Terms and Conditions and Refund Policy

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Thank you for reading the terms and conditions for the Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd family law and/or legal and/or business advice and/or advice services (the services). What follows are the terms and conditions that apply when making use of the services and/or purchasing products via the following websites :

Before we begin…

Contacting us

Kindly note that all our communications are usually done via email.  To send us an email, click here. Or call 021 1110090 .

Let us begin…

These terms and conditions have 9 (nine) sections dealing with various products and/or services.

You confirm that you are approaching Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd, a private company based in Cape Town, South Africa, which is registered in terms of the laws of the Republic, with registration number being 2015/184185/07 (the Consultancy) for the following service(s) and/or Product(s), or related thereto:

  1. Part A: Legal Advice Consultation (Face to Face / Telephonic / Skype / Facetime);
  2. Part B: Email Legal Advice
  3. Part C: Unopposed Divorce Service
  4. Part D: Ante-nuptial / Pre-Nuptial Contracts
  5. Part E: Pre-nikkah / Post-nikkah Agreements
  6. Part F: Will Drafting
  7. Part G: Shariah Compliant Will Drafting
  8. Part H: Trust Drafting and Registration
  9. Part I: Master’s Office Filing

PART A: CONSULTATION (FACE TO FACE / TELEPHONIC / VIDEO)

This service comprises of the following:

FAMILY LAW AND / OR BUSINESS AND / OR LEGAL ADVICE AND / OR OTHER ADVICE CONSULTATION (FACE TO FACE / TELEPHONIC / VIDEO); or

ANY OTHER ADVICE SERVICES (FACE TO FACE / TELEPHONIC / VIDEO).

The following terms and conditions are accepted and confirmed by you:

Consultation

You confirm that you wish to have an initial consultation with a representative of the Consultancy (the consultant) on a legal and/or business issue and/or problem you have. This consultation may either be face to face, at the office of the Consultancy or telephonic, or video (Skype, WhatsApp Video or Microsoft Teams).

Date and Time

You will be contacted by a representative of the Consultancy, via email and/or WhatsApp and/or sms and/or telephonically, after we received proof of full payment, to arrange a date and time for the consultation. We shall contact you by no later than noon the following business day.

Our business hours are from 09:00 to 16:00 during a weekday (excluding public holidays and weekends). You may, however, contact us anytime outside our business hours telephonically, making use of our automated Voice Mail System or via email for any enquiries. We shall however only reply during our usual operating business hours.

Please note: Unless payment has been made and the date and time for the consultation have been confirmed by us; the consultation is not confirmed. Therefore, the date and time for the legal advice consultation are not reserved for you when making the consultation as you may decide not to go ahead with it and it would be unfair for us to reserve that date and time indefinitely. Therefore, from the time of making the consultation, up until the time of sending us proof of payment, your availability may have changed as well as ours and/or the legal consultant may not be available at the suggested date and time. Therefore, only once payment is made, do we take out our diaries, confirm when a legal consultant is available, and confirm with you when you are available. Once we ascertained a convenient date and time, for all concerned, will the consultation be confirmed.

Fee

The agreed and accepted fee for the initial consultation is R 1200 – 00 (One Thousand Two Hundred Rand) for 50 (fifty) minutes or part thereof paid in advance. Therefore, if the legal advice consultation only takes place for 15 minutes or less, then the initial consultation fee of R 1200 – 00 (One Thousand Two Hundred Rand) for 50 (fifty) minutes or part thereof is still applicable. No refund or part-refund would, therefore, be applicable.

Follow up consultations/work

If another consultation has to be arranged due to the time allocated for the initial consultation has expired, or very soon to be expired, or is sensible under the circumstances (e.g. to do research), then a further consultation fee as above or higher as otherwise advised would be applicable under the same terms and conditions as stated herein for the next consultation.
The fee of R 1200 – 00 (One Thousand Two Hundred Rand) for 50 (fifty) minutes or part thereof referred to above only applies to the initial consultation and a higher fee is applicable for further consultations and services provided by us.
Should the consultant and/or the Consultancy have to look up the legal position, do research, or require time to consider the legal problem/issue you may have, the estimated costs thereof shall be provided to you, and which you shall pay in advance and before the next consultation.
Lastly, should the follow-up consultation and/or additional future work to be done by the consultant be done in the capacity, other than that of a representative and/or legal advisor for Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd; then the future costs of the service(s) to be rendered would be between you and the party concerned, and to be paid to the party concerned. For example, this would apply when an attorney initially consulted with you, and then he or she would be providing the follow-up consultation and/or additional work via his or her law firm and not via the Consultancy.

Additional Services

The consultation fee is only for a consultation of 50 (fifty) minutes or part thereof as referred to above. Any additional services would be charged separately, with its own terms and conditions.

Consultation with a Legal Practitioner

The legal advice consultation will take place with a legal practitioner who is either an attorney or an advocate. Depending on the nature of your matter, complexity thereof, issues involved, or any other reason, the legal practitioner you are consulting with, may refer you to another legal practitioner (e.g. an attorney or trust account advocate) after the consultation.

Any fees and charges for services to be rendered after the legal advice consultation to which these terms and conditions apply would be between you and the legal practitioner you consulted with or to whom he or she referred you to. A separate mandate and/or agreement may need to be entered into with the legal practitioner you consulted with or to whom you have been referred to.

Therefore, before making the appointment and/or attending to advance payment, ensure that you are satisfied with these terms and conditions.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

You agree that should you wish to cancel the consultation which has been confirmed, you shall do so and inform us via email ([email protected] ) not less than two (2) working days from the day of the confirmed consultation day, failing which, you forfeit the fee paid to the Consultation. For example, if the consultation is for Wednesday the 14th, then in the case of you wishing to cancel the appointment, you should inform the consultancy via email ([email protected] ) no later than 16:00 on Monday the 12th;

Cancellation for confirmed consultations confirmed less than two (2) working days of the date of the consultation, does not entitle you to a refund.

For the cancellation of a confirmed consultation, which is eligible for a refund, an administrative fee of R 50 – 00 would be charged to effect the refund. This would only apply if the date and time of the consultation have been confirmed and you cancel it more than two (2) working days of the date of the consultation as in the example above.

Non-liability

We shall attempt to successfully ensure that we provide you with adequate legal advice, considering the issues presented by you in the time allocated and manner you provided it. However, in the unlikely event that should we provide you with incorrect legal advice based on the information and manner you provided it, you may only claim from us whatever payment(s) you made to us. Therefore, should you have suffered any loss and/or damages due to incorrect legal advice received from us, we may only be held liable for the payment you made to us for the legal advice and not any higher amount.
You may only request a refund after receiving the legal advice, based on valid grounds as provided herein, within 7 (seven) days of receipt of the legal advice so complained of.

Your banking details for a refund

If a cash payment or EFT was made, refunds would be paid into the banking account provided by you (see below). Otherwise, if a card payment was made, and a refund is possible, then in such a case, the refund would be made to the card used. We would still require banking details if card payments were made as not all card payments can be refunded.

Once we received your banking details, the refund will be attended to by the end of the next business day. Therefore, if you provided us with your banking details on a Friday, the refund would be attended to by us by the end of business the coming Monday. The same applies to card payments.

If you made a cash payment or EFT payment, and you do not bank with ABSA, it may take a few days for the refund to reflect with your bank. A card refund may take a few days as well to reflect. Please note that an administrative fee of R 50 would be charged for a refund relating to confirmed consultations as referred to above.

Please ensure you provide us with the following to avoid any delays in the refund (even in the case of a card payment):

  1. Account Holder’s Name:
  2. Name of Bank:
  3. Name of Branch:
  4. Branch Number:
  5. Account Number:
  6. Account type (Cheque, Savings, etc.):

PART B: EMAIL LEGAL ADVICE

For the email legal advice service, you confirm that you approaching Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd for the following service:

1 (one) legal question (300 words)

The following terms and conditions are accepted and confirmed by you:

  1. You confirm that you wish to have a single legal question answered. The legal question is basic, one which a reasonable legal practitioner would be able to answer, and where necessary, with basic quick legal research;
  2. Should the information provided in relation to the legal question be inadequate, vague or excessive, you shall be advised thereof and may be asked to resubmit your legal question in a manner that would enable the consultant to answer the legal question.
  3. The contents of the legal information relating to the legal question should be no more than 300 (three) hundred words.
  4. Should it be necessary, and in order to provide you with the necessary legal advice as efficiently as possible, we may contact you telephonically.

Turnaround time

Should you send your question between 08:00 and 16:00 on a business day, you should receive your professional legal advice before 12:00 (noon) the following business day. This is however on condition that legal research is not required or expected, in which case, you would be advised, and provided with the approximate date and time the legal advice would be provided. If you send it to us after 16:00 on a business day, or on a weekend or public holiday etc., you would receive your legal advice before 16:00 the next business day, again on condition that legal research is not required or expected, in which case, you would be advised, and provided with the approximate date and time the legal advice would be provided.

Fee

The fee for email legal advice starts from R 699 – 00 (Six Hundred and Ninety-Nine Rand) to answer a legal question based on 300 (three hundred) words of content. Should there be more than one question, then only the appropriate question would be answered.

Refunds

Once a legal question has been answered, there would be no refund should you not be happy with the answer. Refunds would only take place under the following circumstances:

  1. We advise you that the question is too complicated, which would require research, in which case you may request a refund or we shall refund you.
  2. You successfully convince us that we never applied the law reasonably to your legal question or that we did not reasonably provide you with the correct legal advice.

Should we at any point provide you with a refund, you agree that the refund shall never be greater than the amount you paid us for the legal advice. We shall not be held responsible for any damages suffered.

Non-liability

We shall ensure that we provide you with correct legal advice, considering the contents of your email to us. However, in the unlikely event that should we provide you with incorrect legal advice, and/or provided the legal advice more than 24 (twenty-four) hours late, without a reasonable reason, therefore, you may only claim back whatever payment(s) you made to us. Therefore, should you have suffered any damages due to incorrect legal advice received from us, or the late providing of the legal advice, we may only be held liable for the payment you made to us for the legal advice and not any higher amount.

You may only request a refund, based on valid grounds as provided herein, within 7 (seven) days of receipt of the legal advice so complained of.

PART C: UNOPPOSED DIVORCE SERVICE – PROVIDED BY ADVOCATE MUHAMMAD ABDUROAF

The terms hereunder refer to the unopposed divorce services offered by the Trust Account Firm of Advocate Muhammad Abduroaf (the Firm). A written agreement would be entered into with the Firm. All fees would be paid into their Trust Account.

  1. The fee for an unopposed divorce service is as follows: (a) R 9 500 – 00 (Nine Thousand Five Hundred Rand) if there are NO minor children involved; and  (b) R 12 500 – 00 (Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Rand) if minor children are involved.
  2. The above fee comprises the following, if applicable:
    1. All consultation(s), email(s) (sent and received) and communications up until the divorce;
    2. Drafting of the Consent Paper and/or Settlement Agreement and/or Parenting Plan (if applicable) based on the initial instructions provided. An additional fee may be applicable if further instructions are provided after a draft has been presented etc.;
    3. Work and expenses involved in starting and finalising the divorce; and
  3. Any work beyond the finalisation of the divorce at court (where a party appears to give evidence in court) is not included in the above fee.
  4. If the divorce does not proceed after the summons have been issued, due to your request, then there shall be no balance due to you. You shall still be liable for the entire fee referred to above. The same applies if the Defendant (spouse) defends the divorce, and in which case, the firm may withdraw as your lawyer, unless separate arrangements are made with them.
  5. NB: It is understood that the fee for the divorce could cost more than the amounts stipulated above, which would depend on the facts of the case and the work and expenses involved. For example, if the Sheriff is required to serve the summons at a the Defendant’s home or work, or additional disbursements and work would be involved not anticipated. Another example could be if the Plaintiff is overseas and documents should be couriered, and additional calls and emails should be attended to. Each case is different.
  6. You and your spouse shall co-operate fully in getting the divorce finalised within 8 (eight) weeks. Should there be a delay in the finalisation of the divorce beyond 8 (eight) weeks from the date the consent paper/settlement agreement has been signed by you and your spouse, due to your conduct and/or due to there being outstanding fees etc.; then additional fees may be applicable for unnecessary extra time spent in finalising the divorce which could have been avoided.
  7. If there are minor children involved, the Family Advocate or Court may have issues with your settlement regarding the children, which may cause delays, and would justify further costs to be paid by you not included in the above fee;
  8. If further work is required due to the following, then you (the client) shall be responsible for the additional costs:
    1. Revise/rework the consent paper/settlement agreement (R 2500 – 00 a revise/ rework) with or without a consultation;
    2. Postponement due to the Family Advocate or Court (R 2 500 – 00); and
    3. Any other extra work as advised.
  9. You confirm that if you wish to make use of the divorce services, the following applies:
    1. Full payment of all fees is received before an initial consultation is arranged, or otherwise agreed upon;
    2. The agreed terms of the divorce are provided to the Firm when first consulting with them or soon thereafter;
    3. All documents which need to be signed by you and/or your spouse (e.g. consent papers/power of attorney sent to you for signature, Annexure “A” for the Family Advocate etc.) are returned to the Firm within 24 hours;
    4. All original signed documents are sent to the Firm, before finalising the divorce, which includes the Power of Attorney, other documents, Annexure “A” and Settlement Agreement or Consent Paper etc. A failure to timeously send the originals may delay the finalisation of the divorce and cause additional costs to be charged;
    5. The Defendant in the divorce is readily available to be served at the Sherriff’s Office in Cape Town, CBD, or an alternative Sheriff’s Office as advised. If service does not take place at the Sheriff’s Office, then an additional fee would be applicable, to be paid in advance before the divorce is set-down and finalised. Furthermore, should the Defendant cause unnecessary costs to be incurred in relation to the service, then such costs are also to be paid in advance before the divorce is set-down and finalised;
    6. The Plaintiff in the Divorce is available on a day chosen by the Firm to attend to the divorce at the Western Cape High Court;
    7. The Family Advocate and/or the Court have no issues with the Consent papers/settlement agreement in relation to the minor children, if any; and
    8. No delays shall be caused by the Plaintiff and/or the Defendant.
  10. You further confirm that you shall provide the Firm with all relevant information regarding your matrimonial property regime, your children (if any) and your estate. You shall further ensure the settlement agreement and/or consent paper and/or parenting plan that you and your spouse sign deal with all aspects regarding your children (if any) and your estate, and everything has been disclosed therein.
  11. You confirm that the divorce will not be set down for hearing unless the full fee and/ or additional fees as provided above have been paid to the Firm.

Part D: Ante-nuptial / Pre-Nuptial Contracts

The Ante-nuptial / Prenuptial Contract is drafted at a fixed fee in relation to basic contracts. For example, should the parties wish to get married Out of Community of Property, without the Accrual Regime, only the basic clauses would be inserted.
Should parties wish to married Out of Community of Property, with the inclusion of the Accrual Regime, only the basic clauses would be inserted as well. The basic clauses are the net commencement values of their respective estates and any assets which are to be excluded.
Should the parties require additional clause, other than the basic clauses, then an additional fee would be applicable, advised to the client drafting commences.

You agree to the following when making use of our Ante-nuptial / Prenuptial Contract drafting and registration service:

  1. Full payment of the price before any work commences;
  2. You shall provide us with all the relevant information regarding the intended matrimonial property regime, which includes but are not limited to the following, if applicable:
  3. The net commencement value of your estates;
  4. Assets to be excluded;
  5. Any other relevant information.

You shall provide us with proof of address (e.g. utility bill) for both you and your intended spouse, as well as certified copies of your identity documents.

Part E: Pre-nikkah / Post-nikkah Agreements

When making use of our Pre-nikkah / Post-nikkah Agreement Services, you agree to the following:

Full payment of the price before any work commences;

You shall provide us with all the relevant information regarding the marriage, which includes but are not limited to the following, if applicable:

  1. Date of the marriage;
  2. Details of the Dowry; and
  3. Any other relevant information.

The Pre-nikkah / Post-nikkah Agreements are drafted at a fixed fee in relation to basic contracts. Should the parties require additional clause, other than the basic clauses, then an additional fee would be applicable, advised to the client before drafting commences.

Part F: Will Drafting

When making use of our Will Drafting Service, you agree to the following:

You shall provide us with all the relevant information regarding your estate and wounding up, thereof, which includes but are not limited to the following, if applicable:

  1. Details of bequeaths; and
  2. Details of the Executor;
  3. You shall provide us with proof of address (e.g. utility bill) as well as a certified copy of your identity document.

Please note that this service only applies to basic Wills. Should any clause be drafted that takes the Will out of the realm of Basic, then additional drafting costs would be applicable. These costs would be advised to you before drafted commences.

Part G: Shariah Compliant Will Drafting

When making use of our Will Drafting Service, you agree to the following:

You shall provide us with all the relevant information regarding your estate and winding up thereof, which includes but are not limited to the following, if applicable:

  1. Details of bequeaths; and
  2. Details of the Executor;
  3. You shall provide us with proof of address (e.g. utility bill) as well as a certified copy of your identity document.

Please note that this service only applies to basic Shariah Compliant Wills. Should any clause be drafted that takes the Will out of the realm of Basic, then additional drafting costs would be applicable. These costs would be advised to you before drafted commences.

Part H: Trust Drafting and Registration

When making use of our Trust Drafting and Registration Service, you agree to the following:

Payment of the price in advance.

You shall provide us with all the relevant information regarding your intended Trust, which includes but are not limited to the following, if applicable:

  1. Details of the Founder;
  2. Details of the Trustees;
  3. Details of the Beneficiaries; and
  4. All other relevant information.

You shall provide us with proof of address (e.g. utility bill) as well as a certified copy of your identity document.

All documents that should be submitted to the Master of the High Court, would be provided to us within 7 (seven) days.

Please note that this service only applies to basic Trusts. Should any Trust Deed be drafted that takes the Deed out of the realm of Basic, then additional drafting costs would be applicable. These costs would be advised to you before drafted commences.

Part I: Master’s Office Filing

When making use of our Master’s Office Filing, you agree to the following:

  1. The fee is R 100 – 00 per filing or collection of a document at the Master’s Office in Cape Town;
  2. The document to be filed should be delivered to our office either personally, courier or post.

The fee applies to only a single visit to the master’s office to either do the following:

  1. Collect a document;
  2. Deliver or serve a document.

It is your duty to ensure that the document is ready to be collected. Therefore, you should contact the Master’s Office beforehand, to ascertain that the document is ready for collection. We are not responsible for this.

If a document is not ready for collection, then an additional fee of R 100 – 00 would be applicable, payable in advance before this service is effected.

You should make arrangements to collect the documents from our offices within 7 (seven) day. Failing which, it shall be posted to you via ordinary mail, at a risk to you.