Solicitors fees for probate -€350 per hour

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battyee

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I have been quoted 350 Euro per hour by an ordinary solicitor for probate work. This seems a bit extortionate. What sort of arrangements have others been offered ?
 
IMF quoted solicitor fees as one of the areas that needed tackling. Unfortunately fees are extortion in ROI, nay, highway robbery. Each can charge what they like. Personally I would ask for a flat fee rather than a per hour, then you know exactly how much you are going to be ripped off for in advance.
 
Solicitor fees.

Not tied to use this solicitor but he had previously been used by he deceased for business contracts & conveyancing. Not sure what he was charging then but I am just asking what others have paid recently. I heard that fees have come down as the legal eagles have been hit more than most in these dark days.
 
As per @Woodie get a quote for flat fee and use that as the basis to shop around. I'm paying circa 50% of what I used to pay in 06/07 for my solicitor to action the same type of work for me.
 
From what I have read here and my own personal experience, the industry standard for a solicitors fee is normally 3% of the value of the estate, as opposed to a per hour charge. Given the state of the economy, I imagine a lot of them would be open to negotiating that. But also, given the state of the economy, I imagine a lot of them will dig their heels in and insist on the "normal" fee. If you are willing to do all the leg work and paperwork yourself, you can avoid having to pay a solicitor a single penny. Also, if the solicitor was formerly used for business and contract work primarily, I'd be cautious about using him to sort out the Probate on an estate, unless you know it is a field he is an expert in. Not all solicitors specialize in the same fields of the law.
 
I only used a solicitor for the bits I couldn't do myself. Okay, it was only for a house, but I did all the legwork with the probate office who were very helpful, and was far quicker too. The solicitor who did a reasonable amount of work charged a total amount of around 1500 I think, and agreed the fee in advance. €350 per hour sounds very high.
 
Probate fees used to be based on a percentage of the value of the estate. 350 € an hour is a lot of money but that's not the killer, you don't know how many hours. As far as I know solicitors have to give you a written quotation of how much they think it will cost. In any case negotiate a set fee for all work so you know how much it will cost.
 
I was quoted €12,000+vat @21% for an estate worth about €650,000. I did the probate myself in the end. Actually quiet easy but time consuming and it only costs about €800 in total (probate fees and out of pocket expenses).

BTW the solicitor quickly dropped his price to €8000+vat when I nearly fell off the chair with the fright - but I declined his offer.
 
Definitely look for a fixed price, unless there are particular unknown variables about the will or estate in question. The days of hourly rates are a dark, distant memory.
 
Why not try it yourself - it is time-consuming, gathering the relevant documents and going to the Probate Office, then down to O'Connell St. then back to the Probate Office - but this can all be done in 1 day, and the staff in the offices are very helpful. The most important part is ensuring completion of documentation and whether you're dealing with a solicitor or not, you still have to do this. Good luck.
 
Shop around, not on the basis of who is cheapest or whose hourly fee is the lowest (you don't want to end up incentivising someone to be inefficient) but on the basis of recommendations from friends, family etc on who can offer you a combination of good service and value for money.
 
12000 plus 21% vat = €14,520, actual work = €800.00

take a bow my man, take a bow, great stuff, wish a few more people would realise what is going on.

noah
 
Noah, the €800 was for outlay not work. Fender did the legwork for free.
 
A friend was quoted €1500 for probate,not sure if this included probate fee.Is probate fee fixed or does it depend on the value of the estate?
 
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