Trusted Legal Advice With You In Mind, Every Step Of The Way
Solicitors based in London, serving clients across England — from residential conveyancing and probate to clear, cost-effective advice when deadlines matter most.
Navigating legal matters can be daunting, but we're here to simplify the process. Our lawyers deliver practical, cost-effective advice in clear language — so you always know where you stand.
Please contact us for your individual quotation and we shall have this prepared and either emailed or posted to you according to your preference. Each property transaction is different and may be subject to unforeseen circumstances but we will always try to give you the best estimate possible at the beginning of your transaction with no hidden or extra fees. The fees set out below are a general guide and where VAT is applicable, we have highlight "plus VAT" which is calculated at the current rate of 20%. Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (stamp duty), the amount payable depends on the buyers’ status under the new rules and the purchase price of the property. In order to assist you when budgeting for your residential property transaction, please use these guidelines on our prices. It is difficult to estimate how long your transaction will take but we will do our best to work within your preferred timescales. A number of factors will affect the costs of our services which could include but are not limited to: Whether freehold or leasehold Whether a new build Whether first registration of title (unregistered land) Whether a mortgage or not Whether a shared ownership scheme Whether using a help to buy scheme Whether purchase under right to buy Whether purchase at auction Whether property has been repossessed Whether indemnity insurance is required to cure title defects Freehold Purchase Costs will vary between £1250 plus VAT and £1850 plus VAT (20%) and disbursements depending on the purchase price of the property up to £1,000,000. The following disbursements will also be charged:- Search fees – in the region of £200 – £300 depending on local authority fees, includes additional searches for drainage, environmental and plan search which we always recommend. HM Land Registry fee is based on the value of the property. As we are electronically linked to the Land Registry and submit registrations online, the fee is 50% of the normal fee. Bank transfer fees – £25 Stamp Duty. You can calculate your potential stamp duty by going to this link https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro Mortgage Lender fee – In addition, where you are obtaining a mortgage there is a standard charge of £145 plus VAT (20%) for acting for the lender and registering the lenders mortgage on the property after completion. Freehold sale Costs will vary between £750.00 and £1500 plus VAT (20%) and disbursements depending on the purchase price of the property. Disbursements:- Money transfer fee – £25 Copies of Land Registry documents – £3 per document Leasehold purchase If the property you are acquiring is leasehold or includes a share of the freehold our costs will be between £850.00 and £1500 plus VAT (20%) and disbursements, but this may also include carrying out any additional work such as dealing with a share of the freehold. In addition there will be disbursements but these will depend on the purchase price. Disbursements:- Search fees – in the region of £200 – £350 depending on local authority fees, includes additional searches for drainage, environmental and plan search which we always recommend. HM Land Registry fee is based on the value of the property. As we are electronically linked to the Land Registry and submit registrations online, the fee is 50% of the normal fee. Bank transfer fees – £25 Stamp Duty. You can calculate your potential stamp duty by going to this link https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro Mortgage Lender fee – In addition, where you are obtaining a mortgage there is a standard charge of £145 plus VAT (20%) for acting for the lender and registering the lenders mortgage on the property after completion. Leasehold sale Costs will be between £750.00 and £1500 plus VAT (20%) and disbursements Disbursements:- Money transfer fee – £25 Copies of Land Registry documents – £3 per document Our fees do vary depending on the property and circumstances and it is always best to contact us directly for a tailor made quotation, which we will be happy to provide. Timescales Why do we need to go through so many checks? The Proceeds of Crime Act places all solicitors under extremely strict rules to ensure criminals and terrorists do not try to use us as a way to launder money derived from criminal activities. One of the ways we do this is by being absolutely certain who we are acting for and precisely what the purpose of any transaction is. When acting for you we are required by law to check your identity and we may also wish to confirm information about your credit status. To verify the information you provide, we may make searches about you with a credit reference or fraud prevention agency; this will include information from the Electoral Roll. The agencies will record the details of the search and other organisations may share these searches to prevent fraud and money laundering. Scoring methods may be used as part of this process. What documents will I need to prove my identity? We will ask you to supply original documents as confirmation of your identity, address or both which we will use along with any electronic checks we perform. Any documents provided to us will be recorded and copied for audit purposes as part of our Anti-Money Laundering requirements. Suitable items for the proof of identity could be a current passport or driving licence, and for the address, a utility bill, council tax bill or bank statement that is no more than three months old. We may also require supporting evidence of the source of any money involved, for example bank or building society documents, and full details of any third party to whom you may instruct us to send funds. Why can’t we deal with everything via telephone and email? Email and telephone are great ways of dealing with your solicitor throughout a transaction but they can’t be used for every stage in the transaction. Legal documents such as contracts and transfers still have to be signed by hand. In some cases, these documents need to be witnessed. Many conveyancing transactions are time-pressured, so a quick visit to your solicitor to sign can help you achieve your desired completion date. The process Once you have your offer accepted, it’s time to get the ball rolling on legally transferring the ownership to you. Purchase Pack The purchase pack is the initial documentation, containing terms and conditions and the client information questionnaire. Once you have appointed us, we send this to you straight away. We ask you to return the completed pack to us together with your identification documentation. When it is all received, we start the legal work. Memorandum of Sale Your estate agents (if applicable) will send us a copy of the Memorandum of Sale, which provides the details of the property, the amount offered and the name of the sellers and buyers and their conveyancers. Mortgage We will need to know if you are purchasing with the aid of a mortgage and, if so, who the lender is and how much you are borrowing. We will want to check if there is any element of the purchase that we are legally bound to report to your lender, for example if you receiving funds as a gift or loan from a third party, typically a family member. Contract Review The seller will complete a fixtures, fittings and contents form and provide specific details about the property. You will need to check the details and inform us if there is anything that needs clarifying. Arrange a Surveyor We recommend carrying out a full structural survey for the property. You should not rely on the valuation report issued by the lender’s surveyor as it is very basic and is produced for your benefit. Property Searches We will request searches which will include Local Authority Search, Environmental Search, Planning and Water and Drainage Search which are standard searches. If there is a particular search you would like carried, for example Crossrail or HS2 or a specific infrastructure matter, we will do that for you. See the story opposite for more about searches. Report We will examine the documents provided and raise enquiries with the seller’s conveyancer before sending you a legal report. This will contain information about the title to the property and a preliminary draft of the contract and transfer for you to sign. You should read the contract carefully, sign it and return it to us. The transfer is the legal document which both seller and buyer sign to transfer the ownership of the property. This must be signed in the presence of an independent adult (18+) witness. The original should be sent back to us. We will also report to you with the Mortgage Offer (if applicable) and will send you the Mortgage Deed for your signatures. The Mortgage Deed also should be signed in the presence of an independent adult witness. Deposit Once you are happy with the searches and enquiries, we will require the deposit funds to proceed to exchange of contracts. This is normally 10% of the purchase price. We will account to you after exchange of contracts with a financial statement that shows the funds you have paid, the mortgage funds, Stamp Duty and professional fees and disbursements. If you are buying and selling simultaneously, we would normally use the deposit received from your purchaser to pass on to your seller and, if required, will request the additional funds from you. Buildings Insurance It’s important to have buildings insurance in place by the exchange date. This will be a condition of your mortgage lender and will protect your investment in the property and your mortgage lender’s interest as well. Exchange of Contracts When the contracts have been exchanged, both seller and buyer are contractually bound to complete on the agreed completion date. The conveyancers usually exchange contracts over the telephone and then send the completed signed contracts by post. Exchanging contracts by your conveyancer legally binds both parties to transferring the property, so you can rest assured the seller must vacate on the day of completion. Mortgage monies will be requested from your lender and the paperwork will be collated in readiness for completion. Completion Day On the agreed day of completion, we will send the outstanding balance of the purchase price which you have provided to us, including the money received from your mortgage lender, to the seller’s conveyancer by telegraphic transfer. As soon as they receive the monies, they will inform us and the estate agents and the keys can be released. The property will then be legally yours. Application Land Registry Once completion has been confirmed, we will pay stamp duty land tax on your behalf. We will also make an application to Land Registry with the change of ownership form called the Transfer Document signed by the vendor. Title Deeds Once Land Registry has processed the application, you will receive a copy of the title information document showing you as owner. This usually takes a few weeks, slightly longer if the property is a new-build.
A Grant of Probate is an order of the Court giving one or more people the legal authority to administer the estate of the deceased in order to distribute it correctly to the beneficiaries. The people who have the right to apply for a Grant of Probate are the Personal Representatives of the estate. PRs are either the Executors named in the Will or the next of kin under the Rules of Intestacy if there is no Will. There are different types of Grant depending on the circumstances and who is to deal with the estate. The two main types of Grant of Representation are the Grant of Probate (where there is a Will) and Letters of Administration (where there is no Will). The people named in the Grant of Representation are legally responsible and ultimately liable for the administration of the estate of the deceased. It is important their duties are exercised correctly, and this is where Ashtons Solicitors can assist. Role of the Personal Representative ( PR) Being a PR brings with it tremendous responsibilities, and you should be prepared for the process to be challenging and lengthy. The PR is legally responsible for administering the estate according to the provisions expressed in the Will or Rules of Intestacy. Intestacy When someone dies without leaving a valid Will they are said to have died Intestate. In these circumstances the Rules of Intestacy apply and these determine who will administer as PR and who will benefit from the deceased’s estate. The law sets down an established order of entitlement for PRs to take out a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. The order is basically the next of kin, ie: (i) spouse or civil partner; (ii) issue (children or remoter lineal descendents); (iii) parents; (iv) brothers and sisters. When identifying PRs and beneficiaries, extreme care and diligence is required. Benefit of estate If the deceased dies testate (with a Will), the beneficiaries will be those named in the Will. On an intestacy, the beneficial entitlement follows to a large degree the entitlement to take out Letters of Administration as PRs, but again, this is something we can advise upon. Inheritance Tax (IHT) Before the Grant of Representation (Probate or Letters of Administration) is obtained it is necessary to value the estate of the deceased and to calculate any IHT due. The relevant IHT forms must be completed and submitted to HM Revenue & Customs with any tax due. No IHT is payable for gifts to spouses or civil partners, charities or political parties. Otherwise, every person has an IHT-free allowance on death, currently amounting to £325,000. This is called the Nil-Rate Band (NRB), and any unused portion can be transferred between spouses. Inheritance Tax (IHT) reliefs Since April 2017 there is a new allowance called the Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB). The RNRB is fairly complicated but where the deceased owns or, in some circumstances, owned a home and is passing the same to children, a further £150,000 may be available, rising to £175,000 in April 2020 and this is also transferrable between spouses, as with the NRB. By April 2020 a surviving spouse may be able to transfer to the children up to £1million tax-free subject to fulfilling certain criteria. It is too complicated to set out all the rules here but we will be very happy to explain the same to you when either you are applying for probate or, perhaps more importantly, updating your Will. These allowances must be claimed, and we will ensure you benefit from all possible allowances. Costs and Timescale In terms of costs this will be charged from 1% plus VAT (20%) of the gross value of the Estate and disbursements (see below). There are certain external expenses which you may need to pay in connection with the administration of the Estate, please see below the most common things that you are likely to have to pay and an estimate of their cost: Commissioner’s fees for Executor’s Oath (per person) £7.00 Probate Court fees for issue of the Grant £155.00(+50p per copy) Land Registry Title Register £3.00 Online ID Check £7.50 We have provided you with the quote above, however in certain circumstances the nature of the work we are instructed to do can change (for example where HMRC or the Probate Registry raise requisitions or where there is a dispute). In these circumstances this additional work will be charged on a time spent basis. We will add VAT charges at the rate that applies when the work is done. The current rate of VAT is calculated at 20%. We will submit our invoice to you for settlement once we have made the application for the Grant. If for whatever reason the Grant is not required or we cease acting for you, we shall issue an invoice for the work carried out to date based on the hourly rate of the fee earner responsible for your matter. The administration of an Estate involves the following steps: Calculating the value of the Estate, taking into account the deceased’s assets and liabilities. Some items may require professional valuations such as shares and it may be necessary to pay a fee for this. We will of course let you know if this is required. We will write to the relevant banks/share companies (if any) to obtain the balances as at the date of death. Dealing with any inheritance tax due. Even where no inheritance tax is payable it is necessary to submit information to the Inland Revenue about the assets and liabilities of the Estate. Obtaining the Grant of Probate/ Letters of Administration. Every application for the Grant must be supported by an Oath sworn by the Executors. This is to establish their right to the Grant and confirms the value of the Estate that will be dealt with under the authority of the Grant. The Grant cannot be issued until the relevant information has been submitted to HMRC. Once the Grant has been obtained the Grant will be sent to the banks and other institutions holding money and property to obtain access to the deceased’s assets. Collecting Estate money. We normally pay Estate money into our client account (where it will be subject to the protection of the Law Society’s Rules regarding the handling of client’s money). Once bills have been paid, it may be possible to start paying bequests and legacies under the Will and to make interim distributions to residuary beneficiaries although please note that where there are professional Executors/Administrators then distributions will not normally be made until 6 months after the date of the Grant of Probate/ Letters of Administration, this being the deadline for potential claims to be made against the Estate. The latter stages of administration involve obtaining confirmation from HMRC that no more tax is due, finalising the Statement of Account, handing over the remaining entitlements to the beneficiaries. We will complete steps A-G or A-C as outlined above whichever is required for this particular matter. However if the nature of our work becomes more complicated than expected, particularly if extensive correspondence with HMRC, Probate Registry or any other party is required, then we reserve the right to review our charges and we shall inform you accordingly. Unless specifically agreed our work does not include any contentious Probate or any other claims or disputes against/in the Estate, Deeds of Variation, Affidavits, Power of Attorneys, income tax work or ongoing trust arrangements or conveyancing work. If any of these are required, we will discuss and agree our fees with you. We do not deal with any overseas assets and it is the responsibility of the Executors to deal with any overseas assets. In the event we agree to liaise with any third parties based aboard, our contact will be strictly limited to obtaining the necessary information for the purposes of completing the inheritance tax here.
Viresh Patel is the Director and Senior Immigration Advisor at Ashtons Solicitors. With more than 20 years’ experience in UK immigration law, Viresh Patel provides clear, practical advice and representation across visas, settlement, nationality, human rights and complex casework.
As an OISC-regulated immigration adviser, Viresh Patel undertakes specialist casework and advocacy — including Immigration Tribunal appeals and administrative reviews — and is known for combining professional expertise with genuine care for clients and their families.
Whether you need help with a family or work visa, settlement, nationality, sponsor licensing, or a refused application, Viresh Patel and the team at Ashtons Solicitors will guide you from first instruction through to completion.
Sundip joined the firm and is a well experienced paralegal graduate in 2019 with extensive knowledge in all areas of Property Law.
Sundip specialises in residential and commercial conveyancing. His main emphasis is on the acquisitions and disposal of both Leasehold and Freehold properties for individuals, developers and property investments Companies.
Specific areas of expertise include resolving title matters, re-financing, sales and purchases at auction, licences and lease extensions.
Sundip also provides advice on Landlord and Tenant matters including rent arrears, rent dispute and possession. He has carried out the majority of his own advocacy and has appeared before District Judges and Masters sitting at the County Court and High Court.
“Ashtons Solicitors guided us through our spouse visa application from start to finish. They explained every step clearly, kept us updated throughout, and our visa was approved without any issues. Highly professional, responsive and genuinely caring — we would recommend Ashtons Solicitors to anyone.”
5.0
“Ashtons Solicitors was a beacon of hope for my wife and me when my immigration process became too difficult for us to handle. Not only did they meticulously help us through every step of the process, their professionalism, patience and follow ups offered emotional support to both my wife and me. We are eternally grateful for their service and recommend Ashtons Solicitors without reservation.”
5.0
“I am writing to thank Ashtons Solicitors for their services as I found them excellent with my wife's Further Leave to Remain, Indefinite Leave to Remain and British Citizenship. I found them easy to contact if I had any questions or worries and their rates were very reasonable. I will be very happy to recommend Ashtons Solicitors to anyone who asks.”
5.0
“Ashtons Solicitors was a great help when it came to renewing my residency permit. They kept me up to date with everything that was going on and any correspondence with the Home Office. The service I received was great and much appreciated and their constant communication with me made me feel at ease. I will definitely be using Ashtons Solicitors again when I have to renew my visa.”
5.0
“The school were put in touch with Ashtons Solicitors to help with the process involved in granting a Tier 2 (General) sponsorship for a member of staff. I cannot recommend them more highly in their approach. They were extremely professional, calm and patient! They went out of their way to explain the process step by step.”
5.0
“We were lucky to have found Ashtons Solicitors. The team was very helpful with our immigration process and their efforts and professionalism helped us achieve our most important goal, which was being together and building a future as a family. We always felt they were at our side every step of the way.”
