Bridger's Law

Fees

CONVEYANCING

Buying and selling residential property

We are required by the SRA to provide pricing information in relation to certain legal services to help you to shop around.  In our view, cheap isn’t good and good isn’t cheap!

How much do we charge?

You can find details of how we calculate our conveyancing charges below. For a quote specifically tailored to your case use the online quote calculator and we can give you an exact quote.

Our charges are made up of:

1. our fees for the legal work;
2. ‘disbursements’ – disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process; and
3. for property purchases, Stamp Duty Land Tax (see below).

Where VAT is referred to below, please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.

Our fees

Our fees depend upon the value of the property you are buying or selling and are listed below:

If you are buying or selling a property with a value of over £900,000 please contact us for a quote specifically tailored to your case. To give you a guide to our likely charges for such properties however, we will charge a fixed fee calculated as a percentage of the value of the property. The percentage we will charge will typically be between 0.2% and 0.25% of the value (plus VAT).

If you are buying and selling a property then a charge would be made for both the sale and the purchase.

If you are simply re-mortgaging your property then we charge a fixed fee starting at £750 excluding VAT depending on the complexity and the charges registered against the property.

If you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging a ‘leasehold’ property (rather than a ‘freehold’) then there is an additional charge of £250 excluding VAT in addition to the fees referred to above.

Please note that VAT of 20% is also charged on all of our fees for legal work.

If, at any point during the transaction, money needs to be sent by telegraphic transfer, we charge a fee of £50 excluding VAT.

If you are buying a property, we will complete the HMRC stamp duty form on your behalf and submit it at the completion of the transaction. For this we do not charge a separate fee.

The above fees assume that:

• this is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction
• If the transaction relates to a leasehold property, it is the assignment of an existing lease and is not the grant of a new lease
• the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise
• all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation
• no indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Disbursements

The ‘disbursements’ which you pay will depend upon whether you are buying or selling property or both, whether you are buying a freehold or leasehold property and the location and type of property concerned. Properties in certain locations for example need more searches and checks than others.

Normally all clients who are buying a ‘freehold’ property will need to pay the following disbursements:

• Search fees: £250 excluding VAT
• HM Land Registry fee: range from £20-£1,105 and works on a sliding scale. Here is their link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees#scale-1-fees No VAT is payable.
• Land Charges Search: £2 per search. No Vat is payable.
• Land Registry Search £3 per document registered under each title number.

Depending upon the type of property you are buying and where it is located you may also need to pay:

• Notice fees if there is a management Company. These range from £100+VAT-£350+VAT per notice. Usually there is a Notice of Transfer of ownership and a Notice of Charge so 2 notices incurring 2 fees.

When selling a property, you will ordinarily need to pay the following disbursements:

• Land Registry Office Copy Entries and Title Plan: £6 per title number

If the property is a ‘leasehold’ property then the disbursements will be different and normally consist of:

• Notice of Transfer fee – This fee if chargeable is set out in the lease. Often the fee ranges from £100+VAT to £350+VAT
• Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged) – This fee is set out in the lease. Often the fee ranges from £100+VAT to 350+VAT
• Deed of Covenant fee – This fee is provided by the management company for the property and can be difficult to estimate. Often it is between £300+VAT and £500+VAT.
• Certificate of Compliance fee – To be confirmed upon receipt of the lease, as can range between £200+VAT and £350+VAT
• Leasehold Management Pack – This fee is chargeable when selling a leasehold property. Often it is between £200+VAT and £600+VAT

If you are simply remortgaging then we do not anticipate you incurring any disbursements except for Notice, Deed of Covenant and Certificate of Compliance fees in line with the above for leasehold properties only.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

If you are buying a property you will also need to pay stamp duty land tax. The amount which you need to pay to the government depends on the price of the 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)

Other costs to consider

If you have a mortgage on the property or have incurred an estate agent’s fee, we would also typically need to pay the money owed directly to your lender and agent as needed from the sale money we receive for you.

You should also be aware that if you are purchasing a leasehold property then ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as this we receive this information.

Examples of our charges

The table below is a typical example of what charges we would make to the client selling a freehold property for £300,000.00:

Whereas the table below is a typical example of what charges we would make to a client buying a freehold property for £350,000.00 (assuming only 1 buyer):

How long will my house sale / purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted to completion will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 6 and 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 and the transaction goes smoothly it could take as little as 6 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer, between 3 and 6 months. In such, a situation additional charges would apply, which we would discuss with you at the time.

What legal work will you be doing for me/ Key stages of the process?

The precise stages involved vary according to the circumstances. However typically in a property sale we need to do the following:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Receive and advise on sale contract documents where applicable
• Carry out searches on the property you are buying where appropriate
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• Complete the transaction

In a property purchase we need to do the following:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Check finances are in place to fund purchase where applicable and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
• Receive and advise on contract documents
• Carry out searches on the property you are buying where appropriate
• Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor where applicable
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Draft Transfer
• Advise you on joint ownership
• Obtain pre-completion searches
• Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
• Complete purchase
• Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
• Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

If we are simply helping you to remortgage your property then we would generally speaking only need to:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Carry out searches on the property you are buying where appropriate
• Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you.
• Send final documents to you for signature
• Apply for mortgage advance.
• Redeem any previous mortgages
• Deal with application for registration at the Land Registry.

It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

Who will be dealing with my matter?

Your conveyancing transaction will be handled by a trusted member of our experienced conveyancing team.  The Conveyancing team consists of Solicitors, Conveyancers accredited under the Council for Licenced Conveyancers https://www.clc-uk.org/ as well as paralegals and trainee conveyancers. All staff are supervised by a qualified solicitor and/or a qualified conveyancer. Once we know who will be handling your case for you we will introduce you to them and provide you with full details of their background and qualifications.  Full details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available below.

Regardless of who is working on your case the matter will be supervised by Duane Bridger or Nicola Cross:

Duane Bridger (Director)

Duane was admitted as a solicitor in South Africa in 1996 and in England and Wales in 2005. He is the overall supervisor of all staff. Duane has about 10 years’ experience dealing with conveyancing. Duane deals with all aspects of conveyancing, as well as commercial and criminal work.

Nicola Cross

Nicky has over 30 years’ experience in residential conveyancing and was admitted as a Licensed Conveyancer in 2021 (https://www.clc-uk.org/about/).  She is the Head of Residential Conveyancing and supervises all the Conveyancing staff. Her Licence number is 2552. Nicky deals with numerous new build matters.

James Carter

James is a consultant and qualified as a solicitor in 1978 and has 46 years’ experience often dealing with complex property matters which may involve easements, covenants, and unregistered titles.

Lee Baldwin

Lee was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2022.  Lee assists Nicky in the development of the yet to be qualified staff. Lee has been dealing with conveyancing matters for 3 years.

Kylia White

Kylia is a solicitor who was admitted in 2023. Before that she was a secretary dealing with family work before deciding to qualify as a conveyancing solicitor. Kylia completed her training with us. She has 3 years’ conveyancing experience.

Non-Qualified staff

Amy Webb.

Amy has been dealing with residential conveyancing for around 9 years. Initially as a conveyancing assistant and now she is studying to become a Licenced Conveyancer and all going to plan will qualify at the end of 2024.

Olivia Taylor

Olivia worked as a paralegal in conveyancing before embarking on her studies to qualify as a Licenced Conveyancer. Olivia expects to qualify at the end of 2024. Olivia has more than 10 years’ experience within a conveyancing environment.

Stacey Mills

Stacey worked as a paralegal dealing with conveyancing and has started studying to qualify as a Licenced Conveyancer.  Stacey has more than 14 years’ experience within the conveyancing environment initially as a secretary.

Fees

Uncontested Probate

Your probate matter will be handled by Steven Hayre, who is a solicitor regulated by the SRA. He qualified in 2018 and has more than 8 years’ experience in dealing with Probate, Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney. Steven is also the supervisor.

Steven is assisted and supervised by Alanna Forwood who is a trainee solicitor,  expecting to qualify in 2024.

Timescales

As a rough estimate of what you might experience when dealing with probate (but your individual case may take more or less time) including applying for the Grant, collecting and distributing the assets.

• Our application for the grant to the Probate Registry will take approximately 8-12 weeks from receipt of full instructions on assets/liabilities, depending on whether we need to investigate the value of the Estate or prepare a tax return.
• The grant from the Probate Registry will take around 16 weeks from receipt of the application. This can increase in the event of questions being asked by the registry.
• Upon receipt of the Grant of Probate we would estimate collecting in estate assets (except for any residential or commercial property), settling liabilities and producing draft estate accounts within a 8-10 weeks. Once the executor has approved estate accounts the distributions can be made to beneficiaries.

Overall we would therefore anticipate an uncontested estate with no tax return to file to take around 38 weeks to finalise from your instructions. This is a very rough estimate just so you are aware of the main stages of Probate. Depending on the complexity of the assets or Probate in general this could take longer.

Every Probate estate will be different depending on the following factors:

• The number of assets and liabilities of the estate, and most especially property, overseas assets/liabilities and any shares;
• The time taken by the asset holders to respond to our enquiries and provide account closure forms.
• Co-operation and return of paperwork by executors and beneficiaries.
• The time taken by those to whom the estate owes a liability in dealing with requests for information on the liability and providing discharge information.
• The time taken by the Probate registry in dealing with the application for Grant of Probate and any enquiries raised by the Probate Registry.
• The time taken by HMRC in dealing with any application/calculation of Inheritance and any questions raised by the Probate Registry
• If there is a property to be sold (the Conveyancing Costs are not included in these fees and will be dealt with by a member of the Conveyancing team).

Fees

We offer a fixed fee structure when dealing with a Probate, however, the fee we offer will depend on the complexity of your case.

Fixed Fee – If we consider the Estate is relatively straightforward to deal with, for example you have provided us with the evidence of the value of the Estate, and you need us to apply for probate and no tax is applicable. Our fee would be £2,500 plus VAT.

If the Estate requires us to investigate the value in addition to the above, but no tax is payable, then our fee would be £4,000 plus VAT to apply for probate.

Where the Estate seems complicated with a variety of assets that we need to investigate and there is tax payable, then our fees would be in the region of £6,000 plus VAT to £10,000 plus VAT depending on the likely number of hours we are likely to spend working on the matter. We would still be delighted to work with you in more complicated matters but would need to give you a quotation for the work tailored to your individual circumstances. Please contact us to learn more.

In relation to administering the Estate, depending on the number of assets and whether these are stocks and shares, and preparing the Estate accounts and distributing the inheritance then our fees could vary between £2,500 to £6,000 plus VAT. This will depend on the number and nature of the assets, as well as the number of beneficiaries we are distributing to.

Where VAT is referred to please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.

Other costs to consider

Please note that the costs estimates above do not include any additional costs incurred in disposing of estate assets such as the sale or any property or business. Further, if there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there are 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 fee estimate once we have more information.

Disbursements

Disbursements are payments that we make to third parties on your behalf. These are separate payments for which the estate is liable in addition to our costs as described above.

Typical disbursements in Probate matters are:

• Probate application fee, which is currently: £300 plus £1.50 for every extra office copy of the Grant of Probate which you require;
• Bankruptcy searches (£12 inc VAT per beneficiary)
• Land registry title deeds fees:  £3 per register
• Legal notice which requires posting in The London Gazette (This is the UK’s Official Public Record and has been around for almost 400 years (this can help protect against unexpected claims from unknown creditors): £92 plus VAT;
• Post in a local newspaper – this varies according to post code. Typically it’s between £150+VAT and £300+VAT

The fees include:

• Meeting with the executor(s)
• Checking the type of Probate application you will require
• Writing to the companies, banks, pensions and anyone else that holds the deceased assets.
• Completing the Probate application
• Statutory notices if required.
• Contacting the beneficiaries
• Obtaining the Identification requirements from the beneficiaries.
• The preparation of Tax Forms and submitting them to HMRC
• Drafting a legal oath for swearing
• Payment of Inheritance Tax if liable
• Drafting of the Legal Statements
• Drafting the account closure forms
• Discussing the Legal Statements and Closure Forms with the executors.
• Obtaining the Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration in the absence of a will).
• Sending the Grant of Probate to the asset holders in order to collect the assets.
• Finalise the Estate Account
• Once the Executor has approved the Estate Accounts then the assets are distributed in accordance with the will.

It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

The above fees are not applicable where the probate is contentious.

Fees

MOTORING OFFENCES

A criminal conviction can have a serious impact on your life, your livelihood and sometimes even affect relationships.

Duane Bridger qualified as a solicitor in South Africa in 1996 where he worked as a criminal defence lawyer dealing with a range of offences before relocating to England where he qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2005. He will be the solicitor dealing with your matter although the administration may be dealt with by other members of staff.

Duane has more than 30 years’ experience in criminal defence work.

He has dealt with matters such as:

-Driving whilst unfit though drugs or alcohol

-Failure to Provide a specimen

-Speeding

-Driving without Insurance

-Driving without a License

-Driving whilst disqualified

-Dangerous driving

-Death by dangerous or Careless Driving

-Using a mobile phone.

Fees

Our fees are fixed irrespective of how long the hearing takes on the day.

Our fees start at £850+VAT for an appearance in the Magistrates’ Court.

If it’s a trial in the Magistrates Court then the fees start from 1,500+VAT per day up to £2,000+VAT per day depending on the allegation and the complexity.

Our fees in the Crown Court are £1,500+VAT per appearance unless it’s a trial which costs between £2,500-£3,000 +VAT per day depending on the allegation and the complexity.

Please do contact us for a quote tailored to your case and individual circumstances.

Where VAT is referred to please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.

The fees include:

-Analysing the evidence provided by the Crown

-Going through the evidence with you

-Advising you as to the strengths and weaknesses of the Crown’s case

-Explaining the Court Procedure to you.

-Advising you as to the sentencing if convicted or pleading guilty.

-Advising whether an Expert may be required to challenge the Crown’s expert or to support your defence.

-Advising on time limits for Summary Only matters

– Instructing a barrister to attend court with you

– Helping you understand the outcome of the case and your options for appeal if appropriate (appeal costs are separate).

The fees do not include:

-Instructing an expert

-The expert’s fees

-The fees of an interpreter for consultations in the office or in prison

-Travel costs (45p per mile)

-Travel time (£200+VAT per hour)

-Meeting with witnesses and taking their statements

-Advising you on appeal

-Costs should you wish to appeal the conviction and/or sentence.

-Advice on special reasoning or exceptional hardship.

-Bail applications which are charged separately. If such additional work is required, we will discuss the additional fees with you at the time.  Alternatively, please contact us to discuss your particular case and the likely costs.

The costs set out above also do not include any fines or costs you become liable for should you be convicted or plead guilty to the alleged offence.

It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

Disbursements

Disbursements are payments that we make to third parties on your behalf. These are separate payments for which you are liable in addition to our costs as described above.

Typical disbursements in motoring offence cases are:

• instructing an expert: Experts fees range from around £800+VAT-£5,000+VAT depending on exactly what they are instructed to challenge such as the blood analysis, or perhaps the reconstruction of a road traffic collision.
• An expert will also charge a fee for attending court. Their fees vary from around £1,000+VAT to £2,500+VAT? per day.
• Counsel’s fees vary from around £1,000 per day for a magistrates court trial and £2,000+VAT for a Crown Court trial.
• There are usually court appearances before the trial is listed and Counsels fees for these appearances range from £500+VAT per appearance in the Magistrates Court and £1,00+VAT per appearance in the Crown Court
• Travel expenses and time taken to attend court hearings (charged at £200+VAT per hour and 45p per mile)

Key stages and timescales:

Before charge

This will be when you are arrested. We are able to assist you at the Police Station should you need to be interviewed. Our fees are £750+VAT per police station attendance. Generally for driving whilst unfit through drugs or alcohol you are not interviewed and are required to provide a specimen before being released.

For any other offences it is vital that you are assisted by a qualified representative as this lays the groundwork for your defence or perhaps writing to the Crown challenging the evidence before you are required to attend court.

Following Charge

You will either be bailed to attend court on a specific day or if remanded in custody be produced at court the next working day.

You will be expected to enter your plea.

Guilty Plea

If you pleaded guilty then the court may:

-Sentence you there and then

-Adjourn the matter for a probation report.

This depends on the seriousness of the offence, any prior convictions, and any aggravating features of the offence.

How long it will take before the matter is heard at court if adjourned depends on the availability of the court and may be several weeks. The matter may also be committed to the Crown court for sentencing.

Not Guilty Plea

The matter will be adjourned for trial in either the Magistrates’ or Crown Court.  The date will be determined by the Court and may be several months later.

If the matter is to be heard in the Crown Court, then you will appear before a judge in the Crown Court who will confirm your plea. The Court will set a timeline for both the Crown and us to ensure that the matter is prepared for trial. The date will be determined by the Court and may be several months later.