PERRIN MYDDELTON COSTS

Transcription

1 PERRIN MYDDELTON COSTS Residential Conveyancing for Individuals (i.e. not corporate bodies) The fees of Perrin Myddelton Solicitors that we mention below are for the conveyance of residential real property or real estate owned by individuals which comprise:- CONVEYANCING (i) FREEHOLD OR LEASEHOLD SALES OR PURCHASES Our Fees Our fees for a straight forward residential sale of the freehold of an existing residential property typically range between and 1, plus Value Added Tax (currently 20%) and disbursements. Our fees for a straight forward residential purchase of the freehold of an existing residential property typically range between 1, and 1, plus Value Added Tax (currently 20%) and disbursements. N.B. If the sale or purchase involves a leasehold property then typically a supplement of a minimum of will be added to reflect the additional work involved in dealing with leasehold property. Our fees for a straight forward mortgage or remortgage of a residential property typically range between and plus Value Added Tax and disbursements. Disbursements Disbursements are costs related to your sale and/or purchase which are payable to third parties and which are necessary to be expended to progress your sale and/or purchase. In relation to a sale these are as follows:- Official Copy Entries of Land Registry Title 6.00 Mortgage redemption fee (if existing mortgage) Fees can vary In relation to a purchase these are as follows:- Search fees Various searches need to be made to ensure that there is nothing untoward in relation to the property you are acquiring. The searches we typically make are as follows:- i. Local Authority Search ii. Drainage Search iii. Chancel Check Search (to ascertain potential liability for chancel repairs)

2 iv. Environmental Report v. Ground Stability Report N.B. The fees for these can vary but typically you should budget to expend around on these on a typical residential purchase. HM Government Land Registry fees These vary depending on the purchase price between minimum and maximum ( maximum if the registration application is made on line). Stamp Duty Land Tax (payable on a purchase of residential property) This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using the HMRC s website:- ( Or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority s website here:- ( Money Laundering Charges A mandatory requirement is imposed on us to verify your identity. For this we charge a minimum document production fee of 8.00 plus VAT and a verification fee of ( 6 plus VAT natural person) ( 12 plus VAT couples), ( 12 plus VAT non-natural entity) (i.e. limited company) ( 9 plus VAT for individuals based abroad where there is no UK address). Money Transfer fee (purchase or transmission of sale proceeds to you) There is a fee to telegraph monies from our client account of plus VAT. For more information please contact Anthony Marris on a.marris@pmsolicitors.co.uk. (ii) CONVEYANCING ACQUISITION OF NEW BUILD PROPERTIES N.B. Discounted fees may apply in relation to the conveyancing of new build properties where we act for more than one Buyer on the same estate. For more information please contact Clare Bottoms, the Manager of our Plot Sales Team on sales@pmsolicitors.co.uk. (iii) FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT AND INCREASE THE LEVEL OF FEES WE CHARGE AND THE TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE MATTER (N.B. This list is not exhaustive) (a) If it transpires that the legal title to the property you are buying turns out to be defective or part of the title turns out to be unregistered.

3 (b) If it transpires that building regulations or planning permissions have not been obtained in connection with the construction of the property you are buying or relevant planning permission conditions have not been complied with. (c) If crucial documents are missing or documents that we have requested from you to advance a sale or purchase have not been provided by you. (d) If there are private mortgage or more than one mortgage on the property being sold that need to be redeemed. (e) If the property you are acquiring is leasehold and not freehold. (f) If we are not on the panel of the Lender that you wish to use to acquire the property. (g) If it transpires that there is a lengthy chain of transactions upon which your sale or purchase is dependent. (h) If the property you are acquiring is being sold by Executors or Administrators as part of the estate of the deceased owner of the property. (i) If the property you are acquiring is subject to Tenant occupation. (j) If it transpires that the Lease that you are acquiring has a residual term that is too short to be mortgageable and therefore an extension of the Lease has to be negotiated. How long will my house purchase take? How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 8-12 weeks. It can be quicker or slower depending on the parties in the chain and the other factors mentioned above. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage. However if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease this can take significantly longer. In such a situation additional charges would apply. ADMINISTRATION OF AN ESTATE This involves the collection and distribution of money, property and other assets belonging to a person following their death where these are within the UK and the inheritance is not contested. If a deceased dies having made a Will then there is a need to obtain a Grant of Probate. If they have died without making a Will then it becomes a Grant of Letters of Administration. Applying for the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and collecting and distributing the assets of the deceased to Beneficiaries We anticipate this typically will take between 10 and 15 hours at this firm s charge out rate of per hour. Accordingly on this basis costs would typically be estimated at between 2, and 3, plus Value Added Tax (currently 20%). The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one Beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple Beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

4 We will handle the full process for you. This estimate is for estates where:- There is a valid Will There is no more than one property There are no more than 3 Bank or Building Society accounts There are no other tangible assets There are no more than 3 Beneficiaries There are no disputes between Beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs There is no Inheritance Tax payable and the Executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC There are no claims made against the estate Disbursements to obtain a Grant of Probate:- i. Probate application fee currently plus 50 pence per office copy required of the Probate Registry. ii. Swearing of an Oath (per Executor) iii. iv. Bankruptcy only Land Charges Department searches per Beneficiary. Posting details of the death in the London Gazette which protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors will vary. v. Posting death in a local newspaper which also helps to protect against unexpected claims will vary. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursement on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. N.B. Potential additional costs (a) If there is no Will or the estate consists of any shareholdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information. (b) If any additional copies of the grant are required they will cost 50 pence typically 1 required per asset. (c) Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included and we will provide a separate estimate for this. How long will this take? On average estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 3 to 9 months. Typically obtaining the Grant of Probate takes 4 to 8 weeks. To obtain Letters of Administration may take longer. Collecting assets then follows which can take between 1 and 2 months. Once this has been done we can distribute the assets which typically takes 1 month.

5 For more information please contact Christine Evans on EMPLOYMENT For Employers i. Preliminary advice on employment related matters will be based on time taken to advise at an hourly rate of per hour excluding Value Added Tax. ii. iii. You will be advised by our specialist employment solicitor, Clare Nicolaou, who has more than 10 years post qualification experience in dealing with these matters. If Clare is required to travel to an employment tribunal to represent you there will be travel expenses. However, sometimes hearings can be dealt with by way of telephone hearings and we will always seek to agree to conduct a hearing by phone where possible. We do not operate contingency fees or work on a no-win, no-fee basis, but we may be able to agree fixed fees with you depending on the type and complexity of the matter. Our fees for defending an unfair dismissal claim for an Employer range between 7, and 15, to take you to and represent you at a one day hearing. The cost of additional days at the hearing range between and per day depending upon the complexity of the matter and other relevant factors. iv. If a former employer brings a standard claim for unfair dismissal claim it will normally be allocated one day in the Employment Tribunal. It may take between 6 and 9 months to get the case heard. Before the claimant submits a Tribunal claim they must first contact ACAS and obtain an Early Conciliation certificate (this can be done online). There are strict deadlines for contacting ACAS, and they must normally do this within 3 months less than one day from the date of the thing they are complaining about. v. Once you have received a copy of the ACAS certificate the claimant has a deadline by which they must lodge their Tribunal claim. If you wish to defend the claim you will need to submit a response to the claim, and you will be given a deadline by the Tribunal when you receive a copy of the claimant s claim. We can help you to negotiate a settlement with ACAS if you wish, or to draft your response to the claimant s claim. Once the response is completed we can put together the paperwork for the hearing. This needs to include any relevant information (from either side) that relates to the matter in dispute, and this goes into a bundle, usually compiled by the employer. vi. vii. We then need to produce witness statements and sometimes a counter-schedule of loss (which is a statement that tells the Tribunal what you believe the claimant s financial losses are. We will also agree a chronology and a cast list where needed, and the list of legal and factual issues for the Tribunal to determine. The Tribunal usually sets the timetable for doing all those things. For more complex claims, e.g. claims of discrimination our costs for representing you at these we will discuss our fees with you and provide an estimate having regard to the circumstances. There will be an additional preliminary hearing (sometimes more than one) and hearings tend to last longer, from three days upwards, depending on the number of

6 allegations and the number of witnesses required to give evidence about those allegations. Some Tribunals are already listing long hearings for 15 months time, so it will very much depend on which Tribunal the case has been allocated as to when it is likely to be heard. Again, there will be additional days or part-days to include in the calculation. viii. ix. The fees for other types of claim, such as deductions from wages claims, failure to pay a redundancy payment or claims for holiday pay are likely be within the range of 2, and 7, plus Value Added Tax. We can give advice on dealing with difficult conversations at work, managing exits and dealing with disciplinary or grievance-related matters. If necessary we can draft a settlement agreement if the employee is likely to exit the business. In those circumstances, you will also need to think about whether you will contribute to the employee s own legal costs which is common practice. Sundry advices This will be charged at our hourly rate of plus Value Added Tax For Employees i. Preliminary advices see above. ii. If we are required to travel to an employment tribunal to represent you there will be travel expenses. However, sometimes hearings can be dealt with by way of telephone hearings and we will always seek to agree to conduct a hearing by phone where possible. We do not operate contingency fees or work on a no-win, no-fee basis, but we may be able to agree fixed fees with you depending on the type and complexity of the matter. Some household or other insurance policies include a provision for legal expenses insurance. Before you instruct us it is always worth checking to see if you have any such insurance. The time it takes to conclude any issue or case will depend on how complex the case is and how early or late in the process you instruct us. We can give you a better idea of likely total cost once we have spoken to you, seen your paperwork and agreed how much you would like us to be involved, and we will not incur any fees on your behalf without your agreement. Below is a guide to the typical costs that may be incurred. iii. Employment tribunal claims Our fees for defending an unfair dismissal claim range between 7, and 15, to take you to and represent you at a one day hearing. The cost of additional days at the hearing range between and per day depending upon the complexity of the matter and other relevant factors. If you bring a standard claim for unfair dismissal claim it will normally be allocated one day in the Employment Tribunal. It may take between 6 and 9 months to get your case heard. Before you submit your Tribunal claim you need to first contact ACAS and obtain an Early Conciliation certificate (this can be done on-line). There are strict deadlines for contacting ACAS, and you must normally do this within 3 months less than one day from the date of the thing you are complaining about.

7 Once you have received your ACAS certificate you have a deadline by which you must lodge your Tribunal claim. If your employer elects to defend your claim they will submit a response to your claim, typically four to eight weeks from when you lodged your claim. We can help you go to ACAS and draft your claim form. Once we have the employer s response, we can put together the paperwork for the hearing. This needs to include any relevant information (from either side) that relates to the matter in dispute, and this goes into a bundle, usually compiled by the employer. We then need to produce witness statements and a schedule of loss (which is a statement that tells the Tribunal what your financial losses are). We will also agree a chronology and a cast list where needed, and the list of legal and factual issues for the Tribunal to determine. The Tribunal usually sets the timetable for doing all those things. Unless we have an unavoidable prior other commitment we will represent you at the hearing; we will not normally instruct a barrister to conduct the hearing. If a barrister does have to be instructed then we will recommend a barrister and obtain a fee estimate from that barrister which we will ask you to approve before retaining that barrister to represent you at the hearing. iv. For more complex claims, e.g. claims of discrimination our costs for representing you at these we will discuss our fees with you and provide an estimate having regard to the circumstances. There will be an additional preliminary hearing (sometimes more than one) and hearings tend to last longer, from three days upwards, depending on the number of allegations and the number of witnesses required to give evidence about those allegations. Some Tribunals are already listing long hearings for 15 months time, so it will very much depend on where you work or worked as to when your case will be heard. Again, there will be additional days or part-days to include in the calculation. Other types of claim, such as deductions from wages claims, failure to pay a redundancy payment or claims for holiday pay can take less time to come to a hearing, and the hearings are usually much shorter (e.g. two hours). However, the method of preparation (ACAS Early Conciliation, lodging a claim, paperwork and statements) is the same. These cases may be heard within three to six months of lodging the claim. v. Settlement agreements For settlement agreements, because it is a legal requirement that you take independent legal advice before you sign, employers normally make a contribution to the cost of the advice and we will aim to keep our fees within that contribution. We will advise you if we do not believe we will be able to do so, and seek to negotiate an increase from the employer, although our fees ultimately remain your responsibility. Again, additional fees will not be incurred without your prior knowledge or consent. vi. Other employment-related matters All other matters, for example, advising you in relation to grievance, disciplinary or absence issues at work, will be charged at our normal hourly rate of per hour, unless we are able to offer you a fixed or capped fee. Factors that could make a case more complex If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim

8 Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person Making or defending a costs application Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties) The number of witnesses and documents If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal For more information please contact Clare Nicolaou on c.nicolaou@pmsolicitors.co.uk. LITIGATION Debt Recovery for business Please note we are talking here of debt recovery up to a value of 100, and not beyond and undisputed. Our fee for a basic pre-action letter to recover a debt is plus Value Added Tax. N.B.1 If the alleged debtor challenges the claim to recover the debt then we will need to consider the nature of the defence and take your full instructions. We will then seek to give you as detailed a written estimate of costs as possible having regard to the fact that the alleged debtor challenging the claim is likely to mean that court proceedings will follow in which you may face a counterclaim. N.B.2 Our estimate will reflect the likely complexity of the matter. It is unlikely that we will be able to give you any fixed fee proposal for the work. After providing an initial estimate we will:- (i) (ii) Require you to formally instruct us in writing and pay upfront the amount of the initial estimate. Thereafter we will notify you if our costs on a recorded time basis are likely to exceed or have exceeded the estimate. In this case you will be required to provide further top up monies, the level of which will be advised at the time having regard to the progress so far on the claim and anticipated likely future time to be spent. (iii) We will bill you monthly during the progress of the claim having regard to recorded time spent. Our current charge hourly charge out rates for litigation work are as follows:- Partner These range between and per hour depending on the circumstances Associate per hour Court fees If the matter proceeds to court there are civil court fees payable. These are a disbursement that you must pay and we will require payment of the court fees upfront before issuing proceedings. If a Judgment is given for you then there are further fees for civil enforcement. We set out below the current civil court fees and fees for civil enforcement proceedings: Civil Court fees

9 Issuing Claims Starting your Claim Money Claims To issue a claim for money the fees are based on the amount claimed including interest. For Court issued claims please round fractions of pence down to the nearest penny. Example: A fee calculated as being 1, rounds down to a payable fee of 1, Fee Payable Value of your claim Court issued Filed via claim SDT/MCOL* Up to Greater than 300 but no more than Greater than 500 but no more than 1, Greater than 1,000 but no more than 1, Greater than 1,500 but no more than 3, Greater than 3,000 but no more than 5, Greater than 5,000 but no more than 10, Greater than 10,000 but no more than 15, % of the Greater than 15,000 but no more than 50,000 5% of the value of the Greater than 50,000 but no more than 100,000 value of the claim Greater than 100,000 but no more than 150,000 claim N/A Greater than 150,000 but no more than 200,000 N/A Greater than 200,000 10,000 N/A *Maximum amount for Secure Data Transfer (SDT) or Money Claim Online (MCOL) 99, Secure Data Transfer is a secure system to enable customers issuing in bulk to upload and transfer data files directly from their systems to HM Courts & Tribunals Service systems. Civil Enforcement proceedings If the court has ordered someone to pay you a sum of money or to return your goods, property or land and they have not done so, you can issue enforcement proceedings. Order to obtain information from a debtor To issue an application for an order for a debtor or other person to attend court to provide information To request a Bailiff service of an order for a debtor to attend court for questioning Warrants To issue a warrant of control (recovery of a sum of money) via Money 77 Claims Online or County Court Business Centre To issue a warrant of control (recovery of a sum of money) in any 110 other case To issue a warrant of delivery (for goods) 121 To issue a warrant of possession (recovery of a property or land) 121 To request a further attempt to execute a warrant at a new address 33 except where a warrant has been suspended

10 Writs (High Court only) Sealing a writ of control (recovery of a sum of money) 66 Sealing a writ of delivery (for goods) 66 Sealing a writ of possession (recovery of a property or land) 66 Where a warrant or writ of delivery or possession also includes a claim for money, there is no additional fee. Attachment of Earnings Application for an attachment of earnings order (a fee is payable for each defendant against whom the order is requested) 110 On a consolidation attachment of earnings order a fee of 10p for every 1, or part 1, of money paid into court, is deducted from the money before it is paid out to creditors. Enforcing an award in the County Court Application for the enforcement of an award for a sum of money or other decision made by any court, tribunal, body or person other than the High Court or County Court unless where exceptions apply 44 Enforcing an aware in the High Court Request or application - To register a judgment or order; or - For permission to enforce an arbitration award; or - For a certificate or certified copy of a judgment or order for use abroad 66 Charging Order Application for a charging order (a fee is payable for each charging order applied for) 110 Third party debt order Application for a third party debt order (a fee is payable for each party against whom the order is requested) 110 Judgment summons Application for a judgment summons 110 Certified Enforcement Agent Application Other non-money fee for County Courts 308 For all Civil Magistrates fees please refer to the Magistrates Courts fees order

11 For more information please contact Simon Braun on