Personal tax, trusts and probate: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40

Together with John Spratt, David co-founded the practice in 2002. He has spent his working life as a private client practitioner. After 26 years in London, having obtained his first grant of probate in 1967, David relocated to Banbury in 2000 bringing with him his significant London client base. He specialises in large complex estates and trusts. A member of STEP, David has produced three editions of Brighouse Will Precedents.

Partner

Jonathan Gater is a partner in the Wills, Probate, Tax & Trusts team at Blandy & Blandy.He specialises in trust and estate administration, Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection matters. He acts as Attorney for a number of clients, assisting them with the day-to-day management of their affairs and also regularly acts as Executor or Trustee for clients. Jonathan works closely with the rest of his team, who are specialists in Court of Protection matters. They regularly act for people who are under the jurisdiction of the Court of Protection and are experienced in acting as independent Deputies for incapacitated people, and making deputyship applications for family members who wish to be appointed.

Director and Head of Private Client

James is head of the Wills, probate, tax and trusts team based in the Thames Valley. He specialises in trusts and high end probate and inheritance tax planning.James main areas of expertise are: Wills, probate and powers of attorney, Section 11 IHTA Maintenance Trusts, the creation, administration, restructuring and termination of Trusts, Will structuring and planning for business owners and Inheritance Tax planning.

Natasha is a Partner in the Private Client and Tax team. Natasha advises on long term estate planning, handling both onshore and offshore trusts, tax planning and wills. She is very experienced in dealing with large landed estates, family offices and, in particular, heritage property issues. She undertakes a great deal of work involving complicated trusts; asset protection and devolution; and capital tax planning and also looks after several large families based outside the UK.

Nigel has been a specialist trust and estate practitioner for over 30 years. He has experience of estate administrations of all sizes and complexities, both domestic and international. This covers tax and trust planning, trust management and modification both onshore and offshore, complex estate administrations, literary estates, heritage property, charity issues and court of protection issues. These include disputed, high value and multi asset estates. He acts as a Court appointed independent administrator and Judicial Trustee in disputed trust and probate matters. He also lectures widely on tax and trust matters Nigel is listed as a Recommended Lawyer and recognised as a Leading Individual in Charities & Not-for-profit as well as for personal tax, trusts and probate by the Legal 500 (2023 edition). The Chambers & Partners (2023 edition) listed Nigel as a Leading Individual and he’s recognised in the Chambers High Net Worth Ranking (2023 edition).

Louise is a Partner and joint head of the Oxford Trusts, Estates and Tax Team. She is a highly regarded private client lawyer who advises on a variety of matters. Louise qualified in 2005 and joined our firm from Penningtons Manches Cooper in June 2019. Louise drafts Wills, sets up and administers trusts, administers estates and drafts and registers powers of attorney. She has expertise in the field of mental capacity and advises on disabled persons’ trusts, deputyships for children reaching adulthood and other welfare-related issues. She prepares lasting powers of attorney and Wills for clients with mental capacity issues and complex applications to the Court of Protection and High Court for mentally incapacitated people. These include applications for statutory Wills, for gifts and trusts, for removal of incapacitated trustees and for welfare decisions. Louise is the Deputy Chair of the steering committee for STEP’s mental capacity special interest group and she Chaired a session on mental capacity and welfare issues at STEP’s global congress in London in summer 2022. She regularly speaks on mental capacity topics and has presented for the Brain Injury Association and the Alzheimer’s Society among others. Louise is a Dementia Friend. In 2020, she completed an advanced STEP certificate in advising vulnerable clients, receiving a distinction. In addition, Louise is a member of the firm’s private wealth initiative and is able to provide advice to business clients on estate planning at all stages of the business cycle.  This includes tax advice and trusts for people exiting their businesses, advice on Wills and the interaction of Wills with corporate structures, advice on suitable structures for start-up owners and new partnerships and advice on trusts to hold company shares. Louise also administers business interests following death of business owners and advises on available tax reliefs for estates. Louise has considerable experience of working with international clients and advises on residence and domicile and cross border estate planning. In June 2023, Louise completed an advanced STEP certificate in UK tax for international clients, receiving a distinction.

Director

Niamh is a Partner at Gardner Leader in the Inheritance Protection Team. Niamh has many years of experience as a Private Client Solicitor.  She specialises in Will drafting and related Inheritance Tax planning, Probate and Administration of estates, Court of Protection matters, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney and capacity issues. Niamh’s niche strengths are working with the elderly and providing them with the specialist advice that they require.  She has an empathetic manner whereby she is able to offer excellent advice in a simple and clear way.  Niamh is very conscious that not everybody is able to understand and comprehend ‘legal jargon’ and ensures that all of her clients understand her advice.  Niamh is particularly interested in capacity issues.

Ben is a Partner in the Wills, Trusts and Estates team. Ben regularly assists a broad range of private clients with structuring their lifetime affairs, including advising on Will drafting, preparation of lasting powers of attorney, inheritance tax planning and the creation of trusts. In addition, Ben regularly deals with the administration of both trusts and estates and has particular expertise in the income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax issues arising in the course of such administrations. Ben joined Field Seymour Parkes in 2011. As well as being a qualified solicitor, he is also a Chartered Tax Adviser and a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians.

Eleanor is a Partner in the Private Client and Tax team. Eleanor deals with all aspects of onshore UK tax, private client and trust work and her clients include large family businesses. She advises on offshore structures and international tax and estate planning, with a particular interest in the USA. Eleanor is a member of the firm's arts team and advises on the full spectrum of art matters for private clients. She also specialises in charity law, dealing in particular with governance issues, philanthropy and CSR planning for high net worth individuals and companies.

Tom is a Senior Associate Solicitor in the Private Client team. His primary areas of expertise are Wills, Trusts, Personal Taxation, Powers of Attorney and Administration of Estates. He specialises in particular in estates with a cross-border element. He advises on Court of Protection matters including Lasting Powers of Attorney, Deputyship and Statutory Wills. Tom also advises on contentious matters such as disputes over validity of wills and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

Senior Associate Solicitor  

Kathryn is a Senior Associate solicitor and Notary Public, who specialises in Wills, inheritance tax planning and high net worth estates. Kathryn advises and prepares Deeds of Variation. Inheritance tax planning post death. She is a member of the Solicitors for the Elderly and specialising in elderly client matters, to include preparation of lasting powers of attorney and applications to the Court of Protection. She is the Secretary for the Thames Valley Branch of STEP and also acts for the trustees of a local Charity on a pro-bono basis.