Pricing and Service Information

In order to help you to understand the likely costs of certain areas of work we undertake and the services that are included within these costs, included below is information relating to our Residential Conveyancing Services and our Probate Services.  All our fees include advice as required and personal access to the person carrying out work on your behalf. Work which we undertake within the areas of Residential Property and Probate is carried out by a Solicitor and/or qualified Lawyer, whilst also being supervised by a Partner of the firm. The Partner allocated to supervise your instruction is a solicitor of considerable experience within the applicable area of law.

Residential Conveyancing

For Residential Conveyancing and where there are no special factors, our normal fee is fixed.  This charge applies whether the property is freehold or leasehold and includes any work carried out for an associated mortgage lender.  Our fee applies for both sales and purchases and, as a firm, we hold the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation.

Examples of the likely disbursements for property transactions are as follows:-

• Government Stamp Duty (when buying);
• Land Registry registration fees; and
• Search fees.

On request, we can advise on the amounts involved which are specific to your instruction. Where any special factors apply, we will discuss with you any impact this might have on the fee for our service.

Our fee for a property purchase instruction includes:-

• Investigating Title;
• Examining the Contract for Purchase;
• Obtaining information about the property from the seller’s solicitors and from statutory undertakers such as water utilities; and
• Drafting the Deed that will transfer the property.

Our fee for a sale of your property includes:-

• Satisfying all reasonable enquiries raised by a purchaser’s conveyancer;
• Preparing a suitable Contract for Sale and effecting the conveyance of the property;
• Ensuring that the full price is received in order to pay off any mortgage involved and thereafter net proceeds of sale being distributed according to the client’s instructions;
• Effecting registration of Title at HM Land Registry as required; and
• Enabling clients to track the progress of their case on line via our Case Management System which, together with information provided by us from time to time, will provide a likely timescale.

A relatively small part of our conveyancing work consists of equity releases and acting for a mortgage lender alone, for which we can provide price and service information on request.

Our charging in a Conveyancing Matter.

The solicitors’ remuneration in relation to non-contentious business is governed by the Solicitors’ Non-Contentious Business Remuneration Order 1994. Paragraph 3 provides that a solicitor’s costs shall be “such sum as may be fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances and in particular to various specific items, including:

• The complexity of the matter;
• The time spent;
• The amount or value of any money or property involved; and
• Whether any land involved is registered land.”

However, we offer a strict fixed fee (in terms of our Conveyancing Services [for sales and purchases] and where no special factors apply) of £1,600 plus VAT (at the prevailing rate [currently 20%]) and disbursements per transaction. In terms of our Conveyancing Services generally, please click here to view a breakdown of costs and disbursements that apply. By way of a related sale and purchase illustration, please see the following example in terms of our fees for acting.

Timescales in a conveyancing transaction can vary greatly. An instruction that does not involve an extended chain (for example a purchaser [with no related sale] buying a freehold property from a seller who has no onward purchase) can compete in approximately 4-6 weeks, this being subject to there being no unexpected hold-ups in receiving the purchaser’s written mortgage offer, satisfactory survey report, searches etc. More involved transactions (such as where a client is purchasing & selling), involving multiple variables and an extended chain will likely involve a lengthier timescale to completion. On receiving your instructions, our ascertaining your circumstances and the details of the parties involved in any chain, we will be able to provide you with an expected timescale for your transaction(s). Much will, of course, depend on the timely turnaround of correspondence from the solicitors/conveyancers representing related parties within any chain. We at Palmers pride ourselves on a prompt turnaround of correspondence for and on behalf of our clients.

Example:

Myrtle instructs Palmers to look after her sale in the sum of £800,000 and her related purchase in the sum of £1,000,000. In respect of her related purchase, Myrtle is taking out a mortgage from her chosen bank in the sum of £150,000.

Please click here to see our Completion Statement that sets out the costs and disbursements relating to Myrtle’s Freehold sale and click here to see our Completion Statement that sets out the costs and disbursements relating to Myrtle’s Freehold purchase.

Probate Service

Fees for our Probate Service are normally a fixed fee amount, agreed at an early stage in an estate’s administration (once we are in possession of information about the Will or intestacy and the assets, liabilities, number of beneficiaries and nature of the estate).  To reflect the responsibility carried by the Practice, our fixed fee is normally based on a small percentage of the value of the estate involved, a percentage which is exclusive of VAT.  We discuss with the client the work required and provide a cost proposal accordingly.

Normally, there are no hourly rate fees involved so clients of Palmers have complete certainty in terms of what the overall fee will be. However, in some cases, a charging element by way of an hourly rate must be incorporated (for example, where an estate is subject to legal challenge and litigation is involved) and if this scenario presents then you will be advised of this at the earliest opportunity.

There are virtually no disbursements apart from Probate court fees. Currently, if an estate exceeds £5,000 in value then the court fee is £215 plus £1.50p for every sealed copy of the Grant.  If an Estate’s value is below £5,000 then then the court does not charge a fee, although it will charge a fee of £1.50p for every sealed copy of the Grant. Court fees are subject to review and change by HM Government (this, of course, is outside our control).

Included in our fee are all the enquiries necessary to establish the nature and value of the estate, dealing with HM Revenue and Customs & the Probate Registry, collecting assets, paying out liabilities and legacies, marshalling assets and distributing them according to the Will or Intestacy. Within our fee, we also make all necessary searches where required and provide Estate Accounts of the Administration.

The likely time from inception to Grant of Probate stage and from there to the winding up of an estate varies widely in probate work. We are able to discuss with clients the likely timescale involved.

In probate work we occasionally provide a reduced service where the client does not require a full service.  For obtaining a Grant of Probate based on information provided by clients, our normal fee is between £1,250 and £2,000 plus VAT (at the prevailing rate [currently 20%]) and Probate Court fees (and the more minor disbursements referred to above). This reduced service includes all advice required. Clients can then use the Grant of Probate to collect the assets and deal with the administration themselves.

An Example of our charging in a Probate Matter.

The solicitors’ remuneration in relation to non-contentious business is governed by the Solicitors’ Non-Contentious Business Remuneration Order 1994. Paragraph 3 provides that a solicitor’s costs shall be “such sum as may be fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances and in particular to various specific items, including:

• The complexity of the matter;
• The time spent;
• The amount or value of any money or property involved; and
• Whether any land involved is registered land.”

The Court of Appeal reviewed the case of Jemma Trust Company Ltd v Liptrott and Others (2003) and agreed that in contentious business it is now normal for the value of a claim to be taken into account when assessing a global rate. The Court of Appeal found, in respect of non-contentious work, that it is still open to solicitors to make a separate charge based on value provided that the overall charge is “fair and reasonable”. These are 1.5% plus VAT for the gross estate (less residence) and 0.75% plus VAT for the residence. VAT is applied at the prevailing rate, this currently being 20%.

In its 1999 booklet, “Non-contentious costs”, the Law Society stated that, “consideration should be given to reducing the value element percentage when dealing with high value estates”. In addition, the Court of Appeal suggested the following principles:

1. Prior agreement to be reached with both the executor and residuary beneficiary;

2. In any complicated administration, interim bills should be rendered;

3. That the solicitor has a continuing obligation to review the matter, as a whole, at the end of the case to ensure that the amount claimed is fair and reasonable;

4. That there should be no hard and fast rule that charges cannot be made separately by reference to the value of the estate; value can, by contrast, be taken into account as part of the hourly rate; it can also be taken into account partly in one way and partly in the other; and

5. That a bill should be transparent and in no case should it be taken into account more than once.

Our time is published in hourly rates but accrues in units of 6 minutes. In line with Law Society and SRA guidance, it is more efficient for us to monitor costs building up in hours that are divisible by 10 and enables us to monitor time accrual according to the hourly rate of the solicitor concerned.

Unlike some other solicitors, in Probate matters we endeavour to steer clear of a charging element by way of an hourly rate. In some cases, a charging element by way of an hourly rate must be incorporated (for example, where an estate is subject to legal challenge and litigation is involved) and if this scenario presents then you will be advised of this at the earliest opportunity. By way of an example of our charging in the context of a familiar Probate example, please see the following:

Example:

Myrtle dies leaving an Estate that consists of a house valued at £800,000 and investments & chattels in the sum of £250,000 [including bank and building society accounts].

Our charges in respect of Myrtle’s Estate, by way of a proposal to the client, would be broken down as follows:

• A charge of 0.75% plus VAT on Myrtle’s house, valued at £800,000, this equating to a charge of £6,000 plus VAT (at the prevailing rate of [currently] 20%) of £1,200, a total of £7,200; and
• A charge of 1.5% plus VAT on Myrtle’s investments and chattels valued at £250,000, this equating to a charge of £3,750 plus VAT (at the prevailing rate of [currently] 20%) of £750, a total of £4,500.

The above example would mean that our total fee for administering Myrtle’s Estate would be £9,750 plus VAT (at 20%) of £1,950, a total of £11,700.

Timescales for obtaining a Grant of Probate/Grant of Administration can vary greatly. Providing we are in possession of all of the relevant information that we will request at the outset (on which we are able to make any necessary enquiries), a simple, non-taxable estate should see an application for a Grant being made within 3 months of us taking your instructions. For tax paying estates and in order that the Revenue do not levy any interest, HMRC requires that any Inheritance Tax is paid within 6 months (the 6 month window commencing from the end of the month in which the person died). Providing clients are able to promptly provide us with the deceased’s papers (evidencing the relevant assets and/or liabilities on which we are able to raise our enquiries and gather in the required information) and subject to the Inheritance Tax being paid (if not all of the Inheritance Tax then such sum that will enable HMRC to sanction the issuing of the Grant), we would expect to apply for a Grant within 4 to 6 months of taking your instructions. Obviously, Estates can differ greatly (in terms of what they consist of) and a more accurate timescale is provided to a client once we are in possession of all of the facts.

This is, of necessity, only a brief guide and we are always happy to discuss your individual needs and circumstances. If you require any further information, including Pricing and Service Information for our other areas of Practice (as detailed within our website), then please contact us.