EDEN LEGAL LIMITED
INFORMATION ABOUT CHARGES AND COSTS
Background
This pricing information is provided to allow you to assess the likely costs of any work you may wish us to carry out for you. This information is for guidance only and is not definitive as to what you will pay when instructing us, as each matter may have a number of variables.
Please contact one of our solicitors to request a specific and detailed estimate/quotation of fees, which we can provide after discussing the work to be done and any other preliminary matters.
Please note that we do not offer publicly funded legal services (also known as “legal aid”).
Pricing Information Generally
At Eden Legal, most of our work involves the sale, purchase or leasing of rural land and associated matters, commercial transactions and contracts, family and business succession planning, and renewable energy projects. Much of the work we do is very niche and bespoke, and it is therefore not a straightforward task to assess how much any particular transaction will cost at the end of the day.
This is because, at the outset, neither you nor we will know how much work will be required to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. The very nature of legal matters often gives rise to unforeseen complexities and additional work.
Fixed Price Initial Consultation
We understand that some people can be anxious about instructing solicitors because of uncertainty about costs. We are happy to offer an initial fixed fee consultation, where we can give you some initial advice and explain exactly what would be involved if you wanted to instruct us to handle the matter for you.
The Fixed Price Initial Consultation involves:
- A one-hour meeting with one of our solicitors or accredited paralegals;
- A brief review of any documents that you have;
- Providing you with initial verbal legal advice;
- Our recommendation of next steps that you should take.
After the meeting, you can decide whether you wish to instruct us to take matters forward or not. There is no obligation to continue instructing us.
The charge for an initial consultation of this kind is usually £375 plus VAT.
How do we charge?
The basis on which we charge for our legal services will depend on a number of factors, such as the type of legal work that needs to be done, the complexity of the matter and the timescale within which the work has to be carried out.
For most types of work that we do, the charges will be calculated by the amount of time spent on the matter, with reference to the hourly charging rates of the individual solicitors, or other professionals, working on your case.
Whenever a client instructs us to carry out a piece of work, detailed information about costs (including fee structure, VAT and outlays and the people who will be working on your case) will be provided to the client in writing in a Terms of Business Letter and Letter of Engagement, which will be issued at the start of the matter, before any substantive work is carried out. This gives you the opportunity to agree to the Terms, or to cancel your instruction.
Anyone who would like to instruct us should contact one of our team to discuss the nature of the service(s) they require and to obtain a specific and detailed estimate of fees based on their requirements.
For most of our transactions, we will bill you monthly throughout the duration of your case.
Charges Based on Time Spent
For most of the cases that we work on, we charge a fee based on the work carried out over the course of your case.
We charge for our time and expertise.
Normally, we work out our charges based on the actual time that our lawyers spend working on your case.
We record the time that we spend working on your case in units of six minutes so that there are 10 units for each hour. Such time is recorded and charged in six minute Units at the hourly rates applicable. Where less than six minutes is taken on a matter, a full Unit of six minutes will be charged. For each unit of time, we also record the type of activity carried out, for example, sending a letter or receiving a phone call. We record all the time that we spend working on your case including:
- Considering, preparing and working on deeds and documents;
- making and receiving telephone calls;
- carrying out legal research and conducting internal consultations;
- meeting you or others (including our other lawyers);
- sending and receiving communications to and from you and others (including
- electronic communications/e-mails);
- preparing for and representing you at any negotiations;
- preparing and providing copies of any relevant documents for you after your matter has completed;
- attending to file opening/closing and compliance procedures;
- all other work required for your case.
The time spent working on your case by each of our staff is recorded at a set hourly charging rate. More experienced staff have higher hourly charging rates.
In certain cases, such as where matters are particularly complex or high value, we may adjust our rates to take account of the specialist nature of the work involved. You will be notified of all such rates in writing.
Our hourly charging rates as from 1 August 2025 are as follows:-
| Charging rate (exclusive of VAT) | |
| Director | £330 per hour (£33 per unit) |
| Senior Associate Solicitor | £300 per hour (£30 per unit) |
| Associate Solicitor | £290 per hour (£29 per unit) |
| Senior Solicitor | £270 per hour (£27 per unit) |
| Solicitor | £240 per hour (£24 per unit) |
| Accredited Private Client Paralegal | £265 per hour (£26.50 per unit) |
| Executry Assistant | £220 per hour (£22 per unit) |
| Trainee Solicitor/Paralegal | £220 per hour (£22 per unit) |
| Other Staff | £100 per hour (£10 per unit) |
VAT will be charged in addition at the prevailing rate (currently 20%).
We review our rates and charges annually and also reserve the right to amend them at any time.
Estimates
Where we can, we will provide an estimate of the likely fees and outlays involved in the work carried out by us for you, but any estimate given will be for a probable fee based on our experience of the general amount of work involved in a transaction of the type involved. The actual fee may be greater or less than the estimated fee. If your transaction turns out to be more complex than normal, then our estimate may require to be amended. We will endeavour to keep you advised of any such changes.
Additional Charges
There are a number of additional charges that you may also need to pay. These include the following:-
Travelling Time and Home Visits. Additional fees would be charged if a home visit is required, or if we need to attend a meeting at another lawyer’s office in connection with your case. The amount would depend on the location although, as a guide, the additional cost could be in the region of £120 plus VAT for a local meeting in Perth. The time that we spend travelling in connection with your case is charged at 50% of the relevant chargeable hourly rate.
We will also charge you for any costs which we incur for travel, subsistence and accommodation where this is required in connection with your matter.
Bank Transfers. We sometimes need to pay money that is due to you, or that you are due to other people, by bank transfer. We charge £30 plus VAT for each electronic CHAPS payment or Faster Payment transfer.
Bankruptcy Searches
In executry cases we may need to instruct an external company to carry out a bankruptcy search if a beneficiary lives abroad. The cost of any bankruptcy searches will be charged as an outlay.
Photocopying and Scanning. We may charge for the cost of photocopying and scanning which is required by your matter or which you have asked us to carry out. Where applicable, this is charged at the rate of £0.15 per sheet of A4 and £1.00 per sheet of A4 for colour copying or printing.
Excess Postage. We will charge you for the cost of sending letters, documentation, deeds or other items on your behalf, to the extent that the cost incurred is other than the cost of standard postage. This includes courier charges, air mail, special delivery or signed for postage services.
Outlays/Disbursements
In addition to our own fees, some types of work will incur additional costs or outlays which are paid by the firm on your behalf to external organisations or companies. These outlays will form part of the overall cost payable by you whenever this is necessary as part of the work being carried out.
Examples of such outlays include legal search reports, land registration dues, the cost of obtaining copies of missing title deeds or the cost of preparing new deed plans.
We may also need to instruct other experts on your behalf to help with your case, such as Counsel, or surveyors and valuers. In that case, you will also be responsible for paying the fees and charges of those experts.
Third party costs and outlays are subject to change at any time. We will charge the increased rate set by the third party if such costs are increased during the course of the transaction.
Specific Pricing Examples
Current guidelines suggest we provide example costings for various types of legal work carried out for individuals. As explained, most of our clients are business clients, but we do carry out some work for individuals. We have set out below some examples of the pricing for the limited personal legal services that we offer for individuals.
These examples are based on our experience of previous transactions and should not be taken as definitive.
Residential Property
The conveyancing examples provided below are for purchases or sales by individuals.
We do not carry out residential transactions requiring a mortgage as we are not a bulk residential conveyancing firm and therefore, we are not listed on many of the Lenders Panels. Consumers wishing to purchase a residential property with a mortgage or similar loan should engage a firm of solicitors who are listed on the Mortgage Lenders Panels and equipped to carry out such work.
We do regularly carry out residential sales and purchases for clients where no mortgage is required.
Basic Purchase of residential property – Registered title, no mortgage, purchase price of £200,000:-
| Our fees | £2,750 |
| VAT payable on above fee at 20% | £550 |
| Registration dues of Disposition in your favour | £400 |
| Land and Buildings transaction Tax (LBTT) * | £1,100 |
| Bank charge for electronic transfer of funds to seller’s solicitors (inc VAT) | £36 |
| Likely total cost | £4,836 |
*There may also be Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) payable to Revenue Scotland at the rate of 8% in addition to LBTT, if you own other residential property (calculated on a property price of £200,000, this would be an additional £16,000).
Typical purchase of rural residential property with some complexities, i.e. where there are access issues and a ‘first registration’ of title into the Land Register of Scotland is required – Sasine title, no mortgage, for a purchase price of £300,000:-
| Our fees | £3,750 |
| VAT payable on above fee at 20% | £750 |
| Registration dues of Disposition in your favour | £530 |
| Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) * | £4,600 |
| Bank charge for electronic transfer of funds to seller’s solicitors (inc VAT) | £36 |
| Likely total cost | £9,666 |
*There may also be Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) payable to Revenue Scotland at the rate of 8% in addition to LBTT, if you own other residential property (calculated on a property price of £300,000, this would be an additional £24,000).
Basic Sale of residential property – registered title, no mortgage, sale price of £200,000:-
| Our fees | £2,500 |
| VAT payable on above fee at 20% | £500 |
| Registration dues of Advance Notice | £20 |
| Combined Property Enquiry Certificate & Legal Report | £120 |
| Bank charge for electronic transfer of sale proceeds to you (inc VAT) | £36 |
| Likely total cost | £3,176 |
Typical Sale of rural residential property with some complexities – Sasine title, no mortgage, sale price of £300,000:-
| Our fees | £3,250 |
| VAT payable on above fee at 20% | £650 |
| Registration dues of Advance Notice | £20 |
| Combined Property Enquiry Certificate & Legal Report | £120 |
| New Deed Plan (desktop) | £100 |
| Plans Report | £212 |
| Coal Authority Report | £57.50 |
| Bank charge for electronic transfer of sale proceeds to you (inc VAT) | £36 |
| Likely total cost | £4,445.50 |
Wills
Our fees for a straightforward Will for a single person start from £500 plus VAT.
Our fees for two reciprocal “mirror” Wills start from £850 plus VAT.
If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, a “mirror” Will may only be appropriate where neither you nor your partner has children from a separate relationship. Where this is the case, we will be happy to meet with you and discuss the options based on your circumstances.
For a more complex Will including liferent or discretionary trust provisions, our fees start from £1,000 plus VAT for one person and from £1,500 plus VAT for reciprocal or “mirror” Wills for a couple.
Our typical prices for basic Wills above include:
- an initial meeting of up to one hour to take your instructions;
- providing advice as appropriate to your requirements;
- providing advice on Legal Rights;
- preparing a draft Will for you to review;
- making one set of minor changes to the draft following review;
- completing the execution of the Will; and
- providing you with one copy of your signed Will.
Our typical fee does not include:
- work associated with lifetime trusts such as drafting separate trust deeds;
- drafting a Will with more than three legacies, or legacies dealing with complex assets such as businesses or farmland;
- advice and work associated with bankrupt or otherwise vulnerable beneficiaries;
- estate planning or inheritance tax advice;
- any property law work required to implement trust planning contained in your will (e.g. any transfers of title or removal of survivorship destinations from your title deeds).
If additional costs arise due to matters related to your own personal circumstances, we will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity and advise you of any increase in price that may arise.
For straightforward Wills, we normally charge an interim fee when we prepare the first draft of your Will and then render a final fee when the Will has been signed.
Powers of Attorney
For a combined Continuing and Welfare Power of Attorney for an individual, our fees start from £500 plus VAT, plus the cost of having the Power of Attorney registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. This registration process must take place before the Power of Attorney can be used. The current registration fee is £96 per Deed (although this is reviewed annually).
For a set of reciprocal or “mirror” documents for a couple, our fees start from £850 plus VAT and registration fees.
Our typical fee includes:
- an initial meeting to take your instructions;
- providing advice as appropriate to your requirements;
- preparing a draft Power of Attorney for you to review;
- making one set of minor changes to the draft following review;
- a second meeting for signing of the Power of Attorney and completion of the solicitor’s certificate;
- preparing registration forms for completion by your attorney(s);
- registration of the Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian; and
- providing you with one copy of your signed and registered Power of Attorney.
Our typical fee does not include:
- the preparation of any accompanying letter of wishes addressed to your attorney(s) which you may or may not wish to prepare, so that your Attorneys can be fully briefed regarding your preferences and wishes if you ever became incapacitated;
- obtaining a medical certificate to confirm your capacity;
- visiting you at home or in a care home or hospital.
For Powers of Attorney, we will normally send our bill once the document has been signed and is ready for registration.
Executries
Executry work is the process of winding up the estate of a deceased person whether they have left a will (known as a testate estate) or where there is no Will (known as an intestate estate).
In some cases, in order to provide certainty, our fees to administer the executry can be calculated by reference to a percentage of the value of the gross estate on death. The gross estate is the total value of all the deceased’s assets (including their share of jointly held assets) at the date of death together with any substantial gifts and before any debts or liabilities are deducted. Please contact us to discuss this pricing option if you would like to know more.
This type of work is not normally suitable for a fixed fee arrangement because it is often not possible to determine how much work will be required at the beginning of an executry case.
Our normal method of charging for executry cases is based on the time spent plus a percentage of the value of the Transaction/Estate and the funds intromitted with.
While our hourly rates will vary depending on various pricing factors, these typically range from £220 plus VAT per hour up to £330 plus VAT per hour (depending on the experience of the relevant fee earner, the complexity of the matter in question and other pricing factors). This will be broken down into Units of 6 minutes.
Our charges are reviewed from time to time but should there be any increase you will be notified in advance.
Letters, e-mails and documents will be charged on the basis of a Unit charge for different types of documents:
| Letters, E-mails & Documents | Units |
| Letters and e-mails (per page of 125 words) | 1.25 |
| Framing Formal Deeds, Court Writs and contractual documents (per sheet of 250 words) | 5 |
| Framing other documents including documents created from a pro-forma or style (per sheet) | 3 |
| Revising documents will be charged at ½ the above | |
| Telephone calls – are per the hourly rate – minimum charge | 0.5 |
The maximum percentage commission charges (if applicable) are as follows:-
| Responsibility element in relation to the Moveable Estate | 0.5% |
| Responsibility element in relation to Heritable Property
(i) transferred by Disposition |
0.5% |
| (ii) transferred by Docquet on Certificate of Confirmation | 0.5% |
| Realising Capital | 1.5% |
| Transfer of Moveable Estate | 1.5% |
| Realising Capital for reinvestment | 0.75% |
| Investing Capital | 0.75% |
| Collection of Income | 5% |
The work may involve meetings and consultations between the family/executor and the solicitor, collating and valuing the assets and liabilities of the estate, corresponding with financial and other institutions (e.g. banks, building societies, share registrars, employers/pension administrators, DWP, HMRC, council tax departments, factors, mortgage lenders and more), drawing court documents and forms for Confirmation (the Scottish equivalent of ‘Probate’), dealing with the Sheriff Court processing the forms, ingathering the financial estate (i.e. collecting in all the money), accounting to the executor and distributing the bequests and shares of estate among beneficiaries.
If there is land or a heritable property to sell, or the title is to be transferred to a beneficiary of the Will, there would be an additional fee for this as a separate conveyancing transaction.
By way of example the following costs are indicative of the fees which will be charged for different types of estate.
Straightforward Estate:- £2,500 – £5,500 (plus VAT at 20% and outlays)
This assumes that the following factors apply:
- There is a valid Will;
- There is no more than one property;
- There are no more than 4 bank or building society accounts;
- There are no other intangible assets (such as stocks and shares);
- The value of the estate does not exceed £200,000;
- There are no more than three beneficiaries;
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries (or executors) on division of assets (if disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs);
- There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC;
- There are no claims made against the estate;
- The executors provide clear and timely instructions;
- It is not necessary to submit an income tax return on behalf of the executors;
- Only a short form executry account is required.
Medium Estate:- £5,500 – £15,500 (plus VAT at 20% and outlays)
This assumes that the following factors apply:
There is a valid Will;
- There is no more than one property;
- There are multiple bank or building society accounts but held at no more than four institutions;
- There are other intangible assets (such as stocks and shares) but held at no more than three institutions (and that there are no certificated or unlisted investments);
- There are both residuary beneficiaries as well as pecuniary and specific legatees;
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries (or executors) on division of assets (if disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs);
- The value of the estate is between £200,000 and £750,000;
- There may be a need to submit an inheritance tax return but there is no need to claim any relief or exemption (other than spouse or charity exemption);
- There are no claims made against the estate;
- The executors provide clear and timely instructions;
- An income tax return on behalf of the executors is required;
- A standard executry account is required.
Complex Estate:- £15,500 – £50,000+ (plus VAT at 20% and outlays)
This assumes that the following factors apply:
- There is a valid Will;
- There is one or more properties;
- There are multiple bank or building society accounts;
- There are other intangible assets (such as stocks and shares) potentially including certificated or unlisted investments;
- There are both residuary beneficiaries as well as pecuniary and specific legatees;
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries (or executors) on division of assets (if disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs);
- The value of the estate exceeds £750,000;
- There may be a need to submit an inheritance tax return and claim reliefs and exemptions;
- There are no claims made against the estate;
- The executors provide clear and timely instructions;
- An income tax return on behalf of the executors is required.
If someone has died intestate (without leaving a valid will) then there is additional work and costs involved. These include petitioning the court to appoint an executor, taking steps to ensure that no will was made and obtaining a bond of caution (insurance policy) for the estate.
Examples of typical outlays in executry cases include, Court Confirmation dues and, in intestate estates, a bond of caution (insurance policy), as well as Land Register of Scotland registration dues if there is conveyancing involved. These charges vary depending on the value of the estate or land to be transferred.
If a property is to be sold or transferred then any work will be charged separately, in addition to the fee for the Executry administration. (Please note that if property is to be transferred to a beneficiary then that beneficiary may also require to consult an independent firm of solicitors to represent his/her interests which will incur costs for them which may or may not be able to be met from the Executry Estate).
Our initial meeting to provide advice and assistance to executors carries a minimum fee of £375 (plus VAT at 20%) if we are not instructed in the administration of the estate.
If we are instructed to act, we will agree with you separately an arrangement for charging our fees as the executry administration progresses. This will vary, depending on the size and nature of the executry estate in question. We will normally always render an interim fee at the point of applying for Confirmation.
Fees charged for executry files are usually independently assessed by a law accountant or auditor of court. The assessment fee will be charged as an outlay.
Please note that all rates and costs are current but may be amended at any time.
Version 1.8 – August 2025
A full copy of our Terms of Business can also be downloaded here: Pricing Policy