Examples of some of our work.
We invest time in getting to know you and your family and understanding what you want to achieve now and in the long term. We have established long-lasting relationships with our clients, 97% of whom would use us again or recommend us to others.
Family wealth protection
We have recently advised and represented an heiress to a family fortune estimated at £900 million in relation to the preparation of a prenuptial agreement. Careful advice was required to formulate an agreement that would both protect the vast majority of the wealth the client is expected to receive in the next 10 years, whilst providing her husband with a financial settlement that would pass the English courts’ test of fairness in the event of a divorce.
Bespoke succession planning
We advised a family where succession was being considered across multiple generations. As well as providing wills for all family members and advice on the inheritance tax reliefs available, we also worked with our corporate colleagues to restructure the family business, ensuring value could be passed to future generations whilst control was retained by the senior generation.
Financial mis-selling
We acted for a high net worth entrepreneur client in a claim against his pension provider for failing to conduct sufficient due diligence on a fraudulent loan note investment into a property company. Our client lost the majority of his pension fund in this investment. The claim involved novel arguments as the duties owed by a pension provider in these circumstances have not yet been established. The claim reached a successful conclusion at a one-day mediation.
Complex trust and estate dispute
We represented clients in a long running high value estate dispute where an executor committed a serious breach of his duties. Proceedings against the former executor were pursued to safeguard the interests of our clients by seeking an account and the recovery of losses. We also supported our clients to pursue an associated professional negligence claim against the solicitors who acted for the former executors. The matter was successfully settled at a one-day mediation.
Inward investment through property
We acted for a client who wished to relocate his main residence to the UK from the Middle East. The client wished to acquire a multi million pound property in prime central London. We arranged building and services surveys on his behalf and liaised closely with the surveyors in reporting to the client. Funding was provided through a major UK lender with contacts in the client’s home state in the Middle East.
Family business advice
We act as trustee and adviser for a trust holding two separate farming estates, advising on the structure of those estates to maximise agricultural and business property reliefs. We are actively planning with the client for the management and succession of the estates to ensure appropriate long-term financial provision for the various strands of the family.
International wealth planning
We provided succession structuring to an ultra-high net worth individual which involved the formation of non-UK trust structures including a Private Trust Company to hold assets across multiple jurisdictions worth hundreds of millions. As part of this offering we worked with the family to create checks and balances within the structure and to assist with wider family governance.
Trust administration on behalf of the beneficiaries
We represent beneficiaries of a multi million pound trust including assets in an offshore property company. We are advising on the implications for the beneficiaries of changes in income tax and inheritance tax rules for non-UK companies.