Wills & estate planning

Estate planning is one of the most important things that you will ever do for your family and friends. You can ensure that your loved ones are provided for in the way that you want them to be. If you don’t leave a valid Will the law of intestacy will determine who inherits your property and this might not be what you want, especially if you are co-habiting, have children or you have assets in several countries. The law doesn’t provide any benefit to friends or charities and is unlikely to be the most tax effective option.

You can expect a personalised level of service from us, and will benefit from our extensive experience dealing with high-net-worth families and individuals, as well as estates containing image rights, royalties and other such assets and income streams. No matter how complex your estate, we will provide you with practical, plain English advice on all elements of estate and succession planning.

At a time of bereavement, you can rely on our lawyers’ compassion, sensitivity and discretion. If you wish, you can instruct us to act in an administrative capacity for trustees and executors. We can advise beneficiaries on ways they might be able to mitigate inheritance tax through the use of past death variations of Wills.

We have been assisting our clients in this area since the firm was established in the 1950s. Many of the families and individuals we work with have a high public profile and it is our policy not to disclose details.

It is a matter of public record that we have acted in relation to the following high profile estates: Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Sir Anthony & Lady Quayle, Sir Dirk Bogarde, Michael Powell, Sir Stanley Baker, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Dorothy Sayers, Dame Agatha Christie, Graham Greene and Dylan Thomas.