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Attorney fees - WWYD?
We are closing tomorrow on our new home. My BFF is an attorney and did our P&S for us at no charge and it ended up being a lot more work than the standard P&S due to the seller's agent falsifying initial P&S, seller's changing their minds about what they would agree to fix and other BS -- so lots of back and forth, addendums etc. THEN, unknown to me, the bank (USAA) appointed her to be the closing attorney, which she is also doing at no charge. She has to post charges for closing but they will be minimal and she is refunding them to us after close as a refund from the firm (her dad owns the firm). The closing has also been a little fraught with tension/anxiety as title ended up coming back encumbered, neighborhood covenants we never knew of, possible withdraw at the 11th hour etc and she's had to do a ton of investigation on our behalf too with the title, insurance cos etc. On top of that, she's been my shrink in dealing with my hothead DH through the whole process! I cannot even begin to tally the number of hours of work she's done on our behalf.
All that said... WHAT do I gift her as a massive thank you??? She is very selfless, hardly ever asks for anything and offers everything all the time. (As in she took my kids for days on end and even took my car to the shop for me when my dad was dying!) She is not really into spa-type stuff and is not at all materialistic.
Re: Attorney fees - WWYD?
Maybe take her out for a really nice dinner and drinks? Does she have another other hobbies? Event tickets if she likes sports, theater, etc?
I did some pro bono work for a friend who gave me an Amazon gift card as a thank you which was the best thing ever for me, because I am obsessed with Amazon and I had just gotten a Kindle.
A few nice bottles of wine, a gift card to somewhere she loves, a really nice dinner out. Anyone of those would work for me!
Not accept that refund check AND write her a check.
When she agreed to do this for you, both of you thought it would be a normal transaction. It has since turned out to be anything but. She has gone above and beyond and no piddly little restaurant or Amazon GC is gonna make it up to her. I'm shocked you'd think of anything but paying her a significant amount of cash. Not doing so means you're taking advantage of your friendship. Unless you have some skill you can barter back in exchange (eg: Does your DH run a landscaping company? Free lawn care for a year.), paying her is the only correct option.
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Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
While cash is always appreciated, as an attorney I would be touched by a thoughtful gift from a friend and would in fact appreciate it. I don't think those gestures are meaningless. Sometimes a transaction that seems simple get unduly complicated. It happens. I'm sure her friend isn't losing sleep over it. Just sayin'.
Maybe you could plan a date night for her and her significant other. GC to a nice restaurant, a show (either a live concert or just a movie in a theater), a stay in a nice hotel, etc. If she has kids, you could offer to watch them.
FWIW, I'd feel weird accepting attorneys' fees from my friends, especially when I volunteered to do the work for free. I'd rather receive something like a GC, night out, etc. than awkwardly accept a check.
Edited by moderator.