We believe that Private Client is much more than just wills and tax advice, and our specialist lawyers benefit from their rare position operating as an integral part of a leading commercial law firm.

Our services are broadly offered across four areas.

• personal estate planning

• estate planning for the owners and operators of businesses

• trust and estate disputes

• notary services

Notable work:

• acting in the test case of Re Yorke (deceased), Stone v Chataway [1997] 4 All ER 907 to consider how and in what circumstances application might be made to the court for directions in relation to potentially insolvent estates of Lloyds Names (estates which could find themselves liable to pay policyholders both in respect of present debts and also (depending on the terms of the policies) in respect of truly contingent liabilities)
  

• advising the lay executors and trustees of a high-value estate where there were both onshore and offshore beneficiaries. We dealt with all aspects of the administration of the estate and advised the trustees on their ongoing responsibilities and duties. We were able to introduce other advisers to support the trustees in relation to their accounting, financial advice and foreign tax requirements and managed the whole process to make it as easy as possible for them, including acting as the main contact for the minor beneficiaries and their parents
  

• advising all generations of a prominent northwest business-owning family on their estate planning and on succession issues relating to the business. Coordinating the planning to take account of the needs of the different generations. We worked closely with existing accountants and financial advisors to deliver the client’s objectives.
  

• administering a high-value and complex estate where the deceased left a mutual will (which bound his widow to dispose of her estate in a certain manner). We advised the widow on varying the mutual will structure and worked with advisers (including solicitors and barristers) representing other beneficiaries to deliver the outcome requested by the client
  

• advising the parents and grandparents of a disabled child on provision for him via wills and trusts. We reviewed all existing arrangements and identified various issues which needed addressing, including the unscrambling of IHT planning that the client had entered into without advice, and which created a poor tax outcome
  

• dealing with the administration of the estate of an eccentric but very successful businessman. There were various complexities, including significant non-trading (business) assets, non-business assets and cash balances within the company which needed careful analysis and reporting to HMRC to ensure the availability of IHT relief, as otherwise there may have been an IHT liability of over £2m. The estate also included significant land holdings, most of which were not registered with the Land Registry and many of which required us to reconstitute the titles as the deeds had been lost. This led to our being instructed to advise all of the beneficiaries of the estate on their estate and succession planning.

Useful links:

• Society for Trusts & Estates Practitioners (STEP)

• HMRC Guidance | Inheritance Tax

• The Notaries Society (for general information and a list of notaries)

• The Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury (for history, supervision and regulation of Notaries)

• Office of The Public Guardian

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