Costs
Pricing option 1 – fixed price
We provide a fixed price option for the preparation of documents for matters that require little or no negotiation, (wills, power of attorney, most property transfers/conveyances, loan agreements and advice, consent orders, intervention orders and binding financial agreements).
Pricing option 2 – pay as you go - hourly rate
In matters which require significant negotiation, such as contested family law matters or estate matters, we usually charge an hourly rate.
In order to keep your costs down, we will allocate each task to the staff member who can perform them most cost effectively and you will be provided with an itemised bill each month so you can see what you were charged for. (see ‘How to help us reduce your legal costs’).
Pricing option 3 – pay at end
If you don’t have the money to finance your legal costs up front, but are likely to receive a financial settlement, then Aberdeen can assist by giving you a ‘pay at end’ option.
In some cases, we are also prepared to enter into payment plans for parenting matters in circumstances where adequate security can be provided by you or by a parent who guarantees payment.
How can I reduce my legal costs?
Some clients can reduce their bills by almost half by doing a few simple things with their files:
- Have all relevant documentation ready for us in a folder. Relevant documents are anything that you feel will make a difference to your case.
Example: Text messages, contract of a property you had at the commencement of a relationship, documents relating to an inheritance or gift from family, purchase documents of significant assets, superannuation and shareholding statements. - Save any non-urgent questions until the end of each week and send them all in one email.
- Try to limit telephone calls to those that are necessary. Communication by email is cheaper and prevents misunderstandings.
- Return phone calls from your lawyer in a timely manner so we don’t have to chase you which will increase your costs. If phone calls are difficult provide us with a number to text or an email address.
- If you are asked to obtain information attend to it immediately. Constant requests for the same information or responding to your spouse’s lawyer about why it hasn’t been provided, can increase your costs substantially.
- Provide each type of item (say bank statements/tax returns) in one lot, ensure that there are no statements missing and that the documents are in chronological order. Save the file in a way that can be clearly identified: NAB B/S_a/c #9849_1.06.18_to_30.6.18.
- If you are scanning your documents, please ensure that you are using a scanner that sends them as a complete document, not individual pages. If you don’t have a scanner like this, you can go to office works or drop them into our office.
Can I afford it?
We appreciate that cases can take a while to resolve. The costs can escalate unexpectedly, which is why at the commencement of a case, we provide you with the likely estimate of costs and guide you on your best way of minimising these costs.
Read about our client’s experiences.
We focus on working together with our clients, so that the result is one we are both happy with.
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We handle general property matters such as:
Conveyancing (residential)
Lodging caveats
Leases (commercial and residential)
Transfers of land
Advising on mortgage documents
Advising on loan documents
Preparing loan documents between business partners, individuals or family members