CostA real estate lawyer's invoice splits into their own fee (for the work itself) and disbursements (costs paid to third parties on your behalf, like title searches and registration fees). Comparing only the headline fee between two lawyers can be misleading if their disbursement totals differ.
The lawyer's own fee
This is what the lawyer or notary charges for their professional time — reviewing the agreement of purchase and sale, handling the mortgage instructions from your lender, preparing and registering the transfer, and attending to closing. It's usually quoted as a flat fee for a standard residential purchase, though it can rise for anything non-standard (a complex title issue, a new-construction closing with builder-specific requirements, or a rushed timeline).
Disbursements — the costs paid on your behalf
- Title search — confirming the seller actually owns the property and it's free of undisclosed claims
- Title insurance — a one-time premium protecting against title defects and fraud (see our title insurance guide)
- Land registry/transfer registration fees — the government's fee for recording the new ownership
- Tax certificate — confirming no outstanding property tax arrears against the property
- Couriers, photocopies, and administrative fees — usually small individually, but they add up
- Mortgage registration fee — registering your new lender's claim against the property
How to actually compare quotes
Always ask for both the fee and an itemized disbursement estimate, not just a single bottom-line number — a lawyer quoting a lower flat fee but higher disbursements can end up costing about the same as one quoting the reverse. Since disbursements are largely fixed, third-party costs that don't vary much by lawyer, the fee itself is usually the more meaningful number to shop on.
Budget your total legal costs alongside land transfer tax and everything else on the closing cost calculator.