Estate Planning

Your Will is a legal document of supreme importance to you.  We will understand quickly your motives and desires for succession to your estate and will give clear and robust advice on the options open to you to achieve your objectives effectively.

We know how to minimise the risk of a claim being made against your estate and are alert to the different dynamics within families.

We are quick to respond and to prepare documentation but we won’t rush you into making a decision; we are good at listening and deal promptly with concerns and queries. Our efficient but personal approach means that your experience with us will be a positive one.

If you have assets in multiple jurisdictions and complex business structures, high value real estate or other assets, we can give appropriate advice or liaise with other professional advisers when appropriate. We understand the need to dovetail succession planning with laws in other countries, with shareholder or partnership agreements where there are business or farming assets, and give expert advice on tax implications and structuring your Will tax-efficiently.

We are often called upon to advise on the creation, administration and interpretation of trusts and their associated tax issues and we act on behalf of settlors, trustees and beneficiaries. We match our keen academic knowledge of trust law with experience in finding practical solutions against a complicated conceptual background.

As you would expect, our advice is that anyone who has assets, and cares about what happens to those assets on death, should make a Will, but there are certain circumstances where it’s more important than ever to make or review your Will:

• A change of marital status – including divorce and separation
• Having children, step-children or grandchildren
• Substantial change in financial circumstances
• Buying or selling a property or a business
• Residence and domicile changes
• The death of a close relative or someone mentioned in a Will

Please don’t put off talking to us about making a Will; the result should prove to be peace of mind for you – and financial certainty for your family.

OUR EXPERTISE INCLUDES

• Probate and Estate Administration
• Wills & Succession Planning for Expats
• Estate Litigation
• Trusts
• Power of Attorney

Our lawyers can help ensure that the assets you have carefully built are preserved, protected and passed on in the way you intend.

EXPERIENCE

• No Living relatives in an Estate Administration:
  Becky Smith was a lively character who’ll be sadly missed by her neighbours and carers.  She never married or had children and when she died at the age of 97 she’d outlived her only sister and had no surviving family. 
  
• Slater v Orlando:
  Acting for the beneficiaries in multijurisdictional trust dispute challenging the exercise of the trustees’ discretion to appoint assets out of trust.
  
• Providing Advice in Cross Border Investigation:
  Advising a Jersey trust company in a cross border investigation into issues surrounding the settlor and main beneficiary of a family trust. The claims included allegations of undue influence and the misappropriation of assets including extremely valuable artwork.
  

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES

• Legal 500: Top-Ranked for High Net worth Individuals, 2020