The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill: What this means for you
Written by: Marnie Thomas, Solicitor in the Corporate and Commercial team based in Poole It’s…
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The overall cost will depend on the type of transaction and will include some or all of the following:
The total cost on a purchase of a freehold property can vary from approximately £1,450 for a low value property where no Stamp Duty Land Tax is payable to approximately £47,500 to a high value property.
Our fees are charged on the basis of our hourly rate i.e. depending on how much time we have to spend on the transaction. We will give you an estimate at the outset of the likely cost and inform you as matters progress if that estimate is likely to be exceeded.
The hourly rates will depend on the qualification and experience of the person acting on your behalf. The rates vary from £150 + VAT for a junior paralegal to £250 +VAT for a Partner. At the outset we will inform you of the hourly rate of the person/s handling your transaction.
Certain transactions involve additional work e.g. transactions involving flats and mortgages. We will include an element for this additional work in our estimate.
In addition to our fees, other charges may be payable to someone else on your behalf (disbursements) depending on the type of transaction involved. The likely costs are as follows: –
This is a complex area and the amount of tax payable will depend on a number of factors including whether you are a first-time buyer or you or anyone connected with you, will own another property on completion of your purchase. We are not tax specialists and in any transaction other than an apparently straightforward purchase we may advise you to seek advice from a specialist accountant. We will advise you of the likely cost of this if required. Further information can be obtained from the government website – www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax
The cost of preparing the SDLT return is not included in our estimate for acting in the purchase and in the case of straightforward returns we will charge a fee of £75+ VAT for this work. More complex returns will be charged at the hourly rate of the person doing the work.
It may be necessary for you to take out a single premium indemnity policy to cover a defect in the title of the property or where planning or building regulation issues are unresolved. Depending on the level of cover required the cost can range between £50 and £500 in normal cases. We will let you have an exact figure in advance of any policy being taken out.
In addition to the charges which apply to a freehold purchase the following additional charges may apply:
The following actions are included in the various transactions listed below:
The same actions apply as for the purchase of a freehold property but the following additional work may be required:
The same actions apply as for the sale of a freehold property but the following additional steps may be required:
Residential sales and purchasesKey Stages
The purchase/sale of a residential property generally falls into two stages.
When you make an offer to buy or sell a property, at that point the transaction is not legally binding. You are not legally bound to the purchase/sale until contracts have been signed and exchanged.
The time between an offer being made and contracts being exchanged can vary enormously depending on a large number of circumstances. However for most transactions the likely time between offer and exchange is 14 to 18 weeks.
Once contracts have been exchanged you are legally committed to the sale/purchase and there are severe penalties if you fail to complete the transaction. On exchange contracts both sides will agree a completion date i.e. when the seller will move out of the property and the purchaser can move in. That date will be legally binding.
It is up to the parties how much time they want between exchange and completion. We would advise a minimum of two weeks in order to arrange removals and allow time for all the necessary arrangements to be put in place.
Factors which will affect how long the transaction will take:
Mortgages and Remortgages
As there are no other parties involved in the transaction apart from the borrower, new lender and any existing lender, in the absence of any difficulties with the title to the property or absence of Planning or Building Regulation consents, we would normally expect a mortgage/remortgage to be completed within four weeks.
A property transaction will generally involve various members of our Property Department. Details of our teams, their experience and qualifications Can be found on our website under the section marked “HK People”We will inform you in writing at the outset of your transaction who will be the main person responsible for your transaction and who will be their supervisor, together with details of any support staff.
The supervisors for our various offices are as follows: –
• A simple case may incur fees of around: £3,000- £5,000 (excluding VAT)
• A medium complexity case may incur fees of around: £5,000 – £10,000 (excluding VAT)
• A high complexity case may incur fees of around: £10,000 – £30,000 (excluding VAT)
The majority of our employment tribunal work is charged on the basis of our hourly rate i.e. depending on how much time we have to spend on the matter. We will give you an estimate at the outset of the likely cost and inform you as matters progress if that estimate is likely to be exceeded. The fees will depend on the complexity of the case.
The hourly rates will depend on the qualification and experience of the person acting on your behalf. The rates vary from £160 for a junior paralegal to £280 for a Partner. At the outset we will inform you of the hourly rate of the person/s handling your transaction.
We may be able to offer a fixed fee for some matters at the discretion of the Partner in charge.
In addition to our fees other charges may be payable to a third party on your behalf (disbursements) such as Counsel’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. The likely costs are as follows: –
The fees set out above cover the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fees may be lower. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.
We offer two separate services, Grant of Representation only and Full Administration.
This is a fixed cost service where we would expect you to provide all the information required. We would then prepare the relevant Inheritance Tax (IHT) paperwork and the relevant Oath for the personal representatives to sign.We would then submit the forms to HM Revenue and Customs IHT department and the Probate Registry as appropriate. When the Grant of Representation (Grant) is received we will forward the Grant (and any copies) to you to administer the estate yourself.
The fixed cost will depend on the nature of IHT return required and whether IHT is payable. This is set out in the table below:
Grant only with no IHT to pay and only IHT205 to complete | | £1,200 + VAT | | £1,440 inc VAT @ 20% |
Grant with no IHT to pay and IHT400 to complete | | £1,800 + VAT | | £2,160 inc VAT @ 20% |
Grant with IHT payable and IHT400 to complete | | £2,500 + VAT | | £2,640 inc VAT @ 20% |
Timescales (Grant of Representation only)The timescale for obtaining the grant of representation will depend on whether an IHT application will need to be sent to HMRC first or whether it can be sent to the probate registry along with the application for the grant. We can only commence work when you have provided us with all the information required.If the application needs to be sent to HMRC first then obtaining the grant of representation will typically take 8 – 12 weeks.
If the application does not need to be sent to HMRC first then obtaining the grant of representation will typically take 6 – 8 weeks.
We will carry out the following:
Our charges for a full service estate administration service will be between 2% and 3% of the gross value of the Estate as calculated as at the date of death. The cost will depend on the circumstances of the case and the amount of work required, as well as the hourly rate of the person carrying out a particular item of work. At the outset we will inform you of the hourly rate of the person/s acting on your behalf.The rates vary from £140.00 +VAT for a junior paralegal to £300.00 + VAT for a Partner.
If the estate consists only of a bank account and one beneficiary then our charges will be at the lower end. If there are a number of beneficiaries, several properties and a number of individual holdings of stocks and shares then our charges will be at the higher end.
Our charges are calculated upon the amount of time spent on the matter and the value of the Estate, plus any disbursements incurred on your behalf.
Where the partners in Humphries Kirk do not act as personal representatives, the value element will be 1% of the gross value of the Estate as calculated as at the date of death, excluding the value of the main residence, where the rate will be ½ % of the gross value as calculated as at the date of death.
Where the partners in Humphries Kirk do act as personal representatives, the value element will be 1.5% of the gross value of the Estate as calculated as at the date of death, excluding the value of the main residence, where the rate will be ¾ % of the gross value as calculated as at the date of death.
VAT is payable on both the time and value charges.
Disbursements (fixed costs and full service)Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. In addition to the costs above, the following disbursements will be payable:
Taxes (fixed costs and full service)
You may need to pay taxes in the administration of the estate in addition to the payment of our fees. A non-exhaustive list is set out below:
The Administration of an Estate generally falls into two stages:
Timescales (full service)
Timescales for full estate administration can vary widely. The grant of representation is typically obtain in 12 to 18 weeks. The full administration of the estate is likely to take between 9 and 12 months.
There are a number of factors which can prolong and increase the cost of administering an estate, including but not limited to:
Obtaining a Grant and the subsequent administration of an Estate will generally involve various members of our Private Client Department. Details of our teams, their experience and qualifications can be found on our website under the section marked “HK People” We will inform you in writing at the outset who will be the person primarily responsible for acting on your behalf and who will be their supervisor, together with details of any support staff.
The supervisor for our various offices is as follows:
Laura Staples – Head of the Private Client Department
The majority of our debt collection work is charged on the basis of our hourly rate i.e. depending on how much time we have spent on the transaction. We will give you an estimate at the outset of the likely cost and inform you as matters progress if that estimate is likely to be exceeded.
The hourly rates will depend on the qualification and experience of the person acting on your behalf. The rates vary from £140 for a junior paralegal to £250 for a partner. At the outset, we will inform you of the hourly rate of the person(s) handling your transaction.
In addition to our fees, other charges may be payable to someone else on your behalf (disbursements) depending on the type of transaction involved. These can be Court fees which can range from £35 for a claim up to £300 in value up to a maximum of £10,000. More information is available on the Government website (HM Courts And Tribunals Service Civil And Family Court Fees (EX50)).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. The Court fees payable to enforce a debt depend on what method of enforcement you use. However, to issue an application for a debtor to attend Court to provide information costs £55. To issue a warrant can cost between £33 and £121 depending on the type of warrant issued. If writs are issued in the High Court, the cost is higher. Further information is available from the Government website.
As set out above, we will charge based on the amount of time we spend on your matter and fees will include work done on taking instructions, giving you advice, considering any documentation provided by you or obtained from the other side, advising you in relation to any response received from the other side and advising you in relation to enforcement of any judgment obtained.
We do not include costs we have to pay third parties (disbursements) as set out above or VAT.
A debt claim will generally involve various members of our Civil Litigation Department. Details of our members, their experience and qualifications can be found on our website under the section marked ‘HK People’.We will inform you in writing at the outset of your transaction who will be the main person responsible for your transaction and who will be their supervisor, together with any details of support staff.
The supervisor for our Dorchester Office is Victoria Pearson (Partner).
When we have completed our work for you on a particular matter, your file will normally be placed in storage (archive) and please note that there will be a file retrieval fee as follows:
Our current charge for the retrieval of files from storage and for producing paper copies of electronic documents from a closed ‘paperlite’ file is £50.00 plus VAT. Please note that this charge may be updated from time to time and the charge shown on this website will be the current one.
Written by: Marnie Thomas, Solicitor in the Corporate and Commercial team based in Poole It’s…
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