Fees
Pricing Transparency
Will Writing Fees
Fixed Fee Wills
£450+ VAT x1 client (simple will)
£800+ VAT x2 clients (simple will)
Lasting Power of Attorney – all fee earners
Fixed Fee LPA’s
– £350.00 + VAT x1 client LPA for Property & Finances OR Health & Welfare
– £700.00 + VAT x2 clients (a couple) ONE each LPA for Property & Finances OR Health & Welfare
– £1,400.00 + VAT x2 clients (a couple) LPA for Property & Finances AND Health & Welfare
*NB – All above attract a further £82 Registration Fee to the office of the Public Guardian per Lasting Power
Deputyship Application
– £950 + VAT plus court application fee of £371
(Any additional costs in the unlikely event of a Court hearing would be discussed as they arise)
Probate – All Fee Earners
Grant of Probate only
(i.e not handling bank accounts, investments, property, etc) from £1000 + VAT
Full administration of Estate from *hourly rates. There will be a maximum percentage charged this can be discussed at the outset of the matter.
Other Fees
There is an additional fee payable in all cases to the Probate Registry for the issue of a Grant.
Our Fees are based on the time taken to prepare the appropriate forms and/or undertake the full estate administration. Should the application be unusual in nature or in time required to make it we will advise you in advance of how much additional work is envisaged and what the additional costs would be.
Rider
A solicitor’s charges must be fair and reasonable having regards to all the circumstances of the matter with which they are dealing. The Law Society prescribes what fees are reasonable for dealing with the administration of an estate and allows solicitors to charge a ‘value element’ on top of their hourly charge to reflect the particular level of risk and responsibility involved in the work being undertaken – and in particular the complexity of it, the skill and specialised knowledge involved in it, the number and importance of documents to be considered. The maximum percentage element chargeable is 1.5% of the value of the estate. It is unusual for us to charge a value element and on the occasions where we do, we agree that with our client
The costs of locating beneficiaries (Genealogist’s fees) would be extra and would depend on the amount of research undertaken.
Hourly Fees
Helen Starkie – Principal Solicitor – hourly fee £335 +VAT
Stephen Horton – Senior Associate – hourly Fee – £300 + VAT
Joanna Wagstaff – Legal Assistant – hourly fee £290 + VAT
Clare Banks – Conveyancer – hourly fee £200 + VAT
Conveyancing Fees
Our base fees for conveyancing services are stated below, this is for standard transactions without a mortgage and assumes no unusual complexities.
SALE and/or PURCHASE
Clare Banks – Conveyancer
NB: the fees below are for conveyancing work ONLY; there would be further fees, i.e,
-HM Land Registry Office Copy document fees
-Land Registry fees (various)
-Search Fees – i.e:
- Local
- Drainage & Water
- Coal Mining
- Environmental etc
- Stamp Duty
Property Market Value - Our Fees from
Variation in fees are dependent upon the property being Freehold/Leasehold and/or Registered /Unregistered at HM Land Registry.
| Market Value | Sale – Freehold | Purchase – Freehold | Sale – Leasehold | Purchase - Leasehold | Sale – unregistered | Purchase – unregistered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| from £300,000 | £1,200 | £1,300 | £1,400 | £1,500 | £1,500 | £1,600 |
| Over £1,300.00 | + 0.25% |
+ 0.3% If ”New-Build” extra £350 per transaction | 0.25% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.35% |
| NB –First Registration our fee is £600 - £900 + VAT |
Sale work will consist of the following:
- Drafting a contract package;
- Assisting you in answering replies to additional enquiries;
- Approving a Transfer Deed;
- Proceeding to exchange of contracts and then completing the sale;
- Redeeming any mortgage and settling the estate agents’ commission account. (If appropriate).
Purchase work will consist of the following:
- Investigating the Title to the property, to include:
(a) carrying out searches with respect to title and local government information for the property; and
(b) reviewing replies given by the seller to pre-contract enquiries; - Approving a purchase contract;
- Drafting a Transfer Deed;
- Preparing a Title and Search Report for you;
- Proceeding to exchange of contracts and then completing the purchase;
- Transferring funds by telegraphic transfer to the seller’s solicitors and for relevant taxes;
- Calculating stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on the purchase and preparing and submitting to HM Revenue & Customs the appropriate SDLT forms; and
- Registering the purchase at the Land Registry.
We will not be carrying out any enquires into the past use of the property and will assume that you will be using it for residential purposes. The local search will not reveal planning applications in the vicinity of the property and if you require more information about this, we recommend that you look on the local Council’s website. We will not be dealing with the transfer of any guarantees, and you will need to take appropriate meter readings and notify the utility companies accordingly. We strongly recommend your own survey carried out as you buy the property subject to the phrase “the buyer beware”.
We suggest you ensure you can obtain suitable buildings insurance before contracts are exchanged. Please note Insurance cover should commence immediately once contracts have been exchanged.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority requires law firms to provide some guidance about the firm’s charges when acting for people who wish to instruct a solicitor to advise and assist them in relation to their residential property needs.
In keeping with most law firms that specialise in this area of work, we will agree our charges with you at the outset of our being instructed. Our charges will depend on numerous factors set out below.
At the outset of our instructions, we shall provide you with tailored costs estimate when we are in a position to properly understand the nature of the transaction and the work which will be required. These costs estimates will be set out comprehensively in our letter of engagement should you choose to instruct us.
We will also provide you with details of the hourly rates charged by our specialist lawyers and we will make a charge based on our time spent in the event that the purchase is aborted.
We do not pay referral fees to estate agents or any other third parties.
Freehold Residential Property
Charges of between £1,200 and approximately £5,000 depending upon the value of the property, together with an electronic money transfer fee of £17
VAT is payable on the above at the current rates
Please note that if you are purchasing a “new build” property our charges will increase by £350.00 + VAT
Leasehold Residential Property
Charges of between £1,400 and approximately £5,500 depending upon the value of the property, together with an electronic money transfer fee of £17
VAT is payable on the above at the current rates
Please note that if you are purchasing a “new Lease” then our charges will increase by £350.00 + VAT
Our fee assumes that:
- this is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including, but not limited to, a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion, or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction
- the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise
- all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation
- no indemnity policies are required
A. If it becomes apparent that there are unforeseen circumstances in connection with the transaction we may have to increase our charges, but if that is the case, we shall inform you before we incur any additional costs.
B. If you are buying a leasehold property, we will have to give formal notice to the freeholder that you are the new legal owner and there may be fees charged by the freeholder.
C. If you are selling a leasehold property, we will have to obtain management information from the managing agents or freeholder. They may make a charge for providing this information which you will need to pay for.
D. If we find that any other additional expenses need to be incurred after we have considered the contract, searches and title documents, we shall let you know the reason for the extra expense, the likely amount, and when we shall need payment.
E. If for any reason, we have to abort the transaction related to the sale or purchase of your property, we will break the transaction down into stages and advise what percentage of the estimated fee will be charged.
Services
Here at Helen Starkie, the firm provides expert professional solicitor services for residents of Bath and the surrounding areas. Our expertise means we can offer legal services covering lasting power of attorney, general power of attorney, wills & probate, property trusts, prepaid funerals and more. Get in touch with Helen Starkie and the team by calling our office on 01225 442353 or by using our Contact page.
Complaints Procedure
At Helen Starkie Solicitor we aim to provide a high-quality service to all our clients. If you are unhappy with any aspect of your matter or how it is being dealt with, please make us aware so we can try to resolve the matter for you.
Initially please contact the member of staff directly that was dealing with you, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this, please address complaints directly to Helen Starkie. We will aim to reply to you within 3 working days of receiving the complaint.
If you are still not happy with our handling of the complaint you can refer your matter to the Legal ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or post Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
