Price Transparency Guide

Simple Wills

Single Will (for the estate of one person)                                    £180 inclusive of VAT

Mirror Will (identical wills drafted for two persons)                  £276 inclusive of VAT

If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, a Mirror Will may only be appropriate where neither you nor your partner has children from a separate relationship. Where this is the case, we will be happy to meet you and discuss the options based on your circumstances.

Complex wills

(For example, those with guardianship clauses or requiring specific and more detailed consideration and advice on legacies or limiting the inheritance of, or disinheriting, beneficiaries.)

Single Will                                                                £288 inclusive of VAT

Mirror Will                                                               £384 inclusive of VAT

Our prices above include:

  • taking your instructions,

  • providing advice as appropriate to your requirements

  • providing advice on legal rights

  • preparing a draft will for you to review,

  • making changes following review,

  • ensuring the will is properly signed,

  • storage of original will in our secure storage facility and

  • providing you with ta copy of your will.

The above fixed price includes VAT charged at 20%

Our fixed price will not include:

  • work associated with lifetime trusts such as drafting trust deeds,

  • advice and work associated with bankrupt or otherwise vulnerable beneficiaries,

  • advice on mitigating inheritance tax.

Note:   This fixed price will only cover the services mentioned. Your case may require additional work that is not included. We will discuss this with you at our first meeting. If additional costs arise due to matters related to your own personal circumstances, we will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity and we will advise you of any increase in price that may arise.

Executries

 

Unless negotiated and agreed in advance, fees are charged on the basis of time spent on the work, together with an element for responsibility which can vary according to a number of matters, such as urgency, complexity, amounts or value of money or property involved.  Based upon our own record of fee-charging for executry estates in the past, we can give a broad indication that the fees might be expected to be between 1.5% to 3% of the value of the estate.  The fee charged will, where appropriate, cover the following:

 

Obtain Death Certificate

 

  • All legal work in connection with the funeral

 

  • Obtain original Will and any codicils

  • Where there is no Will, obtain appointment of Executors Dative and Bond of Caution

 

  • Interviews with the Executor (s)

 

  • Obtain details of all assets

 

  • Attend to all outstanding tax matters

 

  • Attend to all outstanding pension matters

 

  • Correspond with beneficiaries

 

  • Correspond with all Banks/Building Societies etc. for date of death values

 

  • Obtain appropriate withdrawal forms for the above

 

  • Draft relevant Inventory Form

 

  • If appropriate, arrange bank overdraft re Inheritance Tax and Confirmation dues

 

  • Submit form to court for confirmation

 

  • Realise all assets

 

  • Attend to transfer of heritable property (houses or land). Separate fees for compulsory registration in the Land Register of Scotland will apply where appropriate.

 

  • Attend to sale (if heritable property is to be sold). Separate conveyancing and estate agency commission will be charged.

 

  • Pay all outstanding bills

 

  • Pay out executry accounts

 

  • Have same approved by Executors

 

  • All other necessary work

 

  • Reporting to Executor and, if appropriate, beneficiaries throughout the transaction

 

 

We are often asked how long the process of winding up an estate is likely to take.  It is impossible to say with certainty that every estate will be completed within six months of the date of our instructions, but this is the target we work towards.  When notifying beneficiaries that they are to receive funds, we usually tell them that they might expect to receive their cheques within six months.

 

Our normal practice is to send our files to an independent audit service so that a properly charged fee may be determined.  We shall do this unless you instruct us to the contrary.  The charge for this is met by us.  You should note that a recent average cost of time survey carried out by The Law Society of Scotland calculated an hourly fee as £156 exclusive of VAT.  In addition to time spent, we also take into account a responsibility element, and a commission element which reflects the assets which we actually handle on your behalf.  For example, if the estate includes shares, we will charge a fee for the work involved in transferring them to you, but may also charge commission.  The fee is based on time spent but the commission is based on value.

 

By the time we submit the Inventory Form to court we have usually carried out about half (at least) of the work involved in winding up an estate.  When confirmation is issued it enables us to uplift funds from banks, building societies and the like.  We frequently charge an interim fee at this stage of between £300 - £500 plus VAT (or more depending on the volume of work done) to account of our final fee.  In such cases we will write to you to notify you that this has been done.

 

Where we judge that there is a possible claim for repayment of Income Tax we will send our file to a Chartered Accountant.  If no tax is reclaimable no fee is charged by us, but the Accountant will charge a reasonable fee for the time spent on the claim.  We seldom send cases which result in no claim.  If tax is reclaimable you will pay the reasonable fee of the Accountant and an extra fee to us of £35 plus VAT.  In no case will the fees in this regard exceed the tax reclaimed: in other words, we will not charge accountancy and legal fees which are bigger than the amount claimed back from the government.

We will notify you of the cost of the Bond of Caution ( usually required in cases where there is no Will) and this cost will be paid for by the estate.

 

Residential property

Sale 

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the sale of your current property including the marketing of your property, dealing with any offers and subsequent missive letters, ordering searches, repaying any secured loans and registering any deeds at Registers of Scotland and paying any funds to you.

 Fees and outlays

  • Legal fee £960 – £1890 inclusive of VAT, dependent on value and complexity of transaction. This is the fee. On top of that:

  • Estate Agency Fee 1.25% of sale price, subject to minimum fee of £700 excluding VAT.

  • Home report fee £380-£1460 inclusive of VAT (dependent on house value)

  • Property Search fees £120.00

  • Registers of Scotland – fee for registering Discharge £70.00

  • Advance notice registration fee for Discharge £20.00

  • Electronic money transfer fee £16.00

Outlays are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Registers of Scotland and Search Companies. We handle the payment of the outlays on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the sale of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages that you may wish to include:

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice

  • Carry out required Anti Money Laundering checks

  • Arrange home report

  • Market the property

  • Receive offers on property and take your instructions

  • Obtain redemption statements from current lender (the amount required to repay your mortgage)

  • Order Title Deeds

  • Receive and advise on missives (contract)

  • Carry out property searches as required

  • Obtain further planning documentation if required

  • Revise draft documents received from purchasers’ solicitors

  • Conclude missives (and notify you that this has happened)

  • Issue completion statement

  • Complete sale

  • Repay any mortgages and pay any outlays due

  • Prepare the discharge of the standard security and submit this to the Registers of Scotland

  • Pay any surplus funds due to you

Purchase

 

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new property including taking your instructions and giving initial advice, submitting an offer on your behalf and dealing with subsequent missive letters, examining the title and searches and giving you a written report covering the things you need to know, dealing with your mortgage lender (for whom we normally act in tandem with our acting for you), paying the price and making sure you get your keys,  registering any deeds at Registers of Scotland and when the title is processed there, sending you a copy.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages that you may wish to include:

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice

  • Carry out required Anti Money Laundering checks

  • Confirm where your funding will come from

  • Comment on home report

  • Submit offer for property and take your instructions

  • Deal with mortgage documents (where we act for lender; if another solicitor acts for the lender, liaise with them – note they will charge a separate fee)

  • Examine Title Deeds

  • Advise on missives (contract)

  • Examine property searches as required

  • Obtain further planning documentation if required

  • Prepare draft documents

  • Report to you on title

  • Conclude missives (and notify you that this has happened)

  • Issue completion statement

  • Complete purchase

  • Upload the title deeds to the Registers of Scotland

  • When the deeds have been processed (up to 2 years) check them and send a copy to you

  • Where necessary store deeds on your behalf

 Fees and outlays

Legal fee £960 – £1890 inclusive of VAT, dependent on value of transaction. On top of that:

Land Registration costs - usually £80 - £660

LBTT - (“Stamp Duty”) on a sliding scale - use https://revenue.scot/calculate-tax/calculate-property-transactions

LBTT ADS This is a 6% tax payable on the full cost of your purchase if it exceeds £40,000, and you own a house elsewhere - see

https://www.gov.scot/policies/taxes/land-and-buildings-transaction-tax/

General Practice and Commercial Property

 

This type of work is normally done on a ‘time and line’ (hourly rate/items of work produced) basis because it is often impossible to decide in advance how much time needs to be spent on the matter at hand. The actual rate depends on the fee earner and the difficulty and complexity of the work. Where skilled and experienced work is required the rates are higher.

 

Depending on the nature and complexity of your legal matter, the legal work undertaken by us may be completed by one or several members of our legal team.  Below we have set out indicative hourly charging rates for each of our fee earners. ‘Bespoke’ advice from Mr Macdonald on complex land-mapping projects or high-value estates might be charged at a very high rate, up to £400 per hour exclusive of VAT.

As a guide the average number of hours on, for example, a business partnership agreement is three hours to include all meetings and drafting. Advice on a boundary dispute involving a site visit and investigation of older deeds might take five hours.

The hourly charge stated includes VAT which is charged at 20%

Fee earner                                         Hourly charging rate (including VAT)

Mr Macdonald                           £300
                            


 
The number of hours spent on your case will be determined by the complexity and the unique circumstances of your case.  We will discuss the likely cost of your case with you at our initial meeting. If additional costs arise owing to unforeseen circumstances, we will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity and we will advise you of any increase in cost that may arise.

The hourly rate does not include any outlays that may be required. These are variable depending on the nature of the case. We will discuss what these may be at our initial meeting

Powers of Attorney

Single Power of Attorney - £348.00 inclusive of VAT

Mirror Powers of Attorney - £510.00 inclusive of VAT

Registration Dues payable to the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) - £83.00 per application

 

 

Note: VAT is presently 20%      (correct as at 1 March 2023)

THIS GUIDE DOES NOT TAKE ACCOUNT OF COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS