Guides
Solicitor and notaire: agree the scope before you pay
Read the scope of additional UK legal advice for a Burgundy purchase: the law covered, work delivered, person responsible and costs.
Contents
You may receive an offer of English-language legal support without knowing what it adds to the French notaire’s work. The title “solicitor”, the word “international”, or the promise of one point of contact does not, on its own, describe the service. Before accepting an additional engagement for your Burgundy purchase, establish what work will be done for you, which law it concerns, who will do it, and what you will actually receive.
Start with the question you need answered
Do not commission only a “complete check”. Describe why you are seeking advice: understanding the effect of a British family circumstance, examining a specific clause, or coordinating a British sale with a French purchase. You can then compare the proposed engagement with that need. If the difficulty is simply understanding one expression, a focused explanation may be more appropriate than a service whose scope remains unclear.
In France, the notaire’s functions include advice, drafting, and authentication. Additional support does not remove that role. Ask where the work complements it and which questions require a professional competent in the other relevant law. Speaking English does not, by itself, establish expertise in every jurisdiction or every cross-border issue that might arise.
Check the professional and the person doing the work
For professionals regulated by the SRA in England and Wales, the Solicitors Register provides a way to check an individual or firm. It verifies status rather than certifying specialism in your French transaction. For a professional regulated in Scotland or Northern Ireland, use the authority responsible for that jurisdiction rather than assuming the same register applies.
Then ask who will carry out the review. The firm’s name on its homepage does not necessarily identify the person who will prepare your advice. The SRA describes the information you should receive about the person handling the matter, their status, and the cost. You should be able to connect the proposal to an identified person and understand how a question reaches them.
Read the engagement as a specific commission
Look for four things: documents reviewed, law covered, work delivered, and exclusions. Translation, general explanation, and legal advice on a clause have different purposes. If the firm coordinates a French professional, ask who instructs that person, who invoices their work, and how their contribution appears in the proposal. “We work with local contacts” is not enough to establish what your engagement includes.
The cost should also be understandable: fixed fee or time spent, included work, additional services, and the procedure before exceeding an estimate. The SRA recommends clarifying what the solicitor will do and the financial consequences of your instructions. Request a clearer description if the engagement’s wording does not let you understand what you will receive.
Test the proposal against one real question
Before choosing the service, take one question you genuinely want resolved. Ask how it would be handled: translation, written legal analysis, discussion with the notaire, or referral to another adviser? You are not asking for the completed opinion before instructing the firm. You are establishing the method and deliverable. The answer often explains scope better than the length of the commercial agreement.
The guide to the French notaire covers the general role. For commercial information and viewings, Shawez Ali, real estate agent, can help coordinate exchanges with identified contacts. Choose legal advice on the basis of an engagement you understand: what will be examined, by whom, and with what result delivered to you.