395 / 736
he noted that Mrs. Byrne had not assented to the
bequest in the Will so he drafted an assent and
had it approved by the building society's solicitors.
He then engrossed it, had a memorial drawn, had
these documents signed by Mrs. Byrne and paid
the commissioner's fee. He then attended to lodge
the assent, paid stamp duty on the assent and on
the memorial and had the two documents regis
tered
in the Registry of Deeds, He had also
observed that Mrs. Byrne had not had the grant
of probate noted in the appropriate branch of the
local authority and he had this done. It was for
tunate that he remembered when he did, that Mrs.
Byrne had not assented to the bequest, because of
course he had to recite the Assent in his already
rather voluminous and complicated assignment.
The deed having now been executed by all
parties the solicitor lodged it with a copy for
adjudication of stamp duty and to speed matters
up sent his valuer's report and a note of the rate
able valuation. The adjudication office assessed
the stamp duty at 1% as he had taken the pre
caution of putting inter alia a relationship certifi
cate into his Deed. He paid the stamp duty and
had the memorial stamped.
All was in readiness now to make an appoint
ment with the building society's solicitors at their
office to complete the matter and he had to make
sure that he had everything they required in readi
ness. At this stage he fortunately adverted to the
fact that a certificate of discharge from death
duties would be required; he drafted this, had it
copied in duplicate and lodged in the estate duty
office and by exertion there had the business dealt
with expeditiously. He then had judgment, bank
ruptcy and sheriff's office searches made against
his clients and paid for them. He also obtained
from his clients up to date vouchers for the ground
rent and the rates and he requisitioned and paid
for a hand search in the Registry of Deeds as
requested by the building society. Having obtained
it he satisfied himself that he could explain and
did explain an act thereon.
Immediately prior to making the appointment
to close with the building society's solicitors he
obtained a letter giving the up to date figures as
to the amount outstanding by way of principal and
interest on foot of the mortgage so that the build
ing society's solicitor would be able to insert the
correct amounts in the deed which was done on the
closing. The closing took half an hour and the
solicitor handed over all the outstanding docu
ments, including the certificate of discharge from
death duties.
Having now finished the work he was rather
surprised that it had taken him just five months
although he could see from his file that he had
dealt with each point expeditiously as he went,
and he was equally surprised when he noted that
his outlay was as follows :—
Paid loan on deeds fee .................. £110
Paid valuer's fees ........................ £6
6
0
Paid local authority law agent's fee ... 2
2
0
Paid building society solicitor's
approval fee ........................... £4
4
0
Paid for judgment, bankruptcy sheriff
and hand search ..................... £4 10
0
Paid two commissioners' fees .........
10
0
Paid stamp duty on assent ............
10
0
Paid stamp duty and registry fees on
memorial to assent .................. £2 12
6
Paid revenue commissioners' stamp
duty on assignment ..................£16 0
0
Paid stamp duty and Registry of
Deeds fees on memorial of assign
ment ...................................... £2 12
6
Total £40
8
0
When he noticed the number of letters he had
written in connection with the work he thought it
quite reasonable to charge 15/- for postages and
parchment.
At this stage the Solicitor was in somewhat of
dilemma because his client was a typist who had
the full responsibility for maintaining the home
and who had £13 a week in salary and whose
mother had pending an application for Widow's
Pension.
What to do about his own charges now gives
the So'icitor more worry and trouble than any of
the work and he is still wondering what to do
about this.
BAR
PRESSES
FOR LEGAL AID FEE
RISE
Comparisons with British and N.I. Systems
Unfavourable
THE MEMBERS OF THE BAR. at the annual
general meeting of
the Bar Council, held re
cently, voted by an almost three-to-one majority
to remove their names from the legal aid panel
109