We aim to deliver a professional service which achieves your aims whilst being transparent about our pricing structure.

Our focus is on providing excellent value for money whilst providing a personal touch to our service.

Funding Options

There are a number of ways to fund our services and we will aim to provide a funding package for you which is suitable for particular circumstances. We are not obliged to offer any particular method of funding and some methods of funding may only be available in cases where we assess that the case is suitable for both you and us.

Typically, the funding options we can consider are:

Fixed Fee

We may agree to charge you a fixed fee for a particular matter, or part of a matter. Our charge will not be relevant to the time we spend on the matter albeit an estimate of the likely time we spend on a matter will be used as the basis for setting the fee.

We may set a number of fixed fees relevant to a matter to fix a fee for a particular matter in the transaction or dispute. By way of example, we may agree a fixed fee to review your prospects of success and provide an advice on this.

Typically, many of our services offered for Wills, Probate and Estate Planning are on a fixed fee basis as explained below.

Private Retainer

You will pay us for our charges based on an hourly rate set in our retainer. We will provide you with an estimate of fees from time to time but our charges will be based on the amount of time we spend on your matter.

Our standard hourly rates are dependent on the qualification and experience of the fee earner dealing with the matter.

Grade of fee earner	Hourely rate
Grade A Any Solicitor of Legal Executive with over 8 years PQE. Grade a will include Directory	£225 per hour plus VAT
Grade B Any Solicitor or Legal Executive with more than 4 year’s PQE but less than 8 year’s PQE. Any other fee earner with more than 4 years experience.	£200 per hour plus VAT
Grade C Any Solicitor or Legal Executive with less than 4 years PQE. Any other fee earner with more than 1 year but less than 4 years experience. Trainee Solicitors shall be regarded as Grade C if they have more than 2 years experience prior to commencement of the training contract.	£175 per hour plus VAT
Grade D Any Trainee Solicitor or other fee earner with less than 1 year’s experience.	£135 per hour plus VAT

 

An estimate of our charges on a Private Retainer are detailed below.

Estimate of Fees

We have provided two examples of fees below based on different styles of funding.

Fixed Fee

Most of our services are provided on a Fixed Fee basis and our Fixed Fees are detailed below. In some circumstances, where your estate planning is particularly complex or high value, it may be more appropriate to instruct us on a private retainer.

Our standard fees are:

Services – wills & probate	£(+VAT)
Single Standard Will	£150.00
Mirror Wills (Standard)	£250.00
Single Standard Codicil	£80.00
Mirror Codicils (Standard)	£150.00
Cost for inclusion of Trusts in Wills will be advised at the meeting on a fixed fee basis.
Powers of Attorney
General Power of Attorney	£100.00
Single Lasting Power of Attorney with certificate ONLY (No registration)	£300.00
Single Lasting Power of Attorney with certificate and registration fee	£500.00 (+ reg fee)
Two Lasting Powers of Attorney with certificate and registration	£700.00 (+ reg fee)
Four Lasting Powers of Attorney with certificate and registration	£ 1,000 (+ reg fee)
Registration of an Enduring Power of Attorney	£300.00 (+ reg fee)
Registration of a Lasting Power of Attorney ONLY	£300.00 (+ reg fee)
Provision of a certificate ONLY	£150.00
Court of Protection Applications
(Costs to be advised during consultation)
Probate	Description
Application for Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration	£500.00-800.00 (+ Probate court fees)
Deed of Variation	£250.00-400.00
Full administration of the estate with Grant	Fixed fee to be advised at meeting
Full administration of the estate without Grant	Fixed fee to be advised at meeting

 

Private Retainer

The extent of our fees will be dependent upon the amount of time we spend on your case and the level of the fee earner who has conduct of the matter. We will allocate a fee earner of a suitable level to your case. So for example, more complex cases will ordinarily be dealt with by more senior staff.

By way of example if a case is dealt with by our Head of Department, Charlotte Bandawe, her hourly rate is £225 per hour plus VAT. If we spent 10 hours working on your file, our fees would therefore equate to £2,250 plus VAT.

How long will my matter take?

The length of time of your matter will depend on what steps you instruct us to take. We normally aim to draft your Will within 2-3 weeks of instruction. If we are instructed to draft a Lasting Powers of Attorney this will also be prepared within 2-3 weeks of instruction but can take up to 3 months to register.

More complex work such as the preparation of Trusts and Probate matters will depend on a number of factors including the availability of information, documentation and your instructions.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you would like to enquire about any of our Wills and Probate services, call us now on 0113 200 9787 or email us at enquiries@oakwoodsolicitors.co.uk.