Private wealth

Wills & succession planning

Protecting your wishes beyond your lifetime.

Creating a will can seem like a daunting prospect, raising questions of mortality which you may prefer not to contemplate. However, it is one of the most significant things you can do to provide for your loved ones beyond your lifetime. Without an up to date and well-drafted will, you are at risk of the distribution of your estate not reflecting your true wishes. Whether your circumstances and wishes are relatively straight forward or more complex, you need a trusted adviser to support you to prepare a tax efficient will and to document precisely how you would like your assets to be managed on death.

Our team has the expertise to guide you through the process of making and updating your will, providing you with advice that is tailored to your unique circumstances. Many of our clients have complicated personal affairs which could include being domiciled abroad, holding assets in multiple jurisdictions or wanting to protect wealth through multiple generations. We gain a holistic understanding of the complexities of your life. This allows us to provide you with the certainty that your plans have been set out exactly as you would wish.

An age of apathy?

A will remains the most effective way to divide assets and provide for those close to us on death. So, why don’t more people under 50 have one?

Read our report

wills for business owners

We advise clients who own businesses on how best to structure their will so as to make use of business property relief in passing assets down to future generations. A will trust to hold business assets is often flexible and tax-efficient, whether the intention is that the business continues to be owned and run by the family, or the business will be sold.

Assets in multiple jurisdictions

Wealthy clients often hold assets in a number of jurisdictions, meaning that consideration must be given to the local laws that govern both succession and tax. In some cases, this means coordinating the preparation of a separate will in each jurisdiction rather than one global will. The client’s focus may also be on protecting assets for future generations, and we can ensure that this is done in a way which works in every relevant jurisdiction.

US/UK marriages

We regularly advise married couples where one spouse is a US citizen. Often the careful use of will trusts can ensure that there is no tax on either side of the Atlantic on the first death, and that tax is mitigated when assets pass to the next generation. We work with American advisers to prepare wills which achieve optimum efficiency in both the UK and US.