Price guide
What legal services cost in Hong Kong
Legal fees in Hong Kong are not published, which is why nobody can tell you what their matter should cost. This page explains how solicitors charge, what moves the number, and what a reasonable range looks like for the work people ask about most.
These are ranges, not quotes. A quote is what a solicitor gives you after seeing your facts, and any figure produced without them is a guess wearing a suit. Use these to tell whether a quote is in the right neighbourhood — not to decide what yours should be.
How solicitors charge
- Fixed fee
- One agreed figure for a defined piece of work. Common for wills, tenancy agreements and simple conveyancing. Ask what is excluded — that is where fixed fees stop being fixed.
- Hourly rate
- Used where the work cannot be sized in advance, which mostly means disputes. Ask for a rate, an estimate, and who will do the work — a partner's hour and a trainee's hour are different numbers.
- Scaled to value
- Chiefly conveyancing, where the fee moves with the price of the property.
- No win, no fee
- Generally not permitted for contentious work in Hong Kong. Treat an offer of it with caution and ask on what basis it is being made.
What moves the number
- Whether anyone is arguing — The single largest driver. An uncontested matter follows a known path; a contested one is priced for correspondence, hearings and time that nobody can size in advance.
- How many assets, and where — Assets outside Hong Kong usually mean instructing a lawyer in that place as well, which is a separate cost the Hong Kong quote will not include.
- Urgency — Work that has to displace other work is priced accordingly. A deadline you cannot move should be said at the start, not discovered later.
- How ready your documents are — Organised papers shorten the work. Reconstructing a file from scratch is chargeable time and is one of the few drivers you control.
- Seniority — A partner's hour and a trainee's hour are different numbers. On an hourly quote, ask who will actually do the work.
Typical ranges
Professional fees only. Disbursements are extra and are explained below.
Wills & Estates
| Simple willOne person, Hong Kong assets, no trust. | HK$1,500 – 4,000plus disbursements |
| Mirror wills, a coupleTwo matching wills prepared together. | HK$3,000 – 7,000plus disbursements |
| Enduring power of attorneyRequires a doctor and a solicitor to witness. | HK$4,000 – 9,000plus disbursements |
| Grant of probate, uncontestedVaries with the number and type of assets. | HK$15,000 – 60,000plus disbursements |
Family & Marriage
| Uncontested divorceBoth sides agree on everything, including children and money. | HK$15,000 – 45,000plus disbursements |
| Contested divorcePriced by stage. No firm can quote the whole matter up front. | HK$80,000 – 400,000plus disbursements |
| Prenuptial agreementEach party needs their own solicitor; this is one side's cost. | HK$10,000 – 30,000plus disbursements |
Property & Tenancy
| Residential purchase or saleOften scaled to the price of the property. | HK$6,000 – 20,000plus disbursements |
| Tenancy agreementDrafting or reviewing, plus stamping. | HK$2,500 – 8,000plus disbursements |
Company & Business
| Shareholders' agreementDepends on how many shareholders and how unusual the terms. | HK$20,000 – 80,000plus disbursements |
| Employment contract templateOne template, reusable across staff. | HK$6,000 – 20,000plus disbursements |
Disbursements are not the fee
Court filing fees, stamp duty, land search fees, agency and courier charges are paid out on your behalf and passed on at cost. They are a real part of what you pay, and a quote that leaves them out is not comparable with one that includes them. This is the most common reason two quotes look further apart than they are.
How to get comparable quotes
Give every firm the same facts, in the same words, and ask each of them for the same things: the fee model, what is included, what is excluded, the assumptions it rests on, and disbursements separately. Quotes built on different assumptions cannot be compared, and most of the time the client never learns the assumptions differed.
Or let us ask them for you
Describe your matter once. We turn it into a structured summary and put the same facts to firms that practise in the area, so the quotes that come back are comparable. Your account of what happened stays sealed until a firm has confirmed it can act for you.
Start — it is freeThis page is general information about market rates and is not legal advice, and not a quotation. Legal Store is not a law firm. Ranges last reviewed: NOT YET VERIFIED.