How to hire
Start by matching the lawyer to the job. Family solicitors own divorce, children arrangements and financial remedy; conveyancers carry house sales and purchases to completion; business firms handle disputes, contracts and company sales; private-client departments draft wills, powers of attorney and probate applications. For a straightforward move, a licensed conveyancer regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers does the same legal job as a solicitor [7]. When you first enquire, say what the matter is, where the people or property are, and what timescale you face.
Check regulation before you book. Search the SRA register for the firm or solicitor name and confirm the SRA number on the firm's site matches the entry that comes back [1]. For licensed conveyancers the CLC register plays the same role [7]. Extra marks, such as Law Society panels and accreditations, Resolution membership for family lawyers and quality marks for conveyancing, appear on firm websites where the firm holds them; Resolution members commit to a constructive Code of Practice that considers the needs of the whole family [6]. A logo alone proves nothing, so check the name behind it.
If the matter is divorce or separation, ask how the first meeting works: several Telford family firms offer a free initial consultation, and fixed fees are common for straightforward cases. Where money is tight, check whether you qualify for legal aid on the GOV.UK checker before you assume you must pay privately [5], since eligibility turns on income and case type. Ask who will handle your file day to day, and who supervises, then get that named in your paperwork.
Get the costs position in writing. Solicitors must publish price information for residential conveyancing, uncontested probate and several other standard services, covering the basis of charges, likely disbursements and the experience of the people doing the work [2]. Your own quote should go further: fixed fee or hourly rate, an estimate of disbursements such as searches and registration fees, whether VAT is added, and what changes the price if the matter turns complicated. Treat an unusually low fixed fee as a question and ask exactly which steps it covers.
For a purchase, expect the quote to separate the legal fee from third-party costs: searches, Land Registry registration and any stamp duty you owe sit outside the fee. Agree the timescale in weeks, how updates will reach you, and what happens if your chain stalls, since some firms charge extra for abortive work. If you have a mortgage, confirm the firm can act for your lender as well as for you before you go further.
Telford adds local wrinkles to a purchase. Your solicitor orders the borough search from Telford and Wrekin Council, which pairs a register search with a questionnaire answered across its planning, building control, environmental health and transport departments [12]. The council publishes its search fees beside the request form, so you can see what that part of the bill costs [12]. Conservation areas cover Wellington and the Severn Gorge, where minor works can need permission that would pass unnoticed elsewhere [13]. Where your purchase falls inside such an area, expect extra enquiries and a slower search, and give your solicitor the postcode before it quotes.
A typical matter runs through the same stages whatever the job. First contact sets the scope: what the matter is, who is involved and what timescale you face. The firm then sends a client-care letter naming the work, the costs and who supervises your file, which you should read before anything else is signed [2]. Ask whether money is wanted on account and when the balance falls due, and get the answer added to the letter. Keep every letter beside your own dated notes of calls and promises while the matter runs.
The sign-off looks different by job. A purchase ends with a completion statement and the title registered in your name, while a sale ends with the mortgage redeemed and the funds accounted for. A will is only useful where the signed original can be found, so agree its storage before you leave the office. A divorce ends with the final court order in your hands. Whatever the job, close the file with a final bill set beside the quote and every paper kept together.
At the end, keep every paper: the client-care letter with its costs information, the completion statement for a move, the signed will or power of attorney, and all invoices. If something goes wrong, complain to the firm first, since it has up to eight weeks to put things right, and if its final answer disappoints you, the Legal Ombudsman can take up your complaint [8]. Keep a dated note of every call and promise while the matter runs, since it makes any complaint far easier to evidence.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, Telford conveyancing firms that publish prices cluster around fixed legal fees starting near six hundred and fifty pounds plus VAT for a sale or purchase and near three hundred and ninety-five pounds plus VAT for a remortgage, with searches, Land Registry fees and any stamp duty itemised as disbursements on top. Leasehold flats, new-builds and long chains cost more because the paperwork multiplies. Ask for the full itemised figure, fee plus disbursements plus VAT, before you compare [14].
Fixed-fee divorces published in this round run from six hundred pounds plus VAT for the papers alone [9] to eight hundred pounds plus VAT with more included [15], and the court fee on top is six hundred and twenty-eight pounds [3]. Children disputes and contested finances are usually charged by the hour and cost far more, so ask where the fixed fee stops and the clock starts. A free first consultation narrows the field before you spend anything.
Probate and will-writing vary most. Firms must publish prices for uncontested probate work, stating the basis of charges and likely disbursements [2], and several Telford firms carry standing price lists for probate, employment and debt work [2] [10]. The probate application fee itself is five hundred and twenty-six pounds where the estate exceeds five thousand [4]. A straightforward single will is normally fixed-fee and modest beside probate costs, so ask for the figure, the storage arrangement and the executor charge up front.
Beyond moves and divorces, several high-street firms publish price lists for employment advice, probate, debt recovery and motoring work, so a smaller matter can still start from a printed figure. Stamp duty sits outside every legal fee: it is charged in slices on increasing portions of the price, with relief where a first home costs no more than five hundred thousand pounds [16]. Run the government's calculator on your price before you compare quotes, since the tax can outweigh the fee.
VAT at twenty per cent applies to most solicitor bills unless the quote says otherwise [15], so confirm whether each figure includes it. Get the scope in writing before work starts, covering exactly which steps, which disbursements and which person at which rate are included, plus what changes the price if matters turn contested. Compare two written quotes on the same scope and keep every letter with your house or family papers.
Red flags
Cannot give you an SRA number that you can find yourself on the Solicitors Register [1].
Starts work with no client-care letter setting out the costs, the scope and who supervises your file [2].
Quotes a fixed fee but will not say in writing which steps it covers and which fall outside it.
Asks for a large payment on account with no explanation of how it is held or what earns it.
Will not name the person handling your file day to day or explain how you will get updates.
Guarantees an outcome or a completion date that no solicitor controls, such as a court decision or a chain.
Goes quiet after you instruct, with no acknowledgement, no timescale and no reply to chasing messages.
Sends a quote that names the legal fee but leaves disbursements and VAT blank [2].
Cannot show you a complaints process when you ask what happens if you disagree [8].