Guidance on our Fees

SERVICES INCLUDED AND KEY STAGES OF THE PROCESS

Our conveyancing fees are estimates based on the information provided. VAT is currently charged at 20%

If the property is in London, a London weighting fee will be added to reflect the nature of the London market.

As well as fees for the actual conveyancing work, there are charges for additional work or services most of which are also fixed. Whether and when these are charged depends on the transaction itself, the requirements of your lender and your own wishes. However, when you are buying a property with a mortgage, your lender will require most searches. In this situation, the searches will be compulsory. 

For example:

• If you are selling your house and buying another then there are usually two bank transfer fees - the first sending the money to pay off your existing mortgage and the second to pay the purchase price on your new home.
• If there are two existing mortgages, then there will be an additional bank transfer fee.
• If you are just selling your house, you may choose to pay a bank transfer fee so that the sale proceeds are returned to you that same day rather than by BACS which is free but takes longer.

DISBURSEMENTS/EXTRAS

We may need to incur expenses (disbursements) on your behalf from time to time. These are payable to third parties and such disbursements will be charged to you and are payable as they are incurred.

TIMELINES

An average conveyancing Freehold transaction takes between 8 - 12 weeks, with Leasehold transactions taking approximately 4 weeks longer, though it can of course take much longer at times of huge market demand.

You might find our one-page TIMELINE summaries below useful - an example of what to expect and the various stages that need to be completed to reach the end of your transaction. Timeline delays can be caused when a stage(s) fails to complete on time and this can be for a number of reasons and sometimes due to a legal question about the property that needs further investigation, or external third-party influences, for example and not limited to: delays waiting for searches, delays waiting for the return of signed documents and negotiation with lenders involving secured lending agreements (mortgage offers not in place), plus many other reasons could slow down a transaction.

• TIMELINE - for the Sale of a Property 
• TIMELINE - for the Purchase of a Property

MAKING A WILL

Remember, whether you are buying or selling a property, you should make a Will or arrange a review of your existing Will.

THE CONVEYANCING TEAM

The members of the Conveyancing team can be found through our "team" pages and also by following the links below:

Rachael Mitchell (Supervisor, Licensed Conveyancer, Head of Conveyancing Department)

Michelle Francis (Legal Executive, Senior Associate)

Catherine Wright (Solicitor) on maternity leave from August 2023

Charlotte Sheehan (Conveyancer) 

Claire Eales (Post-Exchange Conveyancing Assistant)

Wendy Andrews (Conveyancing Technician)

Maynka Patel (Trainee Solicitor)

Carina Ross (Conveyancing Assistant)

Theanne Holcroft (Apprentice)

Our Response Times   As you can imagine, we’re busy conveyancers and our email response time is normally within one business day, but it can be several days, depending on your enquiry. If we have an update for you, rest-assured we endeavour to contact you within one business day by email or phone, but please don’t expect us to respond to your email on the same day you contacted us, although we’d like to, as it just isn’t feasible given the hundreds of emails we receive each day. We aim to provide a first-class conveyancing service and response, though with over 400 emails per Conveyancer, per week, it can be challenging. Please do not email us several times to chase us, as this approach is unlikely to help speed your transaction, instead, please note our standard response times below:

TARIFF OF CHARGES - SALE AND PURCHASE FEES TABLE  

See our prices below. The fees shown in the table below are our charges for dealing with a sale or purchase in the specific property price band and this includes all aspects of the transaction for the sale or purchase. Extra items, e.g. searches, a trust deed on a purchase or leasehold/new build on a sale or purchase, are listed below with a description of those disbursement/extra fees. 

Source of Funds (Help To Buy Equity Loan Redemption or other transaction) £150.00 plus VAT

Source of Funds (Right To Buy purchases) £300.00 plus VAT

Photovoltaic PV Panels Solar Panels (Lease of roof space) - Purchases £450.00 plus VAT

Photovoltaic PV Panels Solar Panels (Owned Outright) - Purchases £250.00 plus VAT

Photovoltaic PV Panels Solar Panels (Lease of roof space) - Sales £250.00 plus VAT

Photovoltaic PV Panels Solar Panels (Owned Outright) - Sales £250.00 plus VAT

Additional work for Lender

If during or after the registration formalities are completed, your lender requires us to undertake further work or to liaise with you to sign additional documentation on behalf of the lender, this will be chargeable at the fee earner’s hourly rate.

As above, these figures are fixed fees unless abnormalities arise. Abnormalities may include but are not limited to: delays by others in the chain, change in circumstance, withdrawal of mortgage funding, the death of either vendor or purchaser, change of solicitors in a transaction. There would be additional charges for leasehold property sale and purchase transactions. 

TARIFF OF CHARGES - DISBURSEMENTS/EXTRAS

A number of add-on costs are likely to be required to complete the purchase of your property. These include the following. Not all will be required for every transaction.

LEASEHOLD - ADDITIONAL FEES

Additional disbursements can also apply when the purchase involves a leasehold property.

Third party fees (disbursements) payable when dealing with Leasehold Properties

If you are buying or selling a leasehold property, there will be additional fees payable to the landlord, management company and sometimes manging agents. There are mostly 1 or 2 companies to deal with but sometimes there are more depending on how the management of the property is run. We cannot confirm the amount of these fees until after the transactions starts because they are third party disbursements but, these would be the same regardless of which firm acts on your behalf. They can range from £10 to £500 each and may be subject to VAT, and change, by the external party.

In the case of a purchase, these will include fees to serve notice upon the landlord and/or Management Company that you have purchased the property and provide details of your lender (if applicable) often a Deed of Covenant or Licence To Assign are also required to comply with the terms of the Lease. Separate fees are usually charged for each document.

If you are selling a leasehold property, there will be a fee payable to the landlord, management company and/or manging agents to provide the leasehold management pack which is required by your buyers conveyancer and includes many documents and information including details of all regular payments (service charge, ground rent etc)  and the fees payable for the buyer to comply with the terms of the Lease (as mentioned above).

Leasehold disbursement fees can vary and may include:

TARIFF OF CHARGES - ADDITIONAL SERVICES

Additional charges will be incurred depending on searches, mortgage lender requirements and your own wishes. These are detailed in the table below.

Any advice required prior to formal instructions is chargeable at the fee earner's hourly rate.

PROBATE SERVICES AND KEY STAGES OF THE PROCESS

We charge slightly differently to other solicitors – we charge a bespoke price for your case, and the work you would like us to do. This price is not formed from a classic ‘hourly rate’, but is an amount agreed between ourselves and you based on the amount of work that needs doing, the complexity of the work, the length of time we need to be involved, the risk of the work, amongst many other factors. 

We do not believe that charging the classic ‘percentages’ of an estate is a fair approach to charging, and therefore we do not charge percentages of estates.  .

A full proposal of costs will always be provided to you  before any fee-generating work is carried out, and we are always happy to discuss the contents of the proposal. Our work is subject to VAT, which is currently 20%.

Administration of an estate – applying for the Grant, collecting and distributing the assets

As all matters are different, it is very hard to estimate a price for a typical matter. We have demonstrated some rough examples below, but it is important to discuss your unique circumstances with us for us to generate a price.

Estate A contains:

1. 3 bank accounts, with a total value of £100,000

2. No property

3. 5 beneficiaries

4. Inheritance Tax is not due

5. 2 executors, who work well together

An estimate in this case would be around £4,000, plus VAT.

Estate B contains:

1. 5 bank accounts, with a total value of £100,000

2. Investment portfolio

3. A property, which is vacant, and which we need to visit to ensure insurances are valid

4. Inheritance Tax is due

5. 2 executors, who work well together

6. A possible claim to the estate from someone excluded from the Will

7. 1 beneficiary

An estimate in this case would be around £10,000, plus VAT

Estate C contains:

1. No will

2. Family tree that requires tracing

3. We are required to register the death and arrange the funeral

4. Family members as administrators, and they do not speak to each other

5. 3 bank accounts, with a total value of £200,000

6. Investment portfolio

7. A property, which is vacant, and which we need to visit to ensure insurances are valid

8. 10 beneficiaries

An estimate in this case would be around £15,000, plus VAT

We can handle the full process for you. As part of our fee we will:

• Provide you with a dedicated and experienced Probate solicitor

• Identify the legally appointed executors and beneficiaries

• Complete HMRC Inheritance Tax Forms (where applicable)

• Correspond with all the relevant banks, building societies, and asset holders

• Correspond with all utility providers (if the property is vacant)

• Identify the type of Probate application you will require

• Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application

• Complete the Probate Application and relevant HMRC forms

• Draft a legal statement for the executors to swear

• Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf

• Obtain the Probate

• Collect and realise all assets in the estate

• Pay estate liabilities

• Prepare Estate Accounts

• Distribute all the assets in the estate

Disbursements anticipated within Probate work are:

• Probate application fee of £300 (No VAT to pay)

• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department Searches (UK only) (£2.40 per beneficiary including VAT)

• Statutory Notice in London Gazette – protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors (estimate £82.20 including VAT)

• Statutory Notice in Local Newspaper – this also helps to protect against unexpected claims (estimate £130 including VAT)

• Each official sealed copy of the Grant £1.50 (no VAT)

• Land Registry Searches £3.60 (including VAT), for each property in the estate.

The disbursement fees above are based on a non-complex estate with minimal Inheritance Tax advice, if any.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to Third Parties, such as Court fees.  We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. The fee charged for Statutory Notices will depend upon the content of the notice. There is no VAT charged for court fees and more about court fees can be found here.

We will clearly discuss with you what work we are not including in your proposal, although you are welcome to include these services if you need or require them. Examples of frequently excluded works (and excluded in the estimates above), are below.

Services not included in the price range above

• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate, although this can be added to the service we offer

• If there is a need to prepare a Deed of Variation, although this can be added to the service we offer

• If there is a need to prove the validity of the Will, although this can be added to the service we offer

• If the estate consists of Foreign property or assets. This will include bank accounts or property in Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man or Ireland as well as other Countries.  Additional work will be required to obtain a Grant for the relevant country.

• If it is necessary to claim a partial Spousal/Civil Partner Transferable Nil Rate Band, the executors will need to submit a full account to HMRC although this can be added to the service we offer.

• If it is necessary to claim the Residence Nil Rate Band and/or Transferable Nil Rate Band, the executors will need to submit a full account to HMRC although this can be added to the service we offer.

• If Inheritance Tax is payable, this must be paid before the Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration is granted by the Court. We can assist with liaising with HMRC to pay the Inheritance Tax although this can be added to the service we offer.

The team members in the Wills and Probate team can be found by following these links: 

Phoebe Skarlatos (Head of Team and Supervisor)

Vicky Jones (MD)

Marta Crumbie

Sophie Forsyth

Rebecca Press

Emma Cass

Zerin Mustafa

Harry Mellors

Kay Brown

Laura Brown

Natasha Tidmas

Megan Hodson

SERVICES INCLUDED AND KEY STAGES OF THE PROCESS

The information on employment case fees the provision of advice and representation to employee or employers in relation to the bringing or defending of claims before the Employment Tribunal against an employer for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal below should be used as a guide. All cases are different and will be treated as such. At Lawson-West we are trying to provide as much price transparency as possible, however, before engaging us on any fee-generating work, we will provide you with a detailed estimate of costs and any disbursements. VAT is currently charged at 20%.

The team is made up of the following people. For information on their year of qualification, areas of specialism, types of cases that they handle and experience, please follow the links below. All work is supervised by a Director with experience in Employment Law:

• • Ashley Hunt (Director and Supervisor)
  • Vaishali Thakerar (Director and Supervisor)
  • Sejal Patel
  • Kate Lea
  • Karinna Foster
  • Joao Madeira

Services not included in the fee estimates above:

All costs on this page have been provided as a guide. A client may be expected to bear Counsel's fees as described.

If the matter proceeds to an Employment Tribunal Appeal hearing being either brought or defended, the cost of Barristers Fees are dependant upon the experience of the barrister and range from £500 +VAT to £1,500 +VAT per preliminary hearing through to full hearing fees (dependant upon the length of the hearing) which will include Brief Fees (preparation and first days fees) in the region of £1000 + VAT to £3000 + VAT plus daily refresher fees of £500 +VAT to £1,500 +VAT per day. In addition Lawson West fees would be estimated in the region of 15 hours at £250 per hour +VAT.

The only other charges might be the barristers fees for travel/accommodation estimated at £150 +VAT per day and the Anti-Money Laundering Search fee of £12.00.

If you have any questions regarding these outline fees, please contact our offices on 0116 212 1000 and we will direct your call according to your query.

The Lawson-West family department has an established team of 4 senior solicitors able offer advice and act in all family matters. 

Members of our Family team are usually available, during office hours, to have a free short telephone discussion with you. This ensures that you are in contact with the right department, to establish what your needs are and to arrange a convenient appointment.

We can then offer you an appointment, either in the office or virtually. The fee for this is £225 inc VAT (currently 20%). This includes a charge for an Anti-Money Laundering Search which we are obliged to undertake.

We are able to offer a fixed fee divorce of £750 inc VAT (currently 20%) plus disbursements. Usually, the only disbursement which is to be paid is the court of £593.

We undertake all other aspects of our work on an hourly rate plus VAT, rather than a fixed fee. This ensures that you will only pay for the time we spend on your matter.

The work we undertake includes:-

• Divorce and other relationship breakdown.
• Financial resolution, following a family breakdown. This includes the family home, second properties, shareholdings, companies (whether family owned or otherwise), savings, and pensions
• Children matters, including “live with”, “stay with”, specific issue, prohibited steps, removal from jurisdiction (to live or for holidays) and special guardianship orders
• Drafting of Agreements, including Pre-nuptial, Post-nuptial, Co-habitation and Separation Agreements
• Change of Name Deeds

As members of Resolution, we will always act in a non-confrontational manner, which does make resolving matters cost effective for all clients. 

Fiona Wilson (Head of Team and Supervisor)
Alistair Dobson
Matthew Harcourt-Poole

We offer fixed rate debt recovery solutions to both businesses and individuals. To ensure our business and individual Clients get the best return from Debtors without incurring large amount of fees, we provide a standard debt recovery service at fixed fee rates, including issuing proceedings against the Debtors.

Where the debt is undisputed and the recovery remains undefended, we can provide the following packages at the fixed fees presented below. VAT is currently charged at 20%:

Services 

Pre-Action

SERVICES INCLUDED AND KEY STAGES OF THE PROCESS

Debt of £10,000 and under owed by a Business - £390 plus VAT

• Completion of our debt instruction form and money on account payment;
• 7 to 30-day debt chasing letter sent to the Debtor with contractual or statutory interest and compensation for business Creditors calculated;
• One chaser email or telephone call.

Debt of £10,000 and under owed by Individuals to Individuals - £390 plus VAT

• Completion of our debt instruction form and money on account payment;
• 30-day debt letter of claim sent to the Debtor with up to date contractual or statutory interest calculated;
• One chaser email or telephone call.

Debt of £10,000 and under owed by Individuals to a Business- £750 plus VAT

• Completion of our debt instruction form and money on account payment;
• Consideration of the Pre-action Protocol for Debt Claims; 
• 28-day protocol compliant debt letter of claim sent to the Debtor with up to date contractual or statutory interest calculated;
• One chaser email or telephone call.

Debt of £10,001 and over owed by a Business - £540 plus VAT

• Completion of our debt instruction form and money on account payment;
• 7 to 30-day debt chasing letter sent to the Debtor with contractual or statutory interest and compensation for business Creditors calculated;
• One chaser email or telephone call.

Debt of £10,001 and over owed by Individuals to Individuals - £540 plus VAT

• Completion of our debt instruction form and money on account payment;
• 30-day debt letter of claim sent to the Debtor with up to date contractual or statutory interest calculated;
• One chaser email or telephone call.

Debt of £10,001 and over owed by Individuals to a Business- £920 plus VAT

• Completion of our debt instruction form and money on account payment;
• Consideration of the Pre-action Protocol for Debt Claims; 
• 28-day protocol compliant debt letter of claim sent to the Debtor with up to date contractual or statutory interest calculated;
• One chaser email or telephone call.

Court Action

SERVICES INCLUDED AND KEY STAGES OF THE PROCESS

If recovery is not achieved and Court proceedings need to be issued, provided the debt remains undisputed, the following fixed fee packages will apply:

Online Court Proceedings for debt £10,000 and under - £1,100 plus VAT (plus court issue fee between £35 and £455)

• Drafting Claim Form and Particulars of Claim against the Debtor;
• Issuing the Claim with the Court online upon payment of the fee including the court fee on account;
• Serving the Claim Form, Particulars of Claim and supporting evidence on the Debtor along with a debt response pack, where applicable;
• If payment or an admission to the debt is not received within 14 days of service of the documents, a request for judgment to be entered against the Debtor will be made to the Court;
• On receipt of the County Court Judgment (CCJ), this will be sent to the Debtor demanding payment and outlining consequences of non-payment;
• If the admission includes an instalment offer, an instalment CCJ will be sought from the Court.

Online Court Proceedings for debts of £10,001 and over - £1,300 plus VAT (plus court issue fee between £500 and £10,000)

• Drafting Claim Form and Particulars of Claim against the Debtor;
• Issuing the Claim with the Court online upon payment of the fee including the court fee on account;
• Serving the Claim Form, Particulars of Claim and supporting evidence on the Debtor along with a debt response pack, where applicable;
• If payment or an admission to the debt is not received within 14 days of service of the documents, a request for judgment to be entered against the Debtor will be made to the Court;
• On receipt of the County Court Judgment (CCJ), this will be sent to the Debtor demanding payment and outlining consequences of non-payment;
• If the admission includes an instalment offer, an instalment CCJ will be sought from the Court.

Fees/Disbursements 

COURT FEES AND OUR FEES

A summary of our fixed fees for individuals along with the appropriate Court fee to issue a debt recovery claim online is set out in the table below:

Costs Not Included

Barrister Fees:

In the event the matter proceeds through the courts, you will need to consider the additional disbursement payment for the appointment of a Barrister to present your case. Counsel fees can vary dependent on their level of experience and year of call; details of the same can be obtained on most Barrister’s Chamber websites. In the event you require a Barrister to present your case, we will seek a fee estimate accordingly. In addition to this, we may seek assistance from a Barrister to undertake any enforcement should the Debtor not comply with the Judgment.

As an indication of applicable Barristers’ fees for debt recovery, for hearings listed for up to 1 hour relating to enforcement of debt recovery and claims within in the Small Claims Court (up to £10,000), the likely fee would be between £100 to £200 plus VAT. Should your claim fall outside this, we will be able to obtain fee estimates from Barristers’ Chambers based on your particular circumstance.

Cost Recovery:

If your debt claim is for a sum under £10,000 (Small Claims Court), your options for cost recovery are limited, as you will only be able to recover a fixed amount (see table above). If, however, your claim is for a sum above £10,000, the Court may consider a claim for the recovery of the costs incurred in addition to the fixed fee mentioned above. Such a claim will not be included within the fixed fees outlined above.

Outside Fixed Fee Packages:

The above fixed fees are on the basis that there are no more than 10 invoices outstanding; should there be more then please contact us to discuss this further.

In addition, if at any stage within the fixed fee packages, the Debtor seeks to enter into an instalment payment plan, this will be passed to the clients to deal with themselves or alternatively, a fee estimate can be provided at that stage.

If upon receipt of the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, the Debtor serves an Acknowledgment of Service and/or Defence or informs us of their intention to dispute the debt, the matter will be referred to the Dispute Resolution Department and will fall outside the remit of the fixed fee packages.

Timescales

We will of course try to recover your debt as quickly as possible. This is largely dependent upon how long the debtor takes to respond and the content of the same which determine the timescales involved.

Matters which can be resolved without the need to issue Court proceedings take less time and we estimate it could take between 3 to 9 weeks from receiving your instructions to receiving the payment from the other side. This is of course dependant on the level of communication and negotiation.

If, however, Court proceedings do become necessary, matters could take between 14 to 18 weeks from receiving your instructions to receiving the payment from the other side. This is on the basis that the other side does in fact pay promptly after receiving the judgment in default and if the proceedings are not defended. If, however, enforcement action is needed after obtaining a court judgment, this is likely to prolong recovery.

As outlined above, the length of time after sending either a debt chasing letter or a letter of claim (dependant on whether the debtor is an individual or a business) varies.

People

The Dispute Resolution team is made up of the following people. For information on their year of qualification, areas of specialism, types of cases that they handle and experience, please follow the links below:

• Judith Owen (Supervisor, Head of Team)
• Sarah Hickey
• Imaan Abdul-Karim

This team is supervised by the Head of Dispute Resolution with overall responsibility of the department, Judith Owen.

The department will be able to provide you with a fee estimate for any further work which is required or deal with any queries you may have in relation to recovering your debt.