Price Transparency

Price Transparency

At Liverpool Legal, we believe in providing clear, straightforward advice. That principle extends to how we charge for our services and we are very proud of our ‘no hidden charges’ promise meaning the price we quote is the price you pay. Please see each of our individual funding pages for details of how you can fund legal fees in your matter.

We have provided below some examples of the range of fees we charge for some types of work. This will give you an idea how much your matter will cost to bring, although you should contact your solicitor for more information about the precise circumstances of your case.

Residential Conveyancing

The table below tells you how much our fees will be for your transaction.

SALE

PURCHASE

Any leasehold sale or purchase of a flat, add a further £300 plus v.a.t. to the quoted cost.

Disbursements and timescales

In addition there will be additional charges called disbursements such as land registry fees which vary depending on the type of conveyancing (sale or purchase) and purchase price but can be up to £1,105 for the most expensive property applications.

These disbursements include certain property searches which we may need to make in your case. The cost for obtaining a combined local search report and drainage search report for residential property can be obtained from our search providers for £133.50. Additional searches may be required depending on the location of the property (i.e. chancel search or flood search reports etc.).

On residential sale matters it is necessary to provide official copies of the register of title and title plan (£14) additional official copies of other documents on the register of title may need to be obtained at the cost of £7 per copy.

If the property is leasehold there may be additional fees payable to the freeholder such as notice of transfer fees which will vary dependent on the freeholder.

Please speak to your solicitor for specific details of the disbursements which apply to your transaction.

The time it takes to complete your house sale or purchase will depend on the complexity of your transaction, if there is a lengthy chain or if any unusual features arise. However as a rough guide you would usually expect a straightforward purchase or sale to be completed in 8 to 12 weeks from receipt of contract from the seller’s solicitor.

SDLT

Further, you usually pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on increasing portions of the property price when you buy residential property, for example a house or flat. SDLT only applies to properties over a certain value.

The amount you pay depends on:

• when you bought the property
• how much you paid for it

You must send an SDLT return if you pay more than £40,000 for a property – even if there’s no SDLT due. There is an official SDLT calculator which will tell you how much stamp duty is likely to be. That is available at:

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

There are some exemptions to SDLT which are detailed below:

Rates for a single property

You pay stamp duty land tax (SDLT) at these rates if, after buying the property, it is the only residential property you own. You usually pay 5% on top of these rates if you own another residential property.

You can also use this table to work out the SDLT for the purchase price of a lease (the ‘lease premium’).

Rates from 1st April 2025

You may be eligible for relief or discount if you and anyone else you’re buying with are first-time buyers.

Discount from 1st April 2025:

You’ll pay no SDLT up to £300,000 and 5% SDLT on the portion from £301,000 to £500,000. If the price is over £500,000 you cannot claim the relief.

If you bought your first home between 8 July 2020 and 1 July 2021, do not apply the discount. You have no stamp duty to pay if the price was under £500,000.

If the price is over £500,000, you cannot claim the relief. Follow the rules for people who’ve bought a home before.

New leasehold sales and transfers

When you buy a new residential leasehold property you pay SDLT on the purchase price of the lease (the ‘lease premium’) using the rates above.

You can work out how much SDLT you’ll pay for your new residential lease using HMRC’s:

1. SDLT calculator
2. Guidance on leasehold purchases
3. Higher rates for additional properties

You’ll usually have to pay 5% on top of SDLT rates if buying a new residential property means you’ll own more than one. You may not have to pay the higher rates if you exchanged contracts before 26 November 2015.

If you’re replacing your main residence you will not pay the extra 5% SDLT if the property you’re buying is replacing your main residence and that has already been sold.

If you have not sold your main residence on the day you complete your new purchase you’ll have to pay higher rates. This is because you own 2 properties.

Rates if you’re not a UK resident

If you’re not present in the UK for at least 183 days (6 months) during the 12 months before your purchase you are ‘not a UK resident’ for the purposes of SDLT.

You’ll usually pay a 2% surcharge if you’re buying a residential property in England or Northern Ireland.

If you have to pay the surcharge, you’ll also have to pay any other rates of SDLT that apply, for example:

• If you already own a property and you’re buying an additional property
• If you’re a first-time buyer

Special rates

There are different SDLT rules and rate calculations for:

• Corporate bodies
• People buying 6 or more residential properties in one transaction
• Shared ownership properties
• Multiple purchases or transfers between the same buyer and seller (‘linked purchases’)
• Purchases that mean you own more than one property
• Companies and trusts buying residential property

Contact us if you need further information on SDLT.

Probate

We can assist you obtaining a Grant of Probate or dealing with the Administration of an Estate. The costs for each option are explained below.

Grant of Probate Application

We offer a fixed fee to apply on behalf for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration if there is no will. This quote includes all necessary work done for the purposes of that application.

The cost depends upon the valuation of the estate and, consequently, whether it is liable to inheritance tax. For estates valued at up to £325,000 we change one fixed fee of £900+vat. For estates valued over £325,000 we charge one fixed fee of £1,450+vat.

There will also be some expenses you will need to pay in addition to these fees. These are called disbursements and include:

• £300 Probate Registry application fee
• Certified copies of the grant at £1.50 each
• Approximately £400 for all relevant Trustee Act Notices

It usually takes about 4 months to get the Grant of Probate but it really depends on how busy the Probate Registry is when your grant application is made and can be considerably longer.

Administration of an Estate

If you require assistance with the administration of an estate our solicitors can help. This work is charged on the basis of an hourly rate which varies depending on the complexity of the estate and the level of experience of lawyer doing the work.

Our rates vary from £175 and £350 per hour plus vat. We charge in units of 6 minutes, so each hour is made up of 10 units and our charges are based upon the time spent.

As a rough guide to the type of costs involved:

• A straightforward estate not liable to inheritance tax with a small number of beneficiaries and no property will likely take between 20-30 hours to resolve and cost between £3,500+vat at the bottom end and £10,500+vat at the top end.
• A more complicated estate liable to inheritance tax with many beneficiaries, some property, foreign or business assets and several investments, shares or bank accounts will likely take between 40-60 hours to resolve and cost between £7,000+vat at the bottom end to £21,000+vat at the top end.

A more accurate estimate can always be obtained by discussing matters with your solicitor especially if you have documents setting out the value of any assets and liabilities to hand.

These typical costs include estates where there is a will and where there is no dispute between beneficiaries or challenge to the will or distribution. Such challenges would be covered by our civil litigation department.

There will also be some expenses you will need to pay in addition to these fees. These are called disbursements and include:

• £300 fee to the Probate Registry for the Grant of Probate
• £1.50 per certified copy of the Grant – you may need several of these
• £3 for office copies of the property title from Land Registry
• £2 for each beneficiary to complete bankruptcy searches
• Approximately £400 for all relevant Trustee Act Notices
• Valuation fees if appropriate for certain assets such as paintings or jewellery
• Expert accountancy fees where appropriate

The time taken to complete an administration of an estate will vary depending on complexity and assets. Often the work will be completed in around 12-18 months, including the time taken to obtain a grant of probate but in some instances may be longer.

LPAs

Our prices for drafting a lasting power of attorney for you also include our ‘no hidden costs’ promise. This means the price you see quoted is the price you pay. Other firms often exclude or charge separately for additional services when drafting a lasting power of attorney such as assessing capacity and home visits meaning you could end up paying much more than the initial quote appears. Our fixed fees include all work and, if necessary, a home visit in the Merseyside, and Cheshire regions.

Our fixed fees for drafting a lasting power of attorney are as follows:

• £400+vat for one of the health and welfare or property and affairs LPAs and £700+vat for both LPAs in an individual
• £1,250+vat for both LPAs for a couple

Disbursements and timescales

The only disbursements for our LPAs service are mileage rates at the HMRC rate of 45p per mile in the event a home visit is required and fees of the Office of Public Guardian to register the instrument of £82 per LPA. This means if a couple were to wish to register health and welfare and property and affairs LPAs for each of them, the total disbursement cost would be £328.

Timescales to complete a will vary from a few days to a few weeks.

Drafting a Will

Our prices for drafting a will also include our ‘no hidden costs’ promise. This means the price you see quoted is the price you pay. Other firms often exclude or charge separately for additional services when drafting a will such as assessing testamentary capacity, home visits, dealing with certain trusts, properties or high value assets and issues with severance of life interests meaning you could end up paying much more than the initial quote appears. Our fixed fees include all work and, if necessary, a home visit in the Merseyside and Cheshire.

Our fixed fees for different types of will are as follows:

• £200+vat for a simple will and £350+vat for a mirror will
• £400+vat individual for a life interest will concerning the family home and £600+vat for a mirror life interest will concerning the family home
• £500+vat for a life interest will concerning the whole estate and £650+vat for a mirror life interest will concerning the whole estate

Disbursements and timescales

The only disbursements for our will writing service are mileage rates at the HMRC rate of 45p per mile in the event a home visit is required and, should the same be necessary on account of complex tax affairs, fees of any necessary advisor such as an accountant or counsel.

Timescales to complete a will vary from a few days to a few weeks.

Creating a Trust

Our prices for drafting a trust instrument for you also include our ‘no hidden costs’ promise. This means the price you see quoted is the price you pay. Other firms often exclude or charge separately for additional services when drafting a trust such as assessing capacity, home visits, issues with severance of certain interests meaning you could end up paying much more than the initial quote appears. Our fixed fees include all work and, if necessary, a home visit in the Merseyside and Cheshire regions.

Our fixed fees for the most common types of trust we deal with are as follows:

• £700+vat for a discretionary trust and £900+vat for a mirror discretionary trust
• £750+vat for a special needs personal injury trust

Disbursements and timescales

The only disbursements for our trusts service are mileage rates at the HMRC rate of 45p per mile in the event a home visit is required and, should the same be necessary on account of complex tax affairs, fees of any necessary advisor such as an accountant or counsel.

Timescales to complete a will vary from a few days to a few weeks.

Employment Law – Unfair Dismissal Claims

We can act in unfair dismissal claims on behalf of employer or employee. Sometimes, if we act for an employee, we can do so on a contingency fee basis, which means there will be no charges if the claim fails and charges will be set at a percentage of compensation recovered if the claim succeeds. There would be a range of charges depending on the level of risk in each case, but usually they would be in the region of 33% including Vat.

If we are unable to act for you on a conditional fee basis we would usually work on an hourly rate or fixed fee basis. Our rates vary from £150 and £300 per hour plus Vat. We charge in units of 6 minutes, so each hour is made up of 10 units and our charges are based upon the time spent.

Typical fees for this work would include:

• Straightforward case lasting no more than 1 day in a tribunal – £3,500 – £6,500+Vat
• Complicated case expected to last more than 1 day in a tribunal –  £7,000 – £15,000+Vat

You should ask your solicitor for a more detailed estimate as the cost may vary from case to case. We may be able to provide an estimate for each stage of the litigation, once we know what is involved and arrange a staged or fixed fee payment scheme.

Included in any estimate we provide will be all legal work necessary to take your claim to the tribunal or defend it at tribunal (but not including any advocacy for which we make a separate charge if we undertake it or counsel will make a charge if counsel undertakes it) unless there have been allegations of discrimination, in which case you should contact us for a specific quote.

There will also be some expenses you will need to pay in addition to these fees. These are called disbursements and include barrister’s fees. A barrister may be instructed to undertake certain pieces of work in your case such as settle an advice or a complicated document. These fees will be paid in addition to our legal fees. A barrister’s fees for attending any hearing at tribunal will vary depending on the experience of the barrister but will likely be between £1,250 and £3,500 per day+vat.

How long an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim takes will depend on when your case is settled. If you settle during the ACAS Early Conciliation process, it will take around 3 to 4 months.

If your claim goes all the way to a tribunal hearing at which your case is determined, it will take around 9 to 12 months on average but complicated cases may take longer.

Settlement Agreements

We can act for employer or employee in circumstances where the employment relationship has become untenable and an employer proposes to come to terms with an employee for their exit from the business. Our charges for undertaking such work would range from £750+vat to £1,250+vat in most cases. If you are an employee, you are entitled to ask for a contribution to these charges from your employer, but you would remain responsible for any balance.

When the terms of an employee’s exit are negotiated, usually the matter would be resolved swiftly for the benefit of all parties. Timescales are often a matter of days to a few weeks.

Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence

Legal Fees

We accept most new instructions to act in personal injury and clinical negligence claims on a conditional fee basis. A Conditional Fee Agreement has very low financial risk to you. This is because you are not required to make any payment up front regardless of the outcome of the case. Providing you act in accordance with our advice and are not found to be fundamentally dishonest by a judge, it is only if your case wins that a payment is made. The payment is usually made as a deduction from your compensation. If you lose your case you will not have to pay for solicitors fees. We take this risk on your behalf.    

If we win your case we charge a success fee and any shortfall in legal costs between what has been incurred and what we receive from the other side. The amount we receive from the other side is now fixed unless the case is valued at over £100,000. Details of the fixed amounts we will receive from the other side are set out here: PRACTICE DIRECTION 45 – TABLES OF FIXED COSTS (2023) (justice.gov.uk)

The success fee is charged based upon our assessment of the risks in your case and the value of our work in progress calculated by reference to the amount of time spent on your matter. It is capped at 25% of the past loss and value of your injuries and we also cap the total of the success fee and any shortfall in cost recovery at 25% of your overall damages. The amount charged may be lower than that depending upon the individual circumstances and risk factors in your case. 

Our hourly rates vary from £175 and £350 per hour plus Vat dependent upon the level of experience and qualifications of the person acting or undertaking work in your case. We charge in units of 6 minutes, so each hour is made up of 10 units and our charges are based upon the time spent.

The value of time we incur in your matter can vary enormously from a few hundred pounds in a straightforward matter where liability is admitted to in excess of £100,000 for catastrophic injury cases worth over £1,000,000 which may take several years to conclude.

Disbursements and timescales

We will incur expenses in your case called disbursements. These are usually fees of external parties for services provided on your behalf in the course of your claim. They include things like barrister’s fees, medical or other expert fees, court fees, interpreter fees, fees of agents for photographs or fees of the police for the production of reports in road traffic accident cases.

The fees vary considerably depending upon the level of material to review and expertise of the person producing the work. Expert fees can vary from £180 up to several thousands of pounds for one report. Court fees usually vary from £455 to £10,000 for issuance of court proceedings. We will discharge these disbursements for you and seek to recover the fees for them from the other side upon conclusion of the proceedings, providing you agree with our advice to obtain after the event insurance. Where you do not wish to obtain after the event insurance, or where you do not accept the advice of one expert and wish to instruct an alternate expert, we will seek funds on account of such disbursements from you in advance.

The timescales for completion of personal injury and clinical negligence cases again varies depending upon the nature of the case. A straightforward case where liability is admitted at the outset and a single medical report obtained before the claim is settled may take 3-4 months to conclude. A catastrophic injury case which is defended and requires multiple disciplines of expert evidence to conclude may take in the region of 4-5 years.

Family and Relationship Law

We understand that legal fees can be a concern, especially when going through difficult times. We are flexible in our approach to payment and are happy to discuss suitable payment arrangements for you. Where there are assets to be divided as part of the proceedings, we may be able to offer deferred payment terms to the conclusion of the proceedings. 

Legal Fees

Fixed Fee 

On some matters we have fixed fee options available. Please see below for typical examples of our divorce and civil partnership dissolution fixed fee packages. In other instances, the firm will assess your situation and provide you with a fixed fee to assist with your case. This arrangement gives you a level of cost certainty. In some circumstances we are able to do this in stages of your case giving you more flexibility. 

Fixed fee divorce packages 

We offer fixed fee packages for clients who wish to petition for divorce and also for clients who have been served with divorce papers or are aware that they are likely to be in the future. 

• We provide an initial interview to provide general advice, advice as to the procedure and to answer any questions that you may have for £100 plus VAT. 
• If you are the petitioner in divorce proceedings and your proceedings are to proceed undefended, we charge £500 plus VAT and disbursements.
• If you are the respondent in divorce proceedings and the proceedings are undefended, we charge £350 plus VAT for dealing with your divorce. 

Fixed fees civil partnership packages 

We offer fixed fee packages for clients who wish to petition for civil partnership dissolution proceedings and also for clients who have been served with civil partnership dissolution papers or are aware that they are likely to be in the future. 

• We charge £100 plus VAT for initial advice
• If you are the petitioner in the civil partnership dissolution proceedings and your petition is to proceed undefended we charge £500 plus VAT and disbursements for dealing with your civil partnership dissolution.
• If you are the respondent in civil partnership dissolution we charge £350 plus VAT for dealing with your civil partnership dissolution. 

Agreed Hourly Rate 

The firm will assess your case and provide a fully flexible option on an hour by hour basis. You will be given information about the likely overall cost of your matter and you will be updated as to these costs as the matter progresses. Our hourly rates vary from £125 and £218 per hour plus Vat dependent upon the level of experience and qualifications of the person acting or undertaking work in your case. We charge in units of 6 minutes, so each hour is made up of 10 units and our charges are based upon the time spent.

Disbursements and timescales

We will incur expenses in your case called disbursements. These are usually fees of external parties for services provided on your behalf in the course of your claim. They include things like barrister’s fees, medical or other expert fees, court fees, interpreter fees, fees of agents or others for the production of reports in appropriate cases.

The fees vary considerably depending upon the level of material to review and expertise of the person producing the work. Expert fees can vary from a few hundred pounds up to several thousands of pounds for one report. Court fees usually vary from £232 to £2,215 for issuance of court proceedings dependent upon the type of proceedings being issued. We will seek funds on account of such disbursements from you in advance unless we agree with you otherwise. In a financial remedy cases, barristers fees can be between £1,500 plus vat for the first hearing and up to £10,000 plus vat in total if the cases run to final hearing. In children cases, barrister’s fees are around £750 per hearing plus vat for administrative hearings and assessed on an individual basis for final hearings.

The timescales for completion of family and relationships cases again varies depending upon the nature of the case. If you wish to pay a fixed fee for advice the matter will be completed the same day as your appointment. A straightforward divorce where all matters are agreed would take in the region of 7-8 months. A case requiring a consent order to be drafted in financial proceedings when a conditional order has already been pronounced may take around 3 months to conclude. A contested case after proceedings are instigated and requiring a financial remedy order may take a year to conclude. Some complex cases can take 2-3 years to resolve.

Children Act proceedings can be resolved within 6 months in some instances. Heavily contested matters can take over a year and some cases even longer. Each case will be advised upon separately.