Gilson Gray LLP

Making a new will can be a difficult experience but, Lisa, our solicitor was kind, knowledgeable and super-efficient. We couldn't have wished for better.

I had started drafting a will a few years ago when buying my first house, and due to various circumstances got side tracked and never finalised. Gilson Gray got in touch to remind me about it which was greatly appreciated and they put up with my slow responses. It was an easy process, and I had never done one before, so feel very happy with the advice and support I got in getting this all set up.

Settlement of the estate was handled very well. There was a lot of work to be completed and I appreciated that I was kept advised of progress and kept free of stress.

I had an excellent experience with Dougal. From the beginning, he was professional, knowledgeable, and always quick to respond to my questions. He made the entire will process simple and stress-free, explaining everything clearly and keeping me informed throughout. I would highly recommend Dougal to anyone looking for a reliable and professional solicitor. Thank you for a great service!

I have been a client of Gilson Gray for many years now and fully trust the team there. I have sold and bought a property through them, and they have helped me prepare my Will and arrange Powers of Attorney. I would not consider using any other solicitor.

We approached Gilson Gray LLP for both our will and sale/purchase of our home. They have been incredibly helpful, professional and most importantly very attentive to whatever we needed or asked of them. I will definitely be in touch with their team whenever we need any form of legal assistance!!!

I used Gilson Gray to sell my property and it was the best decision I made! From the moment of meeting Deborah I felt assured that she was the right person to assist through the process. Gilson Gray was not the lowest price I'd received for selling but the transparency and level of service being offered was what encouraged me to use them, in particular their amazing marketing package which they used to advertise the property. Deborah was absolutely fantastic and she also conducted all viewings on my behalf which meant I didn't have to take time off work, which for me was also a huge advantage. No question was too silly or small and Deborah was incredibly responsive. I was absolutely thrilled when my flat sold, over value, in what is a very difficult market and I genuinely don't think I'd have had such success had I not used Deborah and Gilson Gray. They also made the sale process very easy, and as someone who hadn't sold before I had a lot of questions! Rebecca was very patient and explained things to me so I fully understood everything and I found their support made the whole process easy. I also then engaged Gilson Gray to prepare my will - the service across all these items was personal, responsive and highly professional and the whole team is attentive and caring. I would highly recommend as my experience was brilliant.

I feel I should be writing 2 reviews... One the one hand, Deborah Bonner from their estate agency division is wonderful. Interested, and professional throughout, the photos, video and online listing she organised were superb and my flat sold to the first person who viewed it. I cannot recommend her highly enough. On the other hand - do not touch the legal services with a bargepole. Lowlights of my experience include: 1. Arranging a visit to their Aberdeen office private client division to discuss will-writing. I turned up (after a journey in the pouring rain and delayed by 10 mins due to a RTA) to be informed that the person I was to speak to was in their Dundee office – but that I could Zoom meet with them. Somewhat waterlogged, I pointed out that I could have done that from my own office. According to their receptionist, they had ‘no record’ of me as a client, and so could not have phoned or emailed me to let me know that the person I was supposed to be meeting F2F wasn’t there. This was after I had already engaged Ms Bonner to sort out the estate agency side and turned out to be an early example of the silo and bunker system they deploy, where nobody ever speaks to anybody else there. 2. You can expect to be asked by every single person you correspond with to ask you to complete the same client on-boarding information. In my case, since I had engaged them to both buy and sell a property, and having been allocated 2 separate solicitors to handle each aspect – I was asked twice. And then a 3rd time due to some holiday relief. And then a 4th time when somebody else climbed out of another bunker and got involved somehow. 3. You will be treated like a criminal mastermind as regards compliance with the anti-money laundering regulations. I realise that this is a common complaint with solicitors these days, but GG have found a whole new level of nit-pickery when it comes to ‘proving’ the legitimacy of monies arriving from well known shysters such as Aviva, First Direct, Chase and Fidelity. In spite of clear instructions from the SRA to avoid ‘over-zealous gold plating’ of requirements. Plus, a whole bunch of impertinent demands for information on why I am sending other amounts of MY money (not required for the purchase) – to people like my sister. 4. The solicitor engaged for the purchase side of things was ‘busy’ and basically did nothing (except relentlessly pursue AML ‘proof’) for weeks and then expected me to be immediately available at every moment when she did finally get round to some conveyancing. 5. By some miracle, the purchase went through on the correct day and I made the mistake of thinking I might actually be ‘home’ and dry. How wrong I was. 3 weeks later, it is time to complete on the sale of my previous property. I had been asked to nominate a bank account to receive the funds from this, and I chose Chase Bank. But NOWHERE in the endless correspondence does it state that GG will remit the money via the CHAPS system. And apparently nobody at Gilson Gray knows that Chase do not accept payment via this method. So, £167k of my money disappeared on the settlement day (30th September). And I entered a Kafka-esque world whereby GG’s bank (HSBC) and Chase each claimed that the other had the money. I spent hours and hours chasing each of these banks. The money was not finally returned to me until 7th October - the longest week of my life. And the attitude of GG? A gigantic shrug of the shoulders all round. No interest, or even sympathy for my rising levels of panic and certainly no apology for THEIR error in sending the money in the first place to a bank that they should have known would not accept it. This last point I issue as a warning to others who may also bank with Chase – they’ve been supposed to be joining CHAPS ‘soon’ since 2022 but haven’t. Do not under any circumstance direct any money there – and don’t expect GG to tell you not to either.

I can honestly say using Gilson Gray for the first time after having to sell my mums home has been extremely professional and very friendly throughout my journey with them. I would like to say a massive thank you to my solicitor Helen Hirst who’s understanding and compassion has been second to none from start to finish and I would highly recommend this company. Thank you very much Sara Gough

We really appreciate everything that Rachel at Gilsonite Gray has done for us , she has guided us throughout as we have sold a property belonging to my Father and has been difficult at times .No questions have been too much trouble and she has recommended and guided us through the process smoothly.