What Solicitors & Legal costs in Manchester

Typical price ranges with context — a reference, not a quote. Here's what to know about Solicitors & Legal in Manchester.

Typical costs

• Solicitors often charge by the hour; the courts' guideline hourly rates (from Jan 2024, used for cost assessments) range from around £272-£278 for the most experienced fee-earners outside London up to £546 in central London (Grade A), with junior grades considerably lower.
• Many firms also offer fixed fees; solicitors traditionally bill in six-minute units, so a short email may cost roughly one-tenth of the hourly rate.
• Residential conveyancing: average legal fees for buying a home were around £1,400-£1,570 in 2024 (selling typically cheaper), plus disbursements such as searches and Land Registry/SDLT fees.
• Simple will: roughly £150-£300 (+VAT) for a single will and around £245-£600 for mirror wills for couples; complex wills with trusts can be £1,000+.
• Probate: fixed fees commonly start around £1,500-£2,500 (+VAT) for smaller/simpler estates and rise with complexity; some firms charge a percentage of the estate (often 1%-5%), which can be far more expensive.
• Divorce: the court application fee is £612 (England and Wales); solicitor fixed fees for an uncontested divorce can start a few hundred pounds, while contested financial matters can run to many thousands (commonly £5,000-£30,000+ +VAT if contested in court).

Costs differ from one area within Manchester to the next, so use these as a starting point and always get more than one figure.