Charities and not-for-profit

Partner

Partner & Solicitor

Lucy is a Partner who leads our Legacies team and our Inheritance & Trust Disputes team.  Lucy acts for charities and private clients advising on a range of issues relating to disputes arising about estates.  For private clients this can be a stressful and emotional time and Lucy and her team help families navigate disputes in a cost effective way to achieve their objectives. Lucy is also known for advising charity legacy teams about all aspects of legacy income including contentious trust and probate matters, legacy administration, charity law and probate. Lucy delivers solutions for clients beyond simple legal advice and is proud to have developed an innovative product called Legacy Accelerator to assist charities to grow their legacy income.  As part of that she has recently delivered a collaborative solution to a key charity client to work as an extension of a major national charity’s in house legacy team to manage the unpredictability of the work-levels associated with the administration of their legacy income. Having acted for many large charities, Lucy has a comprehensive track record in the sector and is able to share this experience and insight with her clients and apply it to her advice. The network she has built in her career enables her to make connections between contacts to enable a collaborative approach.

Partner

Head of Charity & Social Enterprise Sector Group

Partner in the Disputed Wills, Trusts and Estates team

Associate

Emma is a member of the firms Charity team and deals with a range of legacy matters. She advises charities on a range of legacy related matters. The majority of her work involves advising charities that have been left a gift in a will or trust and ensuring that the charity gets to use the money for its charitable purpose. She uses proactive, pragmatic thinking to unpick complicated scenarios to enable a release of cash allowing clients to fund their charitable objectives, such work relates to both legacy disputes and legacy administration. Emma also advises charities in relation to Will and Trust disputes and complex issues where the charity requires advice on its position as Executor/Trustee and/or Beneficiary. She also acts for charities as a legacy consultant undertaking legacy administration. She has gained invaluable experience working in-house on secondment with national charities as such Cancer Research UK, National Trust and Save the Children. This experience enables her to provide solution focused advice, based on her understanding of the issues at the heart of the organisation and the intricate connections between charity law, legacies and the importance of building and maintaining relationships with third parties. She oversees the day to day running of the legacy administration team at Foot Anstey. As the team has evolved and due to her in-house experience, Emma’s role also looks beyond the legal tasks associated with legacies and she is often called upon in an advisory capacity to provide support around accounting practices, risk management and procedures/processes for legacy teams.  She has also carried out strategic reviews and audits which are tailored to client’s needs. Emma works closely with the firm’s dispute resolution, private wealth and mental capacity teams to provide a seamless service to clients. She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS). She sits on the branch committee for STEP West of England (Chair) and is also a Non-Council Member Representative (Wales & West) on the England & Wales Regional Committee and the Chair. Emma has recently joined STEP’s Professional Development Committee.