Details of the firm’s fee earners – Law Society ‘Transparency’ Rules page

* NB all prices exclude VAT and disbursements (costs incurred on your behalf)

Katie Corteen – Joined firm in 2016 as a trainee solicitor and qualified as a in August 2018. Katie has dealt with around 500 conveyancing matters, wills and probates since joining the firm and is highly experienced in residential conveyancing.

David Buchanan – Solicitor and Director of the firm. Specialises in commercial and residential property, wills and probate, private client work and litigation.

Stephanie Buchanan – Solicitor and Director of the firm with over 40 years experience in legal matters and property and estate agents work.

Fiona Sutton – Estate Agent and Director of the firm responsible for all estate agency matters. The firm is an ‘ABS’ (Alternative Business Structure) with two regulated activities and Fiona manages the other part of the business.

Estate Agency and Sales – combined with free conveyancing fees – if we act as your solicitors and estate agents we will carry out all of conveyancing for free if and when your property sells (subject to terms and conditions). If we start legal work and your property does not sell for any reason then we charge only for the conveyancing only.

Other legal fees – For legal work – We offer both fixed fee and hourly rate work depending on your instructions and which is best for your circumstances. There is a residential conveyancing calculator below – 90% of our requests for quotes for legal work relate to residential conveyancing. The quote calculator assumes you want to a timed bill and gives you an estimate depending on the price of the house. If you would like a fixed fee please put this in your quote or email to us. Fixed fees are best for a specific purpose e.g. selling a house where you can be sure at the outset of what is required to complete the sale. Timed bills are best where you want to cover all bases or if you have a bespoke problem that requires a detailed investigation of your case e.g. a bespoke lease for commercial premises, dividing up land for development or correcting title defects (i.e. where there is a problem with your legal title).

Areas of work and fees we cover…

Conveyancing Residential – Conveyancing Quality Scheme

Leasehold property – Please note many properties (especially those in the northwest of England) are owned as 999 years leases with a nominal ground rent. We treat these leases like freeholds but you may need to pay the freeholder Landlord “administration charges”. Each landlord charges different fees and they change from time to time so there is no way of knowing what these will be upfront. We will inquire during the conveyancing and you will be informed before you buy the property.  Other leases for flats or properties with common parts require additional work and we usually charge  £210 for these checks (e.g. fire safety certificates and service charge investigations).

Conveyancing Commercial – we charge on a time basis only.

Wills and Probates –

Obtaining a grant of probate only – we charge a fee for time spent on the file. We do offer fixed fees if the work is  straight forward but this is at the firms discretion.

Full administration of the estate  – Law Society rates (1% or realty, 0.05% of property and fee for the time)

Wills & Powers of attorney – For a simple power of attorney for property and affairs we offer a fixed fee of £300. We offer discounts  for a 2nd, 3rd & 4th lasting powers where all the documents have the same information i.e. they all mirror each other so there is no additional drafting. For more complicated bespoke powers with additional limitations, guidance and conditions we charge for the time spent on the file e.g conditions where two attorneys signatures are require in one circumstance but only one signature is required in another. For wills prices start at £210 plus VAT and disbursements depending on the complexity of the will and we charge on a time basis. Life interest wills are very popular now as a legitimate way of planning your estate and inheritance and mitigating your exposure to social care costs.

Litigation – We charge for time and we do not carry out fixed fee work. We specialise in chancery litigation e.g. disputed wills, probate and inheritance matters.

For all other matters we charge on a time basis – please ring or email for a quote – the firm’s hourly rate is £210 however we are very generous with our time and we take great care with out work!

Our complaints procedure – link herewith

NB prices can change without further notice!