Legal Fees
In this section of our website, we outline our legal fees for some of the types of legal work we do for clients. This is in accordance with the price transparency guidance issued by the Law Society of Scotland. We hope the publication of the legal fees we charge will help you to budget for the work you wish us to carry out for you. The guidance relates to specific types of consumer related services.
Accordingly, we are pleased to set out the legal fees we charge for the following types of work:
The cost of buying a house
When you buy a house, the fee we charge is only part of the cost. There are a number of additional costs which you have to pay and over which we have no control. We will detail these costs and show you where you can get further information on these. This will enable you to accurately calculate the cost of your purchase.
The cost of selling a house
When you sell a house, the fee we charge is only part of the cost. There are a number of additional costs which you have to pay and over which we have no control. We will detail these costs and show you where you can get further information on these. This will enable you to accurately calculate the cost of your sale.
The cost of re-mortgaging a house
A re-mortgage case involved some work required in a sale transaction and some work required in a purchase transaction. Essentially, you are swapping out one mortgage for another one. This means that whilst we will charge a fee for the work we do, there are additional costs you have to pay over which we have no control. We will detail those costs and show you where you can get further information on these. We believe this will enable you to accurately calculate the cost of your re-mortgage
The cost of equity release
Equity release is designed to unlock the capital tied up in your house. Essentially, you are using your house to raise cash and there requires to be level work involved to enable your equity release company to take a security over your property. We also have to ensure that the equity release agreement is fair and complies with the current legislation and regulation. This means that whilst we will charge a fee for the work we do, there are additional costs you have to pay over which we have no control. We will detail those costs and show you where you can get further information on these. We believe this will enable you to accurately calculate the cost of the equity release work.
The cost of making a Will
A Will is the first of two of the most important documents you can ever have. Your Will allows you to record your wishes about what happens to your estate after you die. It means that you decide who should receive your estate after you pass away. Your Will is especially important where you have a partner but are unmarried or have been married but are not yet divorced.
The cost of making a Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is the second of two of the most important documents you can ever have. A Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone to look after your affairs if you cannot do that yourself. It will allow someone to make decisions where you no longer can. Your attorney will make the kind of decisions you would have made had you been able.
The cost of dealing with Estates
When someone dies and they have assets, these need to be collected and distributed. Any debts due by the deceased need to be identified and paid. Every estate is different and it can be very difficult to outline the likely costs. However, if we take an average fee charge we are able to give you an indication of the possible cost of the work.
The cost of appointing a guardian
It is always challenging when an adult has lost the capability to look after their own affairs. Unless there is a Power of Attorney in place, the only option may be to apply for a guardianship order. Applying for a guardianship order means raising proceedings in the sheriff court seeking to have someone appointed as either a welfare or financial guardian (or both) for the adult who can no longer look after their own affairs. Before that application is made, it is important to know what the cost of appointing a guardian will be.
The cost of General Business
Sometimes we are asked for advice or to carry out work that doesn’t “fit” into any of the categories we’ve covered above. In this case we have to rely on an hourly rate. How long your case lasts will depend very much on the circumstances and complexity of the case as well as the co-operation of third parties who may be involved.
Whilst we do provide a range of advice relating to commercial law, this is not affected by the price transparency guidance.
Are the legal fees fixed?
For the majority of the types of work we carry out, we charge fixed legal fees. We explain what these are in each of the section below. We will also explain what additional expenses you might expect which we have to pay to others when we look after your legal business.
As you read through the information on legal fees, if you have any questions at all about these, please get in touch with us. Please remember that the legal fees published on our website are an indication of the fees we charge for different types of work. However, every case is different and the final fee charged will be based on your own particular circumstances as well as the circumstances of the case. If there are issues, we will explain these to you.
When you engage us to provide you with legal services, we will send you our Terms of Business letter. This will not only set out the terms of business under which we will conduct your legal matter but also the likely cost of this.
Is the legal fee the only thing I’ll have to pay?
You should also be aware that, in most circumstances, the legal fee is only one element of the overall cost of doing the work for you. There are likely to be additional costs, made up of expenses or outlays. We will clearly explain these to you.
You should also be aware that legal fees are subject to VAT. That means that the actual cost you will pay will be our fee plus the VAT (currently 20%) that’s applied. We then account to the Government for the VAT element of the cost.
To find out the legal fees and all the costs involved, follow the link for the following types of work.
If you have any questions about our fees or if you would like further information specific to your own case, please complete the following short form and send it to us. We will respond to you as soon as we can.