A TRADING STYLE OF : Alexander and Partners - Law Society Number: 46020
Clutton Cox Ltd - Company Number 08848760
We are a firm of solicitors established in 1940. We have served the town of Llanelli and area for over 70 years. We aim to provide a comprehensive range of legal services to all sections of the community moulding our services to meet the ever-changing needs of private and corporate clients alike. Matters we deal with include property, landlord and tenant, family, wills, probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney and civil litigation including debt recovery.
We pride ourselves on our friendly and sympathetic approach and if you have a legal problem on which you would like advice, please contact us by :-
Telephone: 01554 706095
Mobile: 07807189863
e-mail : Lionel.jones@cluttoncox.co.uk
brinleymorris@tiscali.co.uk
Solicitor: Lionel Jones B.Sc. A.C.A
We are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, Licence Number: 3487
OUR CONVEYANCING CHARGES
Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the sale or purchase of your home including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.
The amount of Stamp Duty Land Tax/Land Transaction Tax that will need to be paid on each transaction can vary as a result of various factors such as the purchase price of the property and also whether the transaction will be treated as a higher rate transaction. You can calculate the amount that you will need to pay using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s Website or if the property is located in England by using HMRC’s Website.
Conveyancer’s Fee and Disbursements
Legal Fees – our legal fees will vary dependent upon factors such as the complexity of the transaction together with the sale/purchase price of the property. All conveyancing work is carried out by experienced qualified solicitors.
Search Fees – when purchasing a property, there will also be additional disbursements to pay such as search fees including Local Authority, Drainage, Coal Authority and Environmental Searches. The costs of these searches will depend upon the geographical location of the property.
HM Land Registry fee – a further disbursement which would be payable would be a Land Registry registration fee which can be payable in various transactions such as a purchase or re-mortgage for example. The actual fee is set by the Land Registry and will be dependent upon certain factors such as the purchase price or value of the transaction. The precise Land Registry fee payable in each scenario will be provided at the outset of the transaction within our Client Care Letter.
Electronic money transfer fee – £30.00 inclusive of VAT.
HM Land Registry Searches and copy documents – there can be further disbursements necessary with the Land Registry such as the process of obtaining a copy of your Title Deeds when selling your property which currently stands at £7.80. It can be possible that further documents are needed from the Land Registry and they are currently charged at £3.90 per document. In addition, when you are purchasing a property you have to carry out a Land Registry Search which is currently £3.90 and it is also potentially necessary to carry out Land Charges/Bankruptcy Searches which are currently charged at £2.90 per person.
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Land Transaction Tax/Stamp Duty (on purchase)
This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s Website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s Website.
Estimated Total – as an example, on a basic conveyancing purchase charged at our minimum fee of £385.00 plus VAT the total cost payable would be in the region of £690.00 inclusive of all VAT.
How long will my house purchase take?
How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move into your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 6-8 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 6 weeks however, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the Lease, this can take significantly longer, between 10 and 16 weeks. In such a situation additional charges would apply.
OUR PROBATE CHARGES
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 lower than if there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple Bank Accounts.
If we are simply instructed to obtain a Grant of Probate (when there is a Will) or a Grant of Letters of Administration (where there is no Will) without then also dealing with the administration of the estate, then our fees are likely to be a minimum of £500 plus VAT. All probate work is carried out by experienced qualified solicitors.
In more complex cases and also where we are dealing with the administration of an estate we will base our charges on 2% of the value of the estate including all assets.
In addition to the above legal costs, there will be disbursements payable such as the Probate Registry fee which currently stands at £155.00.
Disbursements are costs relating to your matter which are payable to third parties such as Court fees and payments made to the London Gazette and/or a local newspaper which may be needed to protect against unexpected claims from unknown Creditors. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smooth process.
Disbursements are costs relating to your matter which are payable to third parties such as Court fees and payments made to the London Gazette and/or a local newspaper which may be needed to protect against unexpected claims from unknown Creditors. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smooth process.
Potential Overall Costs
It is extremely difficult to give precise quotations for the overall process of dealing with the administration of an estate as it will completely depend upon each individual case and the complexity involved. If there is no Will, if the estate consists of shareholdings including stocks and bonds, if there is Inheritance Tax payable in the estate of other tax likely to be payable then there are likely to be additional costs which could range significantly depending upon the estate and how it has to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have full information however, an estimate of the total costs payable in dealing with a non-complex Administration would normally be in the region of £2,000.00 to £6,000.00 plus VAT and disbursements.
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 8-14 weeks. Collecting assets then follows which can take between 4 to 6 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the estate, which normally takes 2 to 3 weeks. Again however, the time taken to deal with each estate will very much depend upon the complexities involved, on a case by case basis further information will be provided when we have had sight of the relevant documentation.
Our Complaints Procedure
We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure set out below.
Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
You can raise your concerns with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers
What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
- No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
- No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Full Complaints procedure
If you have a complaint, please contact Mr Lionel Jones at our office at 3 John Street, Llanelli, SA15 1UN or by calling us on 01554 706095.
What will happen next?
1. We will write to you within seven days acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain any details. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.
2. We will investigate your complaint by examining the relevant file and speaking to any member of staff involved.
3. If appropriate we will then invite you to meet Mr Jones to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than fourteen days after first receiving your complaint. If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, Mr Jones will write fully to you setting out their views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.
4. Within seven days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions that we have agreed with you.
5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know. We will then arrange to review our decision.
6. We will write to you within fourteen days of receiving your request for a review confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
7. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton. WV1 9WJ about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final decision on your complaint but for further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman (0300 555 0333) or refer to www.legalombudsman.org.uk)
8. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
All prices correct at October 2021