England - South East • Private client

1

Personal tax, trusts and probate: Kent, Surrey, Sussex

Irwin Mitchell

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The ‘brilliant’ lifetime and estate planning team at Irwin Mitchell offers advice to clients in the business wealth, rural business and private wealth spaces on all elements of tax, trusts and estate planning, including financial administration for individuals that lack capacity and Court of Protection work. Offering two trust companies and its in-house service, Irwin Mitchell Asset Management Limited, the team in Gatwick is led by the ’fantastic’ and ‘exceptionally good’ Caroline Shelton, who acts for business owners as well as professional sportsmen and landowners with complex assets, wealth preservation issues and succession planning needs. Leading the Chichester office is Naomi Neville, who focuses on instructions from high-net-worth clients and handles probate and estate administration work for those with urban and rural businesses. Also co-heading the team is the national director of legal services for private clients Paula Myers, and national head Paula James. Rose Macfarlane is ’a standout’ lawyer with a niche practice in non-contentious court applications for trustees.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Clear, concise, readily understandable advice is delivered promptly and efficiently by the team. Caroline Shelton is exceptionally good in terms of both expertise and responsiveness. She is a real pleasure to work with.’

  • ‘The team is extremely hands on and responsive. They take pride in their work and in their dealings with clients. They are extremely savvy too. Lucy Samy is very dependable and easy to work with. She is extremely knowledgeable. Her response time is superb. She is a steady pair of hands and is very reassuring in her demeanour and manner of dealing. She goes out of the way to ensure the client's needs are attended to.’

  • ‘A brilliant team who really think about their clients and their circumstances. The team offers great technical flair for spotting opportunities that others would miss.’

  • ‘Caroline Shelton is a fantastic asset to the team. She is responsive, client focused, and technically brilliant. She is one of my favourite people to work with across the industry.’

  • ‘The team offers a wide range of services over a number of locations and good knowledge of the law and its implications.’

  • ‘I have found the team to be incredibly responsive and knowledgeable in the field of UK tax. In addition, they are excellent with the underlying clients, able to explain complex tax points in an easily digestible manner, sensitive to an individual's particular needs. They are now one of my go-to UK firms for tax advice.’

  • ‘Rose Macfarlane is excellent and someone I rate both for her client manner as well as the exceptional quality of her advice. Truly a standout member of an excellent practice.’

Work highlights

  • Advised funeral plan policy trustees on steps needed, including the creation of new trusts, to achieve compliance of trust deeds and fund management in line with new FCA regulations.
  • Advising a family rural business and individual farmers on minimising their corporate and personal exposure to inheritance tax, through company restructuring, updates to business plans, improved will structures aligned with corporate documentation, and careful consideration of protective trust and corporate structure for the next generation.
  • Advising a husband with significant wealth, who is in a long-term second marriage to his wife with very limited wealth, in reframing his testamentary wishes to limit disputes and ensure that on his earlier death, his intention to pass all wealth to his own children is achieved.

Lawyers

Rising stars

Rose Macfarlane

Rose Macfarlane

Irwin Mitchell

Legal 500 Rising Star and Senior Associate Solicitor, Rose joined IM in January 2020 from another Tier 1 private client in the South East, to assist in the leadership and growth of Irwin Mitchell’s Gatwick private client team. The team has doubled in size since.   Rose enjoys advising a wide range of clients, often business owners and entrepreneurs and those with complex assets, some with international elements. She advises on all aspects of asset protection, succession and tax planning using Wills, lifetime giving, trusts, and enjoys working with clients’ professional advisers and corporate and tax colleagues to achieve holistic planning aims.   Rose has a strong reputation as a trust specialist amongst her colleagues, peers and referrers, acting as or advising trustees of dynastic family trusts, as well as trusts for business assets. She is a general legal resource for her family office clients, and is honoured to be personally appointed to the trusted roles of executor, trustee and attorney for clients.   Law is Rose’s second career, her first being in film, music video and commercials production. She particularly appreciates working with junior lawyers, encouraging and supporting their growth and development.

Leading individuals

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Caroline Shelton, Naomi Neville, Paula James, Paula Myers

Other key lawyers

Rose Macfarlane, Lucy Samy

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