Conveyancing
Conveyancing Costs start at £575 plus VAT and Disbursements (such as search fees Land Registry fees and Stamp Duty Land Tax). Not every buyer needs a mortgage. It is not often appreciated that the demands of mortgagees by far outweigh the enquiries that we are asked to make for the actual buyer, and for this reason we ask those Clients that are having a mortgage to pay a supplemental charge to cover additional work in satisfying their mortgagee’s enquiries and completing the additional paperwork.
| Sale/Purchase Price | Sale costs + VAT | Purchase costs +VAT |
|---|---|---|
| £0 – £100,000.00 | £720.00 | £750.00 |
| £100,001 – £150,000 | £840.00 | £875.00 |
| £150,001 – £200,000 | £875.00 | £940.00 |
| £200,001 – £250,000 | £940.00 | £1000.00 |
| £250,001 – £300,000 | £1000.00 | £1060.00 |
| £300,001 – £350,000 | £1060.00 | £1125.00 |
| £350,001 – £400,000 | £1190.00 | £1250.00 |
| £400,001 – £450,000 | £1250.00 | £1300.00 |
| £450,001 – £500,000 | £1375.00 | £1400.00 |
| £500,001 – £550,000 | £1500.00 | £1500.00 |
| £550,001 – £600,000 | £1625.00 | £1600.00 |
| £600,001 – £650,000 | £1750.00 | £1800.00 |
| £650,001 plus | £1875.00 | £1900.00 |
| Additional Costs | Sale Costs + VAT | Purchase + VAT |
| Mortgage | £50.00 | £125.00 |
| Admin Fee TT | £30.00 (x 2 if mortgage) | £30.00 |
| Management Company | £100.00 | £100.00 |
| New Build | ||
| £100.00 |
| Disbursements on sale | |
|---|---|
| Office copy Entries and Filed Plan | £6.00 |
| Chaps Fee | £12.00 + VAT (x2 if mortgage) |
| Disbursements of Purchase | |
|---|---|
| Local Search | £152.14 (Local – Prices will vary depending on area) |
| Drainage & Water Search | £51.00 (Local – Prices will vary depending on area) |
| Environmental Search | £61.20 |
| Other optional searches available | Prices can be given upon request |
| Bankruptcy Searches per name | £2.00 |
| Land registry Searches | £3.00 for an OS1/OS2 |
| CHAPS Fee | £12.00 + VAT |
| Land Registry Registration Fees – Purchase | |
|---|---|
| £0 – £80,000 | £20.00 |
| £80,001- £100,000 | £40.00 |
| £100,001- £200,000 | £95,00 |
| £200,001-£500,000 | £135.00 |
| £500,001-£1,000,000 | £270.00 |
| £1,000,001- over | £455.00 |
Wills
Wills start from £250.00 for a single person (£300 for a married couple) and we are on the panel for the Will for Free scheme run by The Institute of Cancer Research. If you’re over 60 they will pay this amount for a new or updated Will without obligation. Generally we expect to have your Will ready for signature within seven days. We send you a rough copy to check through, and a photocopy of the finished Will after signing. For your security, we suggest you let us keep the signed Will in our strongroom, without charge. We prefer to supervise the signing of all our Wills here in our office so as to ensure their validity, as errors in execution and witnessing, when discovered too late, are, of course, irremediable.
Legal Aid
The office has discontinued its involvement with Legal Aid and we no longer undertake work that is funded by the Community Legal Services Board.
Probate
The following charges are based on this firm being instructed to administer the whole estate.
Our charges are governed by the Solicitors’ (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994, which provides the following framework for our costs structure, and enables costs to be calculated according to a time-cost basis as well as a value element.
The executive responsible for all probate work is Mrs Sharon Brett, with technical input, when required, from Mr Pulham. The hourly rate applicable to Mrs Brett is £250 per hour,
and for Mr Pulham, £300 per hour.
In addition to the hourly rate we are entitled to charge the following value elements:
- 0.5% of the residence or the deceased’s share of the residence.
- 1 % of the remainder of the gross assets valued up to £1M.
- 0.33% of any excess over £1M
- 0.5% of the redemption figure if we have to negotiate the redemption of any loans or mortgages of the deceased.
Where our firm is appointed with direct responsibility as an executor the value element is increased to 1.5%, on the first £1M, and 0.5% on any excess.
In addition to our legal costs, there are disbursements which are applicable in most administration of estates and these are as follows:
- We use a program called Probate Plus which records and assembles all relevant estate information, putting tax into the correct tax years and calculating the net value of the estate, balances owing and much more. There is a fee for using this program namely £91.50 plus VAT. This figure changes depending on offers provided by Sweet & Maxwell. We send out sets of estate accounts throughout the administration to the
executors and also to the beneficiaries to accompany all distributions. - We have to undertake a now compulsory AML (Anti Money Laundering) Search to electronically verify our clients identity documents and information that are provided. This search leaves only a soft footprint in respect of their credit rating history and this is a disbursement costing £6 per individual.
- It is also compulsory to carry out bankruptcy searches on all beneficiaries and this is a disbursement of £2 per individual. We cannot distribute any funds without this.
- When we apply for a Grant of Probate, there is a Probate fee which we pay direct to Her Majesty Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) which currently amounts to £155, plus 50p for every office copy of the Grant of Probate you require. We recommend one is obtained for every institution.
- Where the deceased owns a property, we will obtain up to date Land Registry title entries which cost £3 to enable us to check the current proprietorship and if charges and restrictions apply. Where applicable, we will also obtain a copy of the plan for an additional £3.
We also offer a fixed fee of £500 plus VAT and the above disbursements where we will just obtain the Grant of Probate on behalf of the executors. The executors have to inform all institutions of the death, obtain date of death balances and provide this information to us. We will then complete a small Inheritance Tax Account (IHT205), draft the Executors Application and arrange the signing for all forms before applying to the Probate Office. Once the Grant of Probate is issued, our work is complete. The executor is then responsible to administer the estate.
General
Hourly rates for other work are as follows:
- For all e-mail traffic and travelling time £125ph (minimum six-minute unit).
- For all general correspondence and attendances: £185ph (minimum six minute unit).
- For all specialist work:- JSP and CM: £300.
- For non specialist work: JSP and CM: £300 – SMB, CVW and JW: £185ph
Note: Value Added Tax at standard rates must be added to all our charges.