How we chose
We started from thirty-four solicitor candidates across Telford. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and it holds the SRA authorisation the law requires of it. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then proof of regulation, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, with pricing clarity and website detail counting next. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
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.
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.
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, 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.
VAT at twenty per cent applies to most solicitor bills unless the quote says otherwise, 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.
The bottom line
For most people, start with Picasso Legal: family help on published fixed fees from a small Telford practice with its cover on show. If customer feedback matters more to you, RJS Family Law pairs warm reviews with a free first consultation. Ask either one for the fee basis, the likely disbursements and who will handle your file before you agree anything.
Match the firm to the job: SP Legal Solutions for business disputes, Fodens or Elliott Bridgman for property and wills, MSD Law where you want conveyancing costs published up front, and Lanyon Bowdler, Clarkes or Martin Kaye where one firm must cover several matters. Then compare two or three written quotes on the same scope and check the SRA register entry before you instruct.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.