Co habitation agreement
Discussion
JustinP1 said:
Around Shropshire way, a local family solicitor is £120 an hour (if that...!), an experienced litigator £180, and a specialist in a small field with a lot of national experience was £200.
Fairly sure the Thursfields in Kidderminster were about £115+vat per hour in about 2000. That's a very cheap hourly rate!Breadvan72 said:
Shropshire, eh? I did not know that the Rule of Law had extended so far!
I think if you came to Shropshire to see what goes on, you'd laugh!If you remember from my yet unresolved case (hearing in October and appeal against setting judgement aside due soon) I dealt with two solicitors - a market town practice:
The first solicitor, a 'partner' specialising in tenancy, seemingly did not know about the concept of agency.
The second solicitor, drafted in to help the first as she had never been to a courtroom before, despite being the office expert in litigation was seemingly unaware of the concept of disclosure - in that if the other party is asking for paperwork to be disclosed, you can't just ignore him asking for it, not disclose it, yet reveal it at court to support your case!
As such, unless for a very good reason not to, I've always employed legal advice from London...!
Here is a firm of solicitors offering to write a co-hab agreement for £500 including VAT:-
http://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/individuals/srvf...
Money well spent imo.
http://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/individuals/srvf...
Money well spent imo.
So, i bought an agreement via a different solicitor in the end for £250 which was a page long, rather than the other quotes ranging from 500-1000+.
However, just had an invoice arrive from solicitor local to me.
Quite odd i find. So i see them a while ago for what i believe was free consultation. She verbally says the work will cost c£250. Fine i thought. Weeks go by and finally get a draft through of which at the bottom confirming a cost of c£500+vat.
So i look elsewhere and confirmed i can get the work done for c£600 (hadnt found the £250 one yet). She confirms they can fix it for £600. Still twice as much as before.
So get and sign up for the £250 from elsewhere.
Tonight get invoice for £450 for the work she has done.
wtf. taking the piss.
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
However, just had an invoice arrive from solicitor local to me.
Quite odd i find. So i see them a while ago for what i believe was free consultation. She verbally says the work will cost c£250. Fine i thought. Weeks go by and finally get a draft through of which at the bottom confirming a cost of c£500+vat.
So i look elsewhere and confirmed i can get the work done for c£600 (hadnt found the £250 one yet). She confirms they can fix it for £600. Still twice as much as before.
So get and sign up for the £250 from elsewhere.
Tonight get invoice for £450 for the work she has done.
wtf. taking the piss.
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
gaz1234 said:
So, i bought an agreement via a different solicitor in the end for £250 which was a page long, rather than the other quotes ranging from 500-1000+.
However, just had an invoice arrive from solicitor local to me.
Quite odd i find. So i see them a while ago for what i believe was free consultation. She verbally says the work will cost c£250. Fine i thought. Weeks go by and finally get a draft through of which at the bottom confirming a cost of c£500+vat.
So i look elsewhere and confirmed i can get the work done for c£600 (hadnt found the £250 one yet). She confirms they can fix it for £600. Still twice as much as before.
So get and sign up for the £250 from elsewhere.
Tonight get invoice for £450 for the work she has done.
wtf. taking the piss.
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
Are you sure you didn't ask her to do the work? Did you receive and sign a client care letter?However, just had an invoice arrive from solicitor local to me.
Quite odd i find. So i see them a while ago for what i believe was free consultation. She verbally says the work will cost c£250. Fine i thought. Weeks go by and finally get a draft through of which at the bottom confirming a cost of c£500+vat.
So i look elsewhere and confirmed i can get the work done for c£600 (hadnt found the £250 one yet). She confirms they can fix it for £600. Still twice as much as before.
So get and sign up for the £250 from elsewhere.
Tonight get invoice for £450 for the work she has done.
wtf. taking the piss.
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
gaz1234 said:
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
I don't think ignoring it is a good idea, neither is going straight to the SRA. You're going to have to protest to the solicitor first of all. What do you mean by "fix it for £600"?ta
Breadvan72 said:
It can be if it is a valid declaration of trust or an agreement supported by consideration (the parties not being married or having children). Absent such a document, the beneficial interests of the parties will depend on what can be inferred from their conduct in relation to the property. A person can sometimes obtain a beneficial interest through making contributions of money and work in relation to a property. This doesn't happen when someone is just a lodger or tenant, but may happen when two parties live together in a relationship. All depends on the precise circumstances in any given case.
Just going back to this bit - are you saying one of these agreements would not be valid for an unmarried couple with children?mjb1 said:
Breadvan72 said:
It can be if it is a valid declaration of trust or an agreement supported by consideration (the parties not being married or having children). Absent such a document, the beneficial interests of the parties will depend on what can be inferred from their conduct in relation to the property. A person can sometimes obtain a beneficial interest through making contributions of money and work in relation to a property. This doesn't happen when someone is just a lodger or tenant, but may happen when two parties live together in a relationship. All depends on the precise circumstances in any given case.
Just going back to this bit - are you saying one of these agreements would not be valid for an unmarried couple with children?gaz1234 said:
So, i bought an agreement via a different solicitor in the end for £250 which was a page long, rather than the other quotes ranging from 500-1000+.
However, just had an invoice arrive from solicitor local to me.
Quite odd i find. So i see them a while ago for what i believe was free consultation. She verbally says the work will cost c£250. Fine i thought. Weeks go by and finally get a draft through of which at the bottom confirming a cost of c£500+vat.
So i look elsewhere and confirmed i can get the work done for c£600 (hadnt found the £250 one yet). She confirms they can fix it for £600. Still twice as much as before.
So get and sign up for the £250 from elsewhere.
Tonight get invoice for £450 for the work she has done.
wtf. taking the piss.
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
Would be best to see another solicitor about that invoice.However, just had an invoice arrive from solicitor local to me.
Quite odd i find. So i see them a while ago for what i believe was free consultation. She verbally says the work will cost c£250. Fine i thought. Weeks go by and finally get a draft through of which at the bottom confirming a cost of c£500+vat.
So i look elsewhere and confirmed i can get the work done for c£600 (hadnt found the £250 one yet). She confirms they can fix it for £600. Still twice as much as before.
So get and sign up for the £250 from elsewhere.
Tonight get invoice for £450 for the work she has done.
wtf. taking the piss.
Im going to either ignore it or is there a better route to take? email them or speak directly to their regulatory body.
ta
It appears you instructed a solicitor to undertake some work. They did the work but the cost was double what you had been quoted, so you then went elsewhere and paid someone else instead.
You can argue the cost with the original solicitor, but you are still liable to pay them something for the work they have done. At least their original estimate.
You can argue the cost with the original solicitor, but you are still liable to pay them something for the work they have done. At least their original estimate.
PurpleMoonlight said:
It appears you instructed a solicitor to undertake some work. They did the work but the cost was double what you had been quoted, so you then went elsewhere and paid someone else instead.
You can argue the cost with the original solicitor, but you are still liable to pay them something for the work they have done. At least their original estimate.
I think you should have something a bit stronger than appearance before you start rolling your eyes.You can argue the cost with the original solicitor, but you are still liable to pay them something for the work they have done. At least their original estimate.
Bookmarking this with some interest.
My other half and I are buying a new build which should be ready by the end of next year. We're splitting the bills and mortgage 50:50 as we both earn OK money so there's no need for one to subsidise the other. The difference is I will be putting up 60 to 70% of the equity. We both agree it's a good idea to have an agreement drawn up basically saying if the relationship ends, we sell the house, pay off the mortgage and whatever is left gets split accordingly.
We've both been burned in various ways in the past with ex co habiting partners and I want her to be protected but I also want to protect me and my son.
My other half and I are buying a new build which should be ready by the end of next year. We're splitting the bills and mortgage 50:50 as we both earn OK money so there's no need for one to subsidise the other. The difference is I will be putting up 60 to 70% of the equity. We both agree it's a good idea to have an agreement drawn up basically saying if the relationship ends, we sell the house, pay off the mortgage and whatever is left gets split accordingly.
We've both been burned in various ways in the past with ex co habiting partners and I want her to be protected but I also want to protect me and my son.
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