Unlike other law firms, we offer a fixed-fee Confirmation service to our clients. If you have been searching for fixed fee confirmation Scotland, we can help you today.
At Weir Law, we appreciate that dealing with a death will always be difficult, but we can help you to manage the process and relieve you of much of the burden – including the financial issues around paying lawyer’s fees.
Getting professional advice
The process of obtaining Confirmation can be very tricky, time-consuming and emotionally exhausting. That is why the vast majority of executors (that is, the person in-charge of the deceased person’s legal affairs) will approach a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Scotland to help them with the legal process.
How solicitors usually charge
Traditionally, law firms in Scotland charge their clients by the hour – meaning that the final fee will be unknown until the work has been finished.
Given that most Confirmation matters can take anywhere from six months to several years to conclude, not knowing the final cost is a concern for most people.
How we differ from other solicitors
At the outset, we do not charge any up-front fees. You will not be charged for any initial meeting or telephone calls or emails to us. Most solicitors will charge anything from £250.00 to £475.00 for an initial meeting, but we will never charge you to talk with us and obtain initial assistance.
The vast majority of estate work we deal with is set at a fixed fee. Only if there are complexities to resolve (such as business assets, Inheritance Tax issues, domicile concerns, disinheritance, etc.) will we provide you with both a fixed fee quote and an hourly rate quote for your consideration.
We speak in plain English
If you instruct us to deal with the estate, we will provide you with our Letter of Engagement and Terms and Conditions. These documents set-out the work to be undertaken by us, fees, outlays, and other important matters. The terms will be detailed in plain English, without legal jargon and confusing terminology.
We do not raise our invoice until the work has been completed. Only in certain circumstances will we provide you with our invoice before the matter has finished (e.g. if the matter has been active for more than twelve months), but even in such circumstances we will speak with you first to determine if such an “interim fee” is appropriate.
What are “outlays”?
These are third party expenses that must be paid so that matters can progress without delay. For example, your solicitor may need to order copy title deeds or divorce decrees, pay court fees or registration fees, or settle a surveyor’s invoice for valuing the deceased’s home.
Which outlays can I expect to pay?
If the person died without making a Will, the outlay to appoint an Executor is £20.00 in total.
Where there is no Will and the person dealing with the estate is not the deceased’s spouse or civil partner, an insurance policy known as a bond of caution will be required. The premium for a bond of caution can range from £200.00 to £1,000.00 (and higher if there are insurance concerns regarding the estate).
To obtain copy title deeds from Registers of Scotland, this will be either £3.60 in total (if the property is on the Land Register) and £30.00 to £50.00 (if the property remains on the older property register, known as the Sasine Register).
In all cases (unless the total value of the estate is less than £50,000), the court will charge a processing fee of either £276.00 or £554.00, depending on the total estate value. Current court outlays are available here.
What outlays can I expect to incur?
We will let you know as soon as we identify that an outlay will need to be incurred. In such circumstance, we will either obtain the Executor’s permission to pay the outlay from estate funds already held, or we will ask the Executor to transfer the outlay sum to our Client Account. Of course, the estate will reimburse an Executor for paying any outlays from their own pocket.
Who pays the solicitor’s fee and outlays?
So long as there are enough funds in the estate, it will be the estate of the person who has passed-away that will settle the legal fees and outlays.
How are “hourly rate” fees calculated?
Because the circumstances of each estate can be vary quite dramatically, it can be difficult for solicitors to determine a specific fee quote at the outset.
In the interests of fairness, most solicitors will pass their files to an independent Law Accountant or Auditor of Court. Following an extensive review of the files and related papers, the Law Accountant or Auditor of Court will provide a comprehensive note of how the fee was calculated, together with a certificate of assessment.
We can provide you with certainty from the start
We are on-hand to give you the reassurance and certainty you need. Contact us today on 0141 628 5544, email info@weirlaw.co.uk or Make An Online Enquiry and we will talk you through the processes particular to your circumstances. We’re also available 24 hours a day on our webchat facility.
