We know that legal costs can sometimes seem difficult to understand. Here at Whitehead Monckton, we are transparent with our fees and we always strive to give you a clear indication of what you can expect to pay for your needs. Choose from the options below for more information or send us a message to ask for a cost estimate.
Please see below a breakdown of our standard conveyancing fees as at 1st January 2024.
Freehold sale
Freehold purchase
Leasehold sale
Leasehold purchase
Additional Fees to be included if the following apply:
Disbursements
The above level of legal fees do not include disbursements payable on the transactions. Disbursements are fees payable to 3rd parties during the course of the transaction (such as search fees, stamp duty, land registry registration fees, land registry search fees, lease fees etc). The list below is not exhaustive and other disbursements may apply depending on the type of property. We will update you on the specific fees upon receipt of that information.
Usual Disbursements for Freehold Purchases:
Additional Anticipated Disbursements for a Leasehold Purchase
The purchase of a Leasehold Property can incur additional disbursements to those above as they involve third parties such as Freeholders and management companies who require fees paid to them on completion of the transaction as required under the Lease.
These fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given below. Whilst the list below is not exhaustive these may include:
PLEASE NOTE:
You should also be aware that ground rent and service charge are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information
Usual Disbursements for Sales:
Official Copy of Register Entries and copy documents from the Land Registry generally and Land Charges Search (where necessary) approximately £30.00 + VAT
Usual Disbursements for Re-mortgages/Transfers of Equity*:
Official Copy of Register Entries and copy documents from the Land Registry generally and Land Charges Bankruptcy Search/Land Registry Pre-completion Search approximately £30.00 + VAT . Transfers of Equity may also be subject to Stamp Duty Land Tax depending on the consideration being paid for the share of the property and any current mortgage liability secured thereon.
*Land Registry fees calculated on Scale 2: Click here for current costs
PLEASE NOTE:
All transactions where there is a requirement for monies to be transferred by telegraphic transfer for same day payment will be subject to an additional charge of £35.00 + VAT.
All work is handled from start to finish by experienced specialist Solicitors/Licensed Conveyancers and supervised by other specialist Solicitors/Licensed Conveyancers.
Stages and Timescale of the Transaction
How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 9-12 weeks.
It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain and the complexities of the transaction. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing an existing freehold property with no chain and have a mortgage in principle, it could take 9 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires a new lease or extension of the lease as well, this can take significantly longer, between 3 and 5 months. In such, a situation additional charges may apply and we will advise you of the same.
The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. Some key stages are listed below:
Our fees
Our quoted fees cover all of the work* required to complete the purchase of your new home as per the information initially provided by you, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.
*Whilst our standard charges are generally a fixed fee, we reserve the right to vary the fee should anything unusual/untoward come to light during the course of the transaction which would require additional work by us.
Our quoted fee assumes that:
If you wish to use an online quote calculator for residential conveyancing
Below is list of things you may wish to consider if you use an online quote calculator for conveyancing matters as these may affect the level of quote provided:
Full details of our complaints procedure can be found here.
Please contact us for a full quote and we will provide confirmation of the disbursements payable for your specific transaction(s).
We ensure that you only pay for what you need with our dispute resolution services: no more, no less. Talk to us today to let us know about your situation and we will provide you with a no-obligation estimate.
The costs for our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Estate Administration services depend on factors such as the complexity and size of your estate. We ensure you only pay for what you need.
Learn about our fees here.
Learn about our fees here.
Estate Administration
Since 2018 the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has required regulated law firms to publish information on pricing to help consumers make informed choices.
Our fees
We will offer you a choice of a fixed fee or an estimate where our fees are calculated based on the amount of time we spend carrying out your instructions as per our terms & conditions. For your information, our hourly rates are currently:
Directors & Associate Directors £410.00 Consultants £410.00
Senior Associate Solicitors £395.00 Associate Solicitors £380.00
Senior Solicitors £365.00 Solicitors/ Legal Exec £345.00
Senior Trainee Sols/Legal Exec £320.00 Trainee Sols/Legal Exec £300.00
Legal assistants £245.00
VAT will be added to these amounts at the prevailing rate (currently 20%).
It is always difficult to provide projections of costs in estate administrations at the outset as each one has its own issues and you are of course free to instruct us to do as much or as little of the work as you wish. However, in our experience, where we are instructed to carry out the whole administration from start to finish, in estates which are worth up to around £750,000 our fees tend to work out between 2.5% to 3.5% of the gross probate value and for estates worth in excess of £750,000 the fees fall between 1.5% and 3%. This is not however the basis of charging.
Examples – applying for the Grant, collecting and distributing the assets
If the gross probate value of the estate is around £300,000, it is likely to take between 23 and 33 hours to deal with the whole estate administration and our fees may fall between £7,500 plus VAT and £10,500 plus VAT. This is based on there being
If the gross probate value of the estate is around £850,000 and is taxable to Inheritance Tax, but otherwise straightforward, our fees may fall between £12,750 plus VAT and £25,500 plus VAT.
Inheritance Tax
Any Inheritance Tax payable will be in addition to the fees quoted. You can check whether it is payable using the HMRC online calculator here:
Other expenses
During the administration, there will be other expenses we shall have to pay called “disbursements”. The most common disbursements will be:
There may also be others which we will advise you of if necessary.
Potential additional costs
Our fees are likely to be higher for more complex estates including:
We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information. Also dealing with the sale or transfer of a property in the estate is not included but we can provide a separate quote from our Property team if required.
Timescales
In most cases we complete the valuation process and are able to apply for the Grant of Probate within 2 to 4 months after having received your complete instructions. This will entirely depend on how quickly the various institutions we have to obtain information from take to answer our correspondence. We then normally expect to obtain the Grant of Probate within the following 16 to 20 weeks depending on whether or not Inheritance Tax is payable. Thereafter, it is extremely difficult to give you an accurate estimate of how long it will take to complete the administration as each case is different. We will however provide you with an updated time estimate once we have the Grant, if appropriate
Where it looks as though these timescales are not going to be met, we shall do our utmost to give you an update at the appropriate time and explain why.
Introduction
Our team of Employment Law experts regularly advise clients on a broad range of employment tribunal claims. No claim is the same and we adapt our approach and strategies to each unique case. Our client’s objectives, the strength of the claim, the volume of documentation and the complexity of the issues are all factors that are likely to affect strategy. There are also external factors, such as whether the Respondent is represented and the Tribunal’s availability to hear a case that will impact on the costs that are incurred.
With this in mind, our fees in providing representation to our clients can also vary. The following is an illustration of what clients can realistically expect their costs to be when instructing us to represent them in claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal, subject to a number of assumptions.
Basis of Engagement
The majority of the Employment Tribunal work we undertake is charged on a time spent basis at our standard hourly rates:-
Director/Associate Director – £350 plus VAT
Solicitor – £245 plus VAT
Where possible we may agree to undertake elements of the work on a fixed fee basis, including where we have agreed a “price and slice” approach where we have agreed pricing for different tasks associated with the claim, this would typically include:-
Likely costs
Subject to the assumptions listed below, our costs are likely to fall within the following ranges:-
| Type of Claim
|
Likely lower range fee | Likely upper range fee |
|
Wrongful Dismissal
|
£4,000 plus VAT |
£7,000 plus VAT |
|
Unfair Dismissal
|
£9,000 plus VAT |
£13,000 plus VAT |
|
Unfair and Wrongful Dismissal
|
£10,000 plus VAT
|
£17,000 plus VAT |
For these purposes we would assume that a wrongful dismissal claim would require no more than one witness per party at an employment tribunal hearing that lasts no longer than a day.
In terms of the unfair dismissal claims, whilst the range given can be applied to both unfair and constructive unfair dismissal claims the range given would apply to claims where there are no additional claims (such as claims under the Equality Act 2010 or whistleblowing claims), that only one preliminary hearing is required and that the matter is listed for no more than three days and requires no more than four witnesses to give evidence in total.
In all cases, the range assumes that the Respondent would be represented by an employment law specialist or that they would conduct the case reasonably, that no expert medical evidence needs to be considered and that no hearing will be postponed.
Representation at the Hearing
The range of costs provided does not include the costs for representation at the hearing itself. Such representation is generally provided by expert Counsel. We have strong relationships with leading Barristers’ Chambers in both Kent and London with whom we work closely on contentious matters.
Counsel’s fees are charged as disbursements and are typically the only additional disbursements you will incur based on the assumptions listed above. We will always agree these with you in advance of instructing counsel and will ask for money on account of these fees before the hearing.
Counsel’s fees for cases of this nature will generally vary between £1,500 plus VAT and £7,000 plus VAT depending on length of hearing and required preparation time.
Timescales
It is difficult to estimate how long a case will take to conclude at this time due to the significant backlogs and time pressures most Employment Tribunals are under. A straight forward, one day wrongful dismissal claim may be heard within one year of the claim form being issued, but it is more likely that a longer hearing may not be heard for closer to two years after the claim form was issued.
Your family law and divorce costs will depend on how complicated your scenario is, and how long it takes for you to agree. We will always work with you to come to a quick conclusion wherever possible. To find out a breakdown of our costs, please enquire today.
When it comes to professional negligence, we know that the last thing you need is additional financial stress. We will work with you to be completely transparent with our pricing – tell us today what situation you are facing and we will talk you through what it is likely to cost.
