How We Charge

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20 minute telephone appointment for all new enquiries to listen to your legal query and provide an initial generic assessment of your case and advice and information on our costs. These appointments are available out of normal working hours if this is easier for you and must be booked in advance.

Initial meetings in Winchester or Southampton help us to find out more about your situation and advise you of the options available to you. These are charged at £100 plus vat per hour and it is usual for these meetings to be of an hours' duration. Meetings in London are charged at hourly rate.

We have a range of standard charge out rates and provide full transparency as to our fees and all charges when we are instructed. This is reviewed annually. We also charge you for third parties services e.g. barristers’ fees and for court fees and other disbursements. A 5% reduction will be made if fees are paid within 7 days. 

Fixed Packages. These are available for divorce, cohabitation agreements, separation agreements, and consent orders. In addition, we may be available (depending on the type and complexity of work required) either at the start of your case or on a stage by stage basis to provide fixed price quotations for specific pieces of document preparation, advice or representation. This will provide you with the certainty of knowing how much your legal fees will be at each stage of the process and enable you to budget accordingly on a pay as you go basis.

Payment Plans. These are in appropriate cases available to spread the cost of the case over a period of time by monthly payments by standing order.

Pay-as-you-go

Are you worried about how much full representation by a solicitor will cost and do you wish to retain some control over the process yourself?

We can provide pay-as-you-go advice either as a “one off” in face to face meetings or more flexible in a series of meetings throughout the matter.

This is charged at our hourly rate. Typically we advise you in face to face meetings at which we advise you how to progress your case to the next stage. Payments are made on the day for that work and you do not receive additional bills unless you instruct us to carry out additional work for you.

Both types of pay-as-you-go advice can be a useful way of obtaining legal advice in a variety of situations such as:-

1. Obtaining advice alongside mediation, preparing letters for you to take to mediation;
2. Reviewing agreements you have reached before they are converted into binding agreements or orders;
3. Assisting you with preparing a statement to be filed at court;
4. Helping you to organise and prepare a court application that you will be running yourself;
5. A review of your financial settlement options and preparing an offer letter for you;
6. Advising you alongside negotiations you are conducting yourself with your spouse;
7. Advising you in respect of making a court application yourself, including advice on process, strategy, likely outcome and case management;
8. Preparing for a court hearing which you will be attending without representation.

Generally, if we assist you on a pay-as –you –go basis, we would not send letters, e-mails or make phone calls on your behalf and we would not be formally recorded as acting for you in any court proceedings.

In the meetings, we can explain processes, provide supportive advice and assist you with organising and preparing the matter yourself.

You would not be billed monthly but would pay per meeting at our hourly rate on the day of the meeting.  

Fixed Fee Work

This is appropriate for one-off pieces of work of a limited duration and can be offered for:-

1. Undefended divorces if you are the Petitioner or the Respondent;
2. Drafting pre-nuptial agreements, Separation agreements and cohabitation agreements;
3. Drafting consent orders where an agreement has been reached and lodging that at court with   the appropriate documentation;
4. Statement preparation;
5. One off court representation.

The fee for this work is agreed and is usually paid at the commencement of the matter.

We require money on account before we can commence work on your behalf