Thistle Street LawSolicitors, Edinburgh
Practice areas

Six kinds of problem we know well.

If your matter sits between two of these, ask anyway. We will say plainly when somebody else is the better fit, and who.

A solicitor talking a client through a document across a desk
01 · Family Law

Separation, divorce, children, and what a cohabitant is owed.

  • Divorce on one year of separation with consent, or two without
  • Divorce on unreasonable behaviour, where it cannot wait
  • Separation agreements: the house, the pensions, the debts
  • Residence and contact for children
  • Cohabitants' claims under the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, which die one year after separation
Ask about family law
A document being signed with a fountain pen
02 · Buying and Selling

Offers over, missives concluded, and a date of entry that holds.

  • Notes of interest, offers and a closing date that usually goes over
  • Missives negotiated and concluded, with the date of entry fixed
  • Home Report read properly before you offer, not after
  • Title examination and registration in the Land Register of Scotland
  • LBTT returns, including the Additional Dwelling Supplement
Ask about buying and selling
Bound reports and journals on the office shelves
03 · Wills and Executries

A will, then confirmation, and legal rights explained before they surprise anyone.

  • Wills, and a plain explanation of legal rights: a spouse and children cannot simply be cut out
  • Confirmation at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, and the executry administered from there
  • Powers of attorney, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian
  • Guardianship where capacity has already gone
  • Inheritance tax, with your accountant where the estate needs one
Ask about wills and executries
A pen passed across a table as an agreement is signed
04 · Small Business

Companies House, commercial leases and the contracts an owner signs.

  • Incorporation and the Companies House filings that follow
  • Partnership and shareholder agreements
  • Commercial leases, assignations, rent reviews and irritancy
  • Supply, services and licensing contracts
  • Standing advice on retainer for owner-run firms
Ask about small business
Leather-bound law reports on a shelf
05 · Work and Employment

Contracts, handbooks and a fair route through a dismissal.

  • Contracts of employment and staff handbooks
  • Disciplinary and grievance procedure, followed properly the first time
  • Settlement agreements, with the adviser's certificate signed here
  • Employment tribunal claims in Edinburgh
  • Redundancy consultation for employers with fewer than twenty staff
Ask about work and employment
The arched fanlight over the entrance to the building
06 · Disputes

A letter first, court second, and a straight answer on whether you would rather be pursuer or defender.

  • Letters before action, and the settlement that usually follows one
  • Simple Procedure for claims up to £5,000 at the sheriff court
  • Ordinary actions in Edinburgh Sheriff Court and the Court of Session
  • Interdict, for neighbours, boundaries and a business being copied
  • Delict claims, and the five year prescription that quietly ends them
Ask about disputes
Fees and outlays

What it costs, said out loud.

Our fee for the work we quote most often. VAT is charged on top at 20 per cent, and your figure is confirmed in writing after the first call. It does not move unless the job does.

Single will
£190 plus VAT
Mirror wills for a couple
£320 plus VAT
Power of attorney, registered
£250 plus VAT
Confirmation, estate under £250,000
£950 plus VAT
Purchase of a flat, up to £300,000
£850 plus VAT
Sale, missives to date of entry
£750 plus VAT
Separation agreement
£1,200 plus VAT
Simple Procedure claim, first stage
£450 plus VAT

Outlays are separate, and passed on at cost

An outlay is money we pay out on your behalf rather than a charge for our time. They are listed line by line on every quote and every account, so you can see which figure is ours and which is not.

  • Registration dues at Registers of Scotland, from £80 on a flat
  • LBTT, and the Additional Dwelling Supplement where it applies
  • A Home Report on a sale, around £600 for a two-bedroom flat
  • Sheriff court dues, including confirmation dues from £276
  • Office of the Public Guardian registration, £87 per power of attorney

Not sure which one applies?

Describe what happened. Putting it in the right box is our job, not yours.

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