record you as the new owner and register the details of your mortgage. The fees payable vary and you are able to obtain further details here The vast majority of our application are made online, which results in a lower fee payable by you.

For a calculation of Land Registry Fees, please click here. A typical fee for a purchase of a house/flat for £350,000 would be £135.00 for example.

Stamp Duty (No VAT) – This is a tax on property imposed by the government. There are varying rates of stamp duty and the amount you would be required to pay depends on your circumstances. A property being purchased for a buy to let or a second homeowner may be required to pay a higher rate. A first-time buyer would pay a lower rate. For further information on stamp duty rates, please either contact us or use the HMRC Stamp Duty Calculator.

Searches (Subject to VAT) – We would be required to carry our various searches in your purchase or in some cases remortgage transactions. Searches are usually provided by local authorities, utility providers (such as Thames Water) and other private search companies. Searches are usually subject to VAT. For example, a residential search pack which includes a local authority search, drainage search and environmental search would be approximately £300.00 inclusive of VAT.

Notices and other Fees to Landlords on Leasehold Transactions (Could be VAT applicable)

On leasehold purchases or remortgages and or a leasehold sale, we are required to obtain information from the freeholder, or we will require that the freeholder undertakes some administrative work so that we can complete your transaction. The freeholder usually has fees which must be paid. These could be obtaining a leasehold information pack for a sale or remortgage or serving a notice that you are the new owner following. Such costs are subject to VAT. However, in some cases there is no VAT, such as where the Landlord is a local authority for example.

“A typical Notice of Transfer fee is 50.00 for a building owner by a Council such as an ex-local authority flat or £100 plus VAT for buildings owned privately. “

VAT: As indicated above, VAT on costs and disbursements can vary and we are happy to provide you with a detailed quote if you contact us by email.

Potential additional costs( excluding asylum):

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

How long will this take?
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 10-15 weeks. It can be a lot shorter if there are very few assets and all information is readily available. We will always update you throughout the case, so you know exactly the likely time frame as to when the estate is likely to conclude.

Probate (uncontested):

How much we charge ultimately depends upon the work we undertake, for example in some cases we are asked to obtain a grant of probate only, whilst in other cases we will administer the full estate from start to finish.

Set out below are examples, our costs and likely timescales in cases.

Applying for the grant, collecting, and distributing the assets
Total costs estimated at £800-plus vat and disbursements

The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

Disbursements which will be in addition to our fee:

Probate application fee of £155
£5-7 Swearing of the oath (per executor)
Land registry searches £3
£150 Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
£150 Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Potential additional costs( excluding asylum):

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

How long will this take?
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 10-15 weeks. It can be a lot shorter if there are very few assets and all information is readily available. We will always update you throughout the case, so you know exactly the likely time frame as to when the estate is likely to conclude.

Grant Only Service

Sometimes, clients want us to obtain a grant of probate or grant of letters of administration, without administering the estate. In such cases, our costs would be £950 plus vat and the same disbursements as listed above. These costs are for non-taxable estates below £325,000.

What happens if you cannot provide a fixed fee quote

Our costs listed are based on hourly rate based on the approximate amount of work carried out by a qualified solicitor at a flat rate of £200.00 plus VAT. Should any works be undertaken by a paralegal, charges would be at a rate of £130.00 plus VAT per hour.

There maybe complex cases ( for example where the estate assets are unknown ) that make it impossible to provide a fixed fee quote. If this is the case we would typically undertake the case in one of two ways. Firstly an hourly rate of £200 plus vat and disbursements or secondly undertake the case on a fixed percentage of between 1-2% of the gross value of the estate. If the case is undertaken on an hourly rate, we would always provide an initial estimate of £2,000 plus vat and disbursements ( as above) which would be reviewed once further information had be obtained. Thereafter, fees in excess of this quote would be provided.

Wills and Power of Attorney Services
Drafting and preparation of wills £300 plus vat

Drafting and preparation of Lasting Power of Attorney’s £275 plus vat per LPA. The registration fee per LPA to the Office of the Public Guardian is currently £82.

Fixed fee
Agreed in advance a fixed fee fee for handling the case.

£800 + 20 % VAT + Disbursements (not limited to Application fee for probate or letters of administration £215.00 + £1.00 additional copy fee)

Costs & Disbursements

Most applications will only incur Home Office fees (click here for Home Office Fees) and some application will also incur an NHS Surcharge (details here). Both Home Office fees and NHS surcharges are not subject to VAT. Any appeals to the immigration tribunal, the court or an administrative review would be subject to an application fee depending on the type of application. The level of these costs will depend on your application type, please contact us for further details. Please note that these fees are not subject to VAT.

However, if we instruct Counsel/a Barrister to represent you in any hearings, the costs would be subject to VAT. The costs of a Counsel/Barrister will of course depend on the level of experience of the Barrister.

The fees quoted above do not include interpreting services. If you require an interpreter then you can ask a friend or another community figure to come and help interpret at your own cost.

Timescales

The time scale from inception of the file to completion for each immigration application will mainly depend on the processing times by the UK Border Agency or Home Office. We aim to process your file and application and prepare it for submission within 1-4 weeks depending on the complexity of your case. Although the UK Border Agency and Home Office provide guidelines on the waiting times or processing times, there are many cases where an application take much longer for them to process or make decision. Therefore, it is difficult to give a precise timescale. However, we recommend you refer to the UK Border Agency and Home Office websites for their estimated turnaround times for further information. An estimated time scale for each service we offer is can vary on a case by case basis.

services which you may need and which are not included in our costs. For further information please refer to the further immigration information section of our website.