When should a solicitor be paid?

maynooth_rules

Just wondering when a solicitor should be paid during the house buying process. We are sale agreed on a house and have been sent the bill by the solicitor. The contracts have not been signed by the other party (its a bank sale). Should they really be asking for payment this early?

Sala

It depends on the office but my experience is it's at the end. Maybe they are just flagging the bill to you now? Call and ask when they need it? That said, I have heard people complaining they don't have the money left on closing to pay straight away, which is no good to your solicitor if they have to pay stamp duty etc

PixelTrawler

We paid when the sale closed. When we handed over the money for the stamp duty, balance of payment towards the mortgage, fees for land registry etc.

We handed over a single bank draft that covered it all and got the keys the next day.

slinky2000

We bought a house before Xmas and we paid right at the end when the sale closed and before we got the keys.

maynooth_rules

Thanks everyone. Just wanted to make sure what people usually did before I spoke to him again. I could just see trouble for us if we paid him before contracts were signed. Wouldnt entice him to push the sale through and we would be very out of pocket if contracts were not signed.
We have all the money in place to pay him, thats not a problem. Did seem strange for him to expect payment before his services were done.

Could I be cheeky and ask what some of your fees came to, exclusive of stamp duty?

johnnyskeleton

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Wouldnt entice him to push the sale through and we would be very out of pocket if contracts were not signed.

No you wouldnt be. What youre really saying is that if the sale didnt proceed you wouldnt pay your sol for the work he has already done and so by stiffing him, he would be the one out of pocket.

Very often sales dont conclude because the solicitor spots something wrong with the title/contracts.

Put another way, if I went to a GP with a cough and he says Im fine its just a minor cold, could I legitimately say "thank God I didnt pay the €50 in advance, now I am not out of pocket because Im not actually sick"?

Or is it only lawyers that its ok to refuse to pay after getting a service?

Gumbo

We are currently buying in Dublin.
Funds requested and expect hand over next Thursday.

Solicitor has asked for payment to their AC on or before the day.

Sala

You could never be out of pocket (unless the solicitor is fraudulent). If you hand over money now and something is found that means the sale can't proceed the solicitor will bill you for work to date and refund the rest.

maynooth_rules

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

No you wouldnt be. What youre really saying is that if the sale didnt proceed you wouldnt pay your sol for the work he has already done and so by stiffing him, he would be the one out of pocket.

Or is it only lawyers that its ok to refuse to pay after getting a service?

Perhaps read what I'm actually saying instead of putting words in my mouth and telling me what I meant to say. Nowhere did I say I wouldn't pay my solicitor or try to avoid paying him for what he has done this far. Where exactly did I say I would refuse to pay him?

johnnyskeleton

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Perhaps read what I'm actually saying instead of putting words in my mouth and telling me what I meant to say. Nowhere did I say I wouldn't pay my solicitor or try to avoid paying him for what he has done this far. Where exactly did I say I would refuse to pay him?

You said that if you paid him upfront but the contrafts were not signed you would be out of pocket i.e. if the contracts are not to be signed you wouldnt pay him.

Maybe im taking you up wrong. Maybe you mean that if the sale falls through before a solicitor is required you would be out of pocket. If thats the case, dont engage a solicitor until you need him

MarkAnthony

Our solicitor will be looking for payment when we pay over the rest of our deposit, stamp duty and his fee - if that ever happens with the vendors I'm dealing with!

Eldarion

Payment anytime prior to key hand over seems fair. The solicitor is probably just invoicing you now because all the related details of the sale have been finalised and they're able to give you the end figure. If anything it seems a little preemptive on the solicitor's part to invoice you this early though, if anything crops up that increases their required work then it's going to look really unprofessional for them to bill you again.