Lauren is a Senior Solicitor in our Private Wealth and Tax team. She advises individuals and families on succession- and tax-planning.
Lauren assists with the preparation of wills and powers of attorney, as well as dealing with adults with incapacity issues, and complex estate administration. She specialises in handling complex executries, and routinely deals with inheritance tax compliance for high-net-worth estates. Lauren also has a keen interest in estates with an agricultural dimension – and on those where assets are held outside of the UK, considering foreign laws and issues of domicile – and advises both domestic and international clients on these issues.
- Preparing a variety of complex wills involving trust provisions for younger beneficiaries or those lacking capacity; inclusion of agricultural/business assets; large charitable legacies; and considering how UK wills interact with wills signed outside of the UK.
- Assisting with estate where multiple assets were held in foreign jurisdictions such as Australia, US, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa.
- Involved in a high-profile and high-value family estate involving complex IHT calculation with aggregable lifetime trust; variation to the estate to allocate Business Property Relief assets to non-exempt beneficiaries (to avoid relief being lost); and appropriation of shares.
- Leading on estate with high-value property, involving a successful negotiation with the HMRC District Valuer, resulting in significant tax saving.
- Leading on an estate which included an expectedly valuable painting, including confirming provenance of the painting resulting in a sale via auction house in New York for in excess of $4 million, and negotiations with the HMRC Shares and Assets Valuer to secure a discount to the date of death taxable value.
- Assisting with estate and winding up two lifetime trusts – complex arrangement to mitigate tax payable by careful allocation of estate and trust assets to beneficiaries, including hold over relief and variations;
- Assisting with high-net-worth Family Investment Company (FIC), including administration and corporate compliance, and advising directors and shareholders.
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