When do you pay the solicitor?

M

Mel

Registered User
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I have signed contracts and paid 10% deposit - solicitor wants to be paid 5 working days before closing; is this usual? his work won't be complete at that stage, so what come-back do i have if he doesn't finish correctly or completely?
 
Both times that I have purchased a house, I paid my solicitor on the day of closing.
 
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If you are paying him by cheque he probably wants to make sure it's cleared by the time you close. If you are paying in cash or by bank draft you should be able to pay on the day.

Sarah

www.rea.ie
 
But it is normal to pay the solicitor so early?
I'm not entirely comfortable with settling the bill before the work is complete...
 
I would pay him when the work is completed. If he wants the money that will be used for paying the registration of deeds and the other house relates fees you could always pay them upfront. But I'd pay his fee only on completion.
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The majority of the solicitors work is done by closing. There after we have to stamp and register the deeds. Both of these are done by government agencies and take time. The stamping can take up to 8 weeks, the registration can take more than a year depending on the circumstances. Since both of these are out of the solicitors hands it would be unfair to expect the solicitor to wait for these government agencies to complete teh matter before paying them. In any case I expect your solicitor will not give you a choice.
 
My first thought was to pay him all the outlay plus 50% of the bill when he has requested, and the other 50% when complete - I've already had words with him and to be honest don't fully trust him. I would like to have someone else review the file before we settle the account.
 
Mel said:
My first thought was to pay him all the outlay plus 50% of the bill when he has requested, and the other 50% when complete
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By complete, do you mean on closing? That would be the usual. As Vanilla said, no solicitor would agree to delay payment until the land registry registration has completed.
 
Yes, by closing, assuming that the necessary forms etc are sent to the relevant agencies at that stage.
I just thought it was a bit presumptious, and because we've had some differences I thought he might be making a point by insisting on payment up-front; what difference will a few hours or days make to him at the end of the day, and why is charging for conveyancing so different than other type of cases?
I guess I'll pay him when he wants for a quiet life, I just want all this bit to be over now, and get on with enjoying the new house.
Thanks for all your answers everyone.
 
The latest you have to pay is on drawdown of the mortgage as the solicitor must give an undertaking to the bank that no other monies are owed for this property.

He will have to complete the other items such as stamping and land registry details as the law society will enforce this so I would pay him the five days before hand and if you dont thrust him then dont use him again and dont recommend him

Bad Cutomer Service will loose you 6 customers for every 1 disgruntled customer
 
Thanks homerjay, that makes sense alright. I'll pay him when he wants.

With regard to the stamping and land registry - is this something that HAS to be done immediately, or would there be any danger in delaying these for a short while - maybe a few weeks or even up to 3 or 4 months?
 
I too paid on day of closing... I guess by the number of responses it is a regular thing to do.
 
ubiquitous said:
When do you intend paying the reviewer?
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LOL.

Stamping has to be done within 30 days of closing. Registration should be attended to thereafter as strictly speaking someone could go ahead of you and first in is first registered. Although this IS unlikely. However if you have a mortgage your bank will insist on having the mortgage registered and your title registered within a reasonable period ( and will have insisted that your solicitor be in funds to stamp and register your title on closing). Also, if your solicitor is then holding your land registry fees in his/her client account we must pay this out to the land registry without any delay due to Law Society requirements. So all in all, they both have to be attended to without delay for any number of reasons.
 
I paid him 2 weeks after closing. I knew him reasonably well though so he might have been doing me a favour.
 
ubiquitous said:
When do you intend paying the reviewer?
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:p
I'll be going back to a solicitor who I've dealt with in the past. Unfortunately I thought her quote was too expensive in this case, and unfortunately I made the wrong decision!

Paying on the day of closing seems to be the norm, not 5 working days before, but there you go...

Thanks for the information on stamping and registration Vanilla.
 
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