Power Scott and its predecessors have been established in their present location for over 30 years.

The sole recognised practitioner at Power Scott is Mr Robert Henry Scott BA (Hons) who has been qualified as a solicitor for over 30 years. He has a wealth of experience in general legal practice. He was formerly a member of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel and a member of the 24 hour and court Duty Solicitor Schemes (criminal) and is currently a member of the Law Society Property Section. He no longer deals with court work but instead concentrates on all aspects of conveyancing, leases, Wills, probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney and applications to the Court of Protection.

We offer advice on a wide range of issues including:-

• Making a Will.
• Winding up the estate of a deceased person including obtaining a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
• House buying and selling – ask for a fixed fee quotation.
• Commercial and residential leases.
• Lasting Power of Attorney, both Health & Welfare and Property & Financial Affairs.
• Court of Protection applications.

Conveyancing

We offer a fixed fee conveyancing service with no hidden extras from £475 plus VAT.  Because we are a small practise you will have a named and experienced solicitor who will deal with your transaction from start to finish,in addition there will be, in a sale, a likely fee of £6 to obtain an official copy of the register of title and £12 to redeem any mortgage or charge secured against the title to your property. In a purchase in addition to our fees there will be the usual local, drainage and mining searches which together will cost an estimated £148 and there will be land registry and land charges searches typically £10 and a fee to pay to the land registry to register your purchase. The amount of the land registry fee depends upon the purchase price of your property. There will also be Stamp Duty Land Tax to pay if the purchase price of your property exceeds £125,000. You should note that the Stamp Duty Land Tax is payable on all transactions where the purchase price is over £40,000 if the purchase will result in you owning more than one property. Further details of the likely amount of SDLT payable will be provided on request.

Why not contact us for a written quotation?

Estimated fees for purchase of a freehold residential property:-

Please note the following does not apply if you are instructing us under a referral fee arrangement.

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home including
dealing with the registration at the land registry and dealing with the payment of stamp duty land
tax if the property is in England.

Our fees and the disbursements (expenses) to be incurred in connection with your purchase will vary
depending upon the purchase price of the property.

For a purchase up to £150,000 our fees will be £495 plus VAT.
For a purchase between £150,000 and £250,000 our fees will be £575 plus VAT.
For any purchase between £250,000 and £500,000 our fees will be £695 plus VAT.
Please contact us for a written quotation.

In addition the anticipated disbursements which are typically incurred are:-
Local, drainage and mining search fees £148.
Electronic money transfer fee £12 including VAT.
Land Registry search fee £6.
Land Charges search fee £4.

The land registry registration fee will depend upon the purchase price of the property and the fee
payable is in bands as follows:-

Purchase Price         Registered Property Fee     Unregistered Property Fee
£0 to £80,000                          £20                                       £40
£80,001 to £100,000              £40                                       £80
£100,001 to £200,000            £95                                      £190
£200,001 to £500,000            £135                                    £270
£500,001 to £1,000,000         £270                                    £540
£1,000,001 and over             £455                                    £910

Disbursements are costs related to your matter which are payable to third parties such as Land
Registry fees. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother
process.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Whether this is payable depends on the purchase price of the property. You can calculate the
amount you will need by using HMRC’s website www.gov.uk/sdltonline

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. It is difficult to give an accurate assessment of how long that might be but
on average it takes between 10 and 12 weeks.

It can be quicker or slower depending on the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first time
buyer purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle it could take 10 weeks. However,
if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease this can take
significantly longer and could be between 3 and 4 months. In such a situation additional charges
would apply.

A brief outline of the stages in the conveyancing process are:-

• Take instructions and obtain proof of your identity and give you initial advice.
• Check finances are in place to fund the purchase and contact lenders if needed.
• Receive and advise on contract documents.
• Carry out searches.
• Obtain planning documentation if required.
• Make necessary enquiries of the sellers solicitors
• Give you advice on all documents and information received.
•  Advise you on the conditions of your mortgage offer.
• Have you sign the final contract
• Agree a completion date.
•  Exchange contracts
• Arrange for all monies needed to be received.
• Carry our pre-completion searches.
•  Complete the purchase.
• Deal with Stamp Duty Land Tax return and pay any Stamp Duty Land Tax due.
• Apply to the Land Registry to register your purchase.

Purchase of a Leasehold Residential Property

Our fees cover all the work required to complete the purchase of your new home including dealing
with registration at the Land Registry and submitting a Stamp Duty Land Tax return if the property is
in England.
An estimate of our fees is as follows:-

Purchase Price Fees
Up to £175,000 £475 plus VAT
£175,000 to £275,000 £550 plus VAT
£275,000 to £475,000 £650 plus VAT
Over £475,000 please contact for written quotation

Disbursements:-
Local, drainage and mining search fees £148.
Electronic money transfer fee £12 including VAT
Land Registry search fee £6
Land Charges search fee £4
The Land Registry registration fee will depend upon the purchase price of the property and the fee
payable is in bands as shown above.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter which are payable to third parties such as search
fees. The disbursements which we anticipate will apply are set out separately below. This list is not
exhaustive and other disbursement may apply depending on the terms of your lease. We will update
you on the specific fees upon receipt and review of the lease from the seller’s solicitors.

Anticipated disbursements:-

Notice of Transfer fee – this fee is chargeable by the freehold owner or its agents and varies
considerably. It is anticipated that it will be between £100 and £250 plus VAT.

Notice of Charge fee – (if the property is to be mortgaged) – this fee may be set out in the lease and
is payable in addition to the Notice of Transfer fee. Typically the fee can be between £100 and £250
plus VAT.

Deed of Covenant fee – this fee is charged by the management company and as with the Notice of
Transfer fee and Notice of Charge fee is difficult to estimate. Often it is between £75 plus VAT and
£175 plus VAT.

Certificate of Compliance fee – this is another fee that is charged by the management company on
behalf of the freehold owner and may be required where the registration of your purchase cannot
take place until a certificate is provided confirming that the terms of the lease have been complied
with by your seller and their predecessors in title.

Please note these fees vary from property to property depending on the freehold owners scale of
charges and can occasionally be significantly more than the ranges given above. We will be able to
give you a more accurate figure once we have sight of the specific documents relating to your
purchase.

Stamp Duty Land Tax on Residential Leases.
This depends on the purchase price of the property and whether or not you are paying a premium
for the lease and the amount of any annual rent payable. You can calculate the amount you will
need to pay by using the HMRC ‘s website www.gov.uk/sdltonline

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential leasehold property vary according to the
circumstances. The key stages which are involved are:-

• Take your initial instructions and obtain proof of your identity and give you initial advice.
•  Check finances are in place to fund the purchase and contact the lender.
•  Receive and advise on contract documents.
• Carry out local, drainage, mining and other necessary searches.
• Obtain planning documentation
• Make necessary enquiries of the seller’s solicitor
• Give you advise on all documents and information received
• Advise you on your mortgage offer.
• Have you sign the final contract
• Draft the contract and submit it to the seller’s solicitors for approval.
• Carry out pre-completion searches.
•  Agree completion date with your seller’s solicitors
•  Exchange contracts and notify you when this has happened
•  Arrange for all monies needed to be received from your lender and you.
•  Complete your purchase.
•  Deal with Stamp Duty Land Tax Return and pay and SDLT due.
• Prepare and lodge application to the Land Registry and pay the Land Registry fee due.

The estimated fees assumes that:-
i. This is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example, but not
limited to a defect in title which needs to be remedied or the preparation of additional documents.

ii. This is the assignment of the unexpired term of an existing lease and not the grant of a new lease.

iii. The transaction is concluded without any unforeseen complications.

iv. All parties to the transaction are cooperative and there is no unreasonable delay from third
parties.

v. No indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are
needed.

What we are supposed to do is enable the client to find out what the total cost is likely to be. I think
this is an impossible thing to provide without knowing what the purchase price is and what the
disbursements are likely to be but we will have to give it a go.

Applying for a Grant of Probate

On our website we have a heading ”Probate”
After the 3 rd paragraph beginning” we always try to provide an accurate estimate…” we need to
insert:-

The exact cost of obtaining a Grant of Probate and dealing with the administration of the Estate of a
deceased person will depend on individual circumstances. For example, if there is one beneficiary
and no property costs will be at the lower end of the range quoted. If there are multiple
beneficiaries, a property and numerous bank accounts and other assets costs will be at the higher
end.

The amount of work involved is also difficult to assess and depends wholly on the circumstances but
typically we anticipate that it will take between 10 and 20 hours work at £200 per hour so the total
costs estimate will be in the band of £1,950 to £3,900 excluding VAT.

If we handle the whole administration process to you this quote is for estates where:-

• There is a valid Will.
•  There is no more than one property.
• There are no more than 5 bank or building society accounts.
• There are no other intangible assets.
• There are between 2 and 6 beneficiaries.
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets.
• There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full inheritance tax account to HMRC.
• There are no claims against the estate.

The anticipated disbursements not included in this fee are:-

•  Probate application fee £155
• £7 Oath Fee for each executor seeking the grant
• £2 Land Charges department bankruptcy search for each beneficiary

Disbursements are cost related to your matter that are payable to third parties. We handle the
payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Potential additional costs.

If there is no Will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be
additional costs. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.

The fee of £155 payable to the Probate Registry will include the fee for the original sealed Grant of
Probate. If additional copies are required they will be £ each.

Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included in this estimate.

How long will it take?

On average estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6 to 12 months. Typically
obtaining a Grant of Probate takes 8 to 10 weeks. Collecting assets then follows which can take
between 6 and 12 weeks. Once this has been done we can prepare and estate account and
distribute the assets which normally takes another 4 to 6 weeks.

We can package areas of work which may assist you in dealing with the administration of someone’s
estate if you are named as the Executor or you are the administrator of an estate of someone who
has died without a Will. For example if you instructed us only to obtain the Grant of Representation
(either probate or letters of administration) we would limit our charges to an initial estimate of £500
plus VAT where the value of the estate is less than £250,000 and there are no more than half a
dozen assets including a house.

Probate

When someone close to you dies we know it is an extremely distressing time for you.

We have many years experience in administering estates and we are here to help.

We will always try to provide an accurate estimate of the likely cost involved from the outset and, if instructed, will deal with the process of winding up your loved ones estate as smoothly and painlessly as possible.

We can package areas of work which may assist you in dealing with the administration of someone’s estate if you are named as the Executor or you are the Administrator of an estate of someone who has died without a Will. For example if you instructed us only to obtain the Grant of Representation we would limit our charges to and initial estimate of £500 plus VAT where the value of the estate is less than £250,000. If you instructed us to obtain the Grant of Representation and to administer the deceased person’s estate then our charges would be based on an hourly charging rate of £200 plus VAT and, depending upon the complexity of the matter 1.5% of the value of the deceased’s estate

Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection:

We can provide you with a simple Will from £120 plus VAT.

Making a Will provides you with the piece of mind that after you’re gone those people who you want to benefit will inherit your estate.

Arguably everyone who makes a Will which will deal with your assets after your death should at least consider making a Lasting Power of Attorney which will enable someone you nominate to deal with your property and affairs while you’re still alive if you reach the stage where you are unable to manage your property and affairs yourself.  You can also appoint someone to deal with your personal welfare should you reach the point where you lack mental capacity.

Unfortunately once it has been established that you lack mental capacity the only way anyone can then step into your shoes to deal with your financial affairs is by being appointed as a deputy by the Court of Protection.  This is a much more complicated and costly procedure than granting a Lasting Power of Attorney.

We can provide you with a fixed fee quotation starting from £350 plus VAT to provide a Lasting Power of Attorney for you.   Please note this does not include the fee payable to the Office of the Public Guardian to register the application.

Free Legal Surgery

We operate a free legal surgery where you would be entitled to 15 minutes free advice regardless of your means. Legal Surgery appointments are available most days at a time to suit you. Please ring to make a convenient appointment.

 

Power Scott is regulated and authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA No. 571806.

For the code of conduct which governs our services click www.sra.org.uk