Fees/Prices

We always provide a quotation, or estimate, which will give you a more precise guide to how much your work will cost you. It is not possible for us to maintain competitive rates most of the time and give completely fixed fees. However, the figures below provide a good guide. Added to our own fee, there are other costs to you, called disbursements, usually the fees of other companies (for example, a water search in a property purchase, or the Probate Registry fee in a probate), and these will usually not vary at all regardless of which solicitor you use.

Probate

There are two elements to our own fees, in a probate matter. We charge an hourly fee: this varies, currently, between £230 and £260 per hour for work we perform, depending on the seniority of the solicitor. We also charge according to the size of the estate: 0.5% of the value of real property (house, flat), and 1% for other assets. However, if the probate is for a high net worth individual, we will arrange a highly customised quotation or ‘agreed fee’ to minimise the action of the percentage charge.

The total cost of estate work will vary with the volume of paperwork, the number and complexity of assets, whether we have to account to HMRC for Inheritance Tax (a long form with, potentially, many schedules) or Capital Gains Tax (if a property sells for more than its value at the date of death, for example). One case may contain a large volume of publicly funded shares that need tracing and transferring. It may be necessary to trace shareholding changes over time, which may also require Capital Gains Tax to be declared and paid. Another estate may simply contain one item of real estate; another may have only have a couple of bank accounts and the odd pension refund to deal with.

However, in practice, our charges are unlikely to be less than £4000, and on average around £8000. VAT is added at the prevailing rate (currently 20%) and disbursements will be added on to this. Disbursements will vary but can include:

£273  – Probate Registry fee
£1.50 – For each copy of the grant
[ £346  – Notices (Gazette and local newspaper). This is not always required. ]

Fee earners who work for clients on probate and estate administration include Dominic Gulati and Ken Gulati (Anand Gulati).

Dominic Gulati is a partner. He qualified as a solicitor in 2018 and has several years’ post-qualification experience in Private Client work. He specialises in probate and estate administration and will writing. He also has experience in negotiating commercial wayleaves in the the areas of fibre telecoms and power.

Ken Gulati is the Senior Partner and supervises private client work including probate work. He has more than 50 years of experience in a wide range of areas including private client (probate, estate administration, wills), family law and conveyancing.

Conveyancing

VAT, where detailed (e.g. ‘ex VAT’ or ‘plus VAT’), will be added at the prevailing rate (currently 20%)

Residential freehold sales (add £200 ex VAT for leasehold properties)

Fees                                                   Fees ex VAT

Up to £500,000                                  £950.00

£500,001 to £750,000                     £1,050.00

£750,001 to £1,000,000                  £1,200.00

£1,000,001 to £1,500,000              £1,450.00

£1,500,001 to £2,000,000              £1,750.00

 

Residential freehold purchases (add £200 ex VAT for leasehold properties)

Fees                                                   Fees ex VAT

Up to £500,000                                  £1,050.00

£500,001 to £750,000                      £1,200.00

£750,001 to £1,000,000                   £1,450.00

£1,000,001 to £1,500,000                £1,750.00

£1,500,001 to £2,000,000                £2,050.00

 

We charge additional fees in all transactions as follows:

Bank transfer fees (per transfer)      £40.00 plus VAT

ID and AML checks (per person)      £20.00 plus VAT

 

We charge additional fees in purchase transactions as follows:

Land Tax Transaction Returns          £50.00 plus VAT

 

Lease extensions – £650 plus VAT

Transfers of equity – £450 plus VAT

 

These fees assume this to be a standard transaction. For example:

• The property is registered at the Land Registry.
• When dealing with a leasehold property, this is an existing registered lease and not a new lease (except on lease extensions when only the ground rent and the lease term are being changed).
• There are no defects in the title.
• There are no unforeseen problems or delays with the transaction, and no requirement of a rapid service.

In the event of an abortive transaction a lesser charge will be applied according to the amount of work undertaken at that stage.

We do not undertake any mortgage work (save for the redemption of mortgages or registered charges for which we make no additional charges) nor do we act in transactions with a sale or purchase price exceeding £2,000,000.

 

Disbursements

In addition to the costs outlined above, there are likely to be disbursements. These are payments we need to make to third parties specific to your transaction, such as search fees, Stamp Duty (Stamp Duty Land Tax) and Land Registry fees.  We will deal with these payments on your behalf and will provide a full breakdown once we have full details of the title and work involved.

Although these will differ for each transaction, the largest disbursements are likely to be Stamp Duty and you can check the amount payable through the HMRC calculator, search fees which will vary according to those required and the location of the property ad Land Registry fees on registration through the HM Land Registry fees calculator.

In particular, mainly in sales of leasehold properties there may be additional disbursements arising in the course of the transaction, such as:

Notice of transfer fees on registration of new owners with the freeholders or managing agents**

Deed of covenant – a fee may be charged by a freeholder or managing agent **

Certificate of compliance – a fee may be charged by a freeholder or managing agent if a certificate is required to register at the Land Registry**

Indemnity policies – variable according to appropriate cover if there is a title defect

Leasehold sale pack – this is a bundle of documents from the freeholder or managing agents providing a history of relevant information for a sale (charges vary but freeholders or managing agents often charge between £250 and £500 plus VAT)

** = variable but tend to be between £50 and £200 depending on the provisions of the lease or specific requirements in the transaction.

 

Examples of costs and disbursements in residential sales and purchases:

In these examples, we have added VAT (i.e. ‘including VAT’) at the prevailing rate (currently 20%)

Sale of freehold property acting for one seller at £500,000:

• Our fees – £1,140.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for AML checks – £24.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for bank transfers – £48.00 (including VAT)
• Disbursements – Land Registry fees for office copies of title £6.00 (no VAT)

Total: £1,218.00

 

Sale of leasehold property acting for one seller at £500,000:

• Our fees – £1,380.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for AML checks – £24.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for bank transfers – £48.00 (including VAT)
• Disbursements – Land Registry fees for office copies of title £15.00 (no VAT)

Total: £1,467.00

 

Purchase of freehold property acting for one buyer at £500,000:

• Our fees – £1,260.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for AML checks – £24.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for bank transfers – £48.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees to prepare and submit Land Transaction Return – £60.00 (including VAT)
• Disbursements – local authority and drainage and water search fees (based on property in London Borough of Sutton – £223.41 (including VAT)
• Disbursements – Land Registry fees on registration £150.00 (no VAT)
• Disbursements – Land Registry search fees £3.00 (no VAT)

Total: £1,768.41 plus Stamp Duty at appropriate rate 

 

Purchase of leasehold property acting for one buyer at £500,000:

• Our fees – £1,500.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for AML checks – £24.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees for bank transfers – £48.00 (including VAT)
• Our fees to prepare and submit Land Transaction Return – £60.00 (including VAT)
• Disbursements – local authority and drainage and water search fees (based on property in London Borough of Sutton – £223.41 (including VAT)
• Disbursements – Land Registry fees on registration – £150.00 (no VAT)
• Disbursements – Land Registry search fees – £3.00 (no VAT)
• Disbursements – Notice of transfer fees – £100 to £200 (estimate)

Total: £2,108.41 – £2,208.41 plus Stamp Duty at appropriate rate

Fee earners who work for clients on property matters include Marilyn Nicolas and Ken Gulati (Anand Gulati). Marilyn Nicolas is a paralegal specialising in property law and, in particular, residential and commercial conveyancing, in which she has more than 40 years of experience. She is supervised by Ken Gulati, Senior Partner.

 

Please, contact us for a quotation customised to your transaction and circumstances.