Disbursements Explained
When you hire a lawyer, you may see two types of charges on your bill: the lawyer's fees for their time and work, and disbursements. This page explains what disbursements are, why they appear separately, and how they are handled on eSolicitors.
What Are Disbursements?
Disbursements are costs that your lawyer pays to third parties on your behalf as part of your matter. They are not the lawyer's fee for their work -- they are expenses incurred with external organisations to progress your case.
Common examples include:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Court fees | Claim fees, application fees, hearing fees |
| Land Registry | Registration fees, search fees, priority searches |
| Property searches | Local authority searches, drainage searches, environmental searches |
| Barrister's fees | Instructing counsel for advocacy or specialist opinions |
| Expert witness fees | Medical experts, surveyors, forensic accountants |
| Notarisation | Document certification, apostille fees |
| Overseas filing fees | Foreign court or registry fees |
These are real costs paid to third parties -- they are passed through to you at cost, without a markup.
Why Are Disbursements Separate from Legal Fees?
Disbursements are legally and practically distinct from your lawyer's fees:
- Your lawyer's fees cover the time, skill, and advice your lawyer provides
- Disbursements are third-party costs your lawyer manages on your behalf
Under professional rules, lawyers must keep client money and office money separate. Disbursements you pay go to the relevant third party -- they do not form part of your lawyer's income.
This separation also means you can see exactly what you are paying for: every disbursement appears as a separate line item on your account.
How Disbursements Work on eSolicitors
Transparency from the start
Before incurring any disbursement, your lawyer is required to inform you about the anticipated cost. You will see an estimated disbursement in your client portal before payment is requested.
Approval before payment
Your lawyer adds a disbursement to your matter and you receive a notification. You can review the details -- including the description, amount, and payee -- before approving payment. You are not charged automatically.
Separate payment
Disbursement payments are separate from your main matter escrow. When you approve a disbursement:
- You receive a payment request in your portal
- You review the amount and approve it
- Payment is processed directly via your saved payment method
- Funds go to your lawyer's account for them to pass to the third party
Receipt confirmation
After your lawyer pays the third party, they upload the receipt or invoice to your matter record. You can view this from your portal at any time. This gives you a complete audit trail.
What You Will See in Your Portal
In your client portal under any active matter, you can view:
- All disbursements added to your matter (with status: estimated, approved, paid, reconciled)
- The description and payee for each item
- The amount requested and the amount confirmed on receipt
- Uploaded receipts and invoices
Disbursements on Your Final Bill
When your matter completes, the platform generates a final bill summary that includes:
- All legal fee milestones with amounts and approval dates
- All disbursements with categories, amounts, and receipt references
- Your total expenditure across fees and disbursements
This summary is available to download as a PDF from your portal.
Can I Dispute a Disbursement?
Yes. If you believe a disbursement is incorrect, duplicated, or unjustified:
- Open the disbursement in your portal
- Click Dispute
- Provide a brief explanation
Your lawyer will be notified and can respond through the matter messaging system. If the matter cannot be resolved between you, it can be escalated through the platform's dispute process.
See Safety and Security for how the platform handles disputes.
What Is Not a Disbursement?
Your lawyer's own time is not a disbursement. Lawyer fees for advice, drafting, calls, and case management are charged as milestones under your agreed pricing model -- not as disbursements.
If you see an unexpected charge described as a disbursement that appears to be for the lawyer's own time, raise it as a dispute.
Related: Milestone Payments -- how your lawyer's fees are structured and paid