Adam is a Wealth Advisor within Womble Bond Dickinson Wealth Limited, having previously worked as a maths teacher at a local secondary school. Adam enjoys working alongside a variety of individual and Trust clients, developing trusted relationships and providing advice on a wide range of issues such as investments, pensions and Inheritance Tax.

Adam achieved his Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning in 2018 and was awarded the 'Cass Prize' by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Newcastle upon Tyne for the highest marks in the region. He is now working towards his Advanced Diploma and becoming a Chartered Wealth Advisor. Adam is a member of The Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute. His qualifications to date cover a wide range of financial planning needs such as portfolio management, retirement planning, Inheritance Tax planning and taxation of both individuals and trusts.

Alexander specialises in advising UK based clients particularly those with real estate assets. He advises a number of historic landed estates as well as individuals and families. His core skills apply to the areas of personal tax, wills and trusts. Alexander chairs private family offices, acts as trustee of private and charitable trusts and as a director of private companies.

Alison is a highly experienced private client lawyer with wide-ranging expertise in tax and estate planning.

She advises business owners, farmers and landowners, high net worth individuals and trustees. She is also the former Chair of the North East and Cumbria branch of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), which is the global professional association for practitioners specialising in family inheritance and succession planning.

Andrew advises clients in relation to all aspects of rural property and has acted in the sale and purchase of many large farms and estates, and agricultural and residential rural property portfolios.

His particular area of expertise lies in acting for landowners in the grant of options and leases to wind farm operators, whether for turbine development or access and infrastructure. He has also acted for clients looking to install their own small or mid-wind turbines on farms to take advantage of Feed in Tariff. He has also acted for landowners in relation to Solar PV development agreements, and on anaerobic digestion projects.

Andrew advises on the grant of and on issues arising from agricultural tenancies, commercial leases and easements. He has particular expertise in advising site providers, whether greenfield or rooftop, on the grant of leases to communications operators. Andrew routinely acts for landowning clients on complex conditional sale contracts and overage agreements on the sale of rural landholdings for residential or commercial development.

Andrew has dealt with numerous voluntary first registration applications for major landowners, encompassing registration of their surface and mineral interests, where the latter may be derived by means of reservation on sale, or out of an historic manorial title. He has significant experience in advising mineral owners in the negotiation of prospecting agreements, option agreements, transfers and leases of minerals and now plays a key role in advising severed mineral owners looking to exploit their mineral interests in innovative ways where surface development is planned.

Carol joined our Charities team as a solicitor in 2022 having trained and qualified with the firm. During her training, Carol assisted in advising charities on a wide variety of issues including property ownership and disposals, constitutional matters, incorporation and restructuring. 

Prior to training and qualifying as a Solicitor, Carol worked as a property development finance paralegal and has extensive experience. reporting and advising clients on property transactions. Before making the change to a career law, Carol spent years working as a bilingual customer service representative in various sectors where she developed numerous transferable skills including client care and customer relations, time management, public speaking and communication, file management and organisational skills.

Christopher specialises in advising private clients in relation to their estate planning needs, including wills, trusts and inheritance tax mitigation. His work includes the formation and restructuring of family trusts to achieve tax efficient succession planning, and advising owners of landed estates on inheritance tax mitigation, including maximising agricultural and business property reliefs, and advising on capital gains tax. He also advises on pre-sale tax planning for shareholders in private trading companies.

He has advised non-UK resident trustees on tax efficient distributions to UK resident beneficiaries, and has advised on residence and domicile issues for private clients coming to or leaving the UK, including obtaining favourable domicile rulings from HMRC on behalf of private clients.

He advises institutional trustees on all aspects of trusteeship, including trustees' duties and powers, claims by beneficiaries and tax planning, and frequently advises pension scheme trustees on the creation of trusts to hold death benefits.

Christopher acts as a trustee for a number of family trusts and is a member of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Colin began his career in tax and by 1987 he was a tax manager with EY. At that point he changed career by joining a national firm of Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) before re-joining EY and managing their regulated IFA team in Newcastle. On the sale of the EY IFA practice Colin joined the firm in 2005.

Colin holds the Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. He is a member of The Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute.

In a fairly lengthy career Colin has undertaken a wide variety of assignments including:

• Formulation of redundancy/retirement counselling programme for major public body consisting in design and delivery of nationwide seminars covering tax, investment and pension issues. Developing strategies for client asset allocation, fund manager selection and monitoring along with potential use of tax efficient vehicles such as “private funds”
• High and sophisticated Inheritance Tax mitigation
• Establishment and management of multi asset class portfolios for private clients, trusts and pension funds including SIPPs
• Advice on accumulation and “decumulation” of pension arrangements in the light of recent legislation.
   

Colin’s grounding in tax is invaluable as an investment and pensions adviser. 

David specialises in agricultural and rural property matters including the sales and purchases of agricultural land, agricultural tenancies, secured lending and the granting of rights and easements.

Deborah specialises in advising agricultural clients in relation to Wills and trusts aimed at retaining and protecting assets for the benefit of future generations. She also advises trustees about the scope of their powers and in varying existing trusts where appropriate.

Deborah acts for a number of clients who lack the capacity to manage their financial affairs. She is one of only 60 Panel Deputies appointed by the Court of Protection to represent those people who lack the capacity to manage their financial affairs.

Deborah acts as an expert witness advising on the likely fees for a Deputy as part of claims for damages arising out of personal injuries. She has acted for local authorities and the NHS as well as claimants in relation to such claims.

Deborah has advised extensively in relation to providing for children with special needs in using lifetime trusts and Will trusts. She has spoken at a number of seminars on behalf of Mencap, Durham County Council and at a number of parent organised events. She has acted for Mencap in providing a precedent discretionary Will trust documents for use by other solicitors.

Deborah is a member of the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners.

Emma leads the charities team having joined the firm in 2007 from a leading London charity practice. The team spends 100% of its time supporting charities and not for profit organisations.

She specialises in governance and constitutional issues for charities and advises trustees and directors on their legal duties and responsibilities, ensuring compliance with the law and regulation.

Main areas of work include the establishment of new charities, incorporations and governance reviews, restructuring, mergers, collaborations and partnerships, trading, fundraising and tax, commercial contracts affecting charities and compliance issues, including Charity Commission regulatory action. Emma is also on the panel of Charity Commission approved Interim Managers.

Emma is down to earth and straightforward in her approach, believing clients in this sector benefit from practical advice which is tailored to achieve their aims; supporting clients to deliver their objectives for the benefit of the communities they serve.

Emma is immersed in the sector through her work with umbrella bodies, she is a trustee and regular contributor to legal journals and publications and is also a member of the Charity Law Association.

Emily is an experienced private client lawyer who specialises in providing personal legal advice on wills, trusts and estate planning. She also advises banks, insurance companies and professional trustees, both onshore and offshore, on aspects of trust law.

Emily trained at the firm and has specialised in private client work since she qualified in 2008. She has a diverse client base covering Scotland, the North of England and further afield.

Emily’s main area of expertise is providing advice to entrepreneurs and business families, including owners of landed estates. She takes a particular interest in the challenges facing family business owners as they seek to pass wealth through the generations, advising on succession issues and planning for the future.

Emily is a qualified Trust and Estate Practitioner and a member of STEP, the worldwide professional association for those advising families across generations. She is dual qualified in Scotland and England & Wales and is a Scottish Notary Public.

Elisabeth acts for a wide variety of individuals advising on a range of areas including wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney, advance decisions, inheritance tax planning and related matters. As well as advising individuals, Elisabeth also provides advice and support to professional and corporate trustees.

Ellen advises landed estates, institutional lenders, companies, charities, trusts and individuals in relation to all aspects of rural property law, including:

• Sales, acquisitions and lettings of commercial grouse moors
• Sales and acquisitions of farms, agricultural land, residential property and development sites
• Financing and refinancing of agricultural property
• Easements, profits à prendre and rights of common
• Agricultural tenancy matters
• First registrations of land and sporting rights

Ellen has a particular interest in the acquisition/disposal of sporting estates, but her practice also includes non-transactional work, with a focus on Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies and disputes.

Fiona joined the firm as a trainee in 2011 and qualified as a solicitor in the wills, trusts and probate team in 2013. She was promoted to Associate in May 2017 and qualified for the STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates (England and Wales) in June 2017.  

Fiona is building up her reputation as a trust and estates specialist, advising clients with substantial assets and complicated family relationships and using appropriate structures to pass wealth down the generations in a tax efficient and controlled matter.  She acts for a wide variety of individuals, including business owners, elderly clients and lottery winners, covering a range of areas such as wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney, advance decisions, inheritance tax planning, gift and statutory will applications in the Court of Protection, and other related matters.

Fiona balances technical expertise with the softer skills necessary to deal with difficult family situations and was included in eprivateclient's 2017 "Top 35 under 35" list of private client practitioners in the UK.

Fiona runs the firm's Leeds office social committee and is also a member of the Leeds graduate recruitment team.

Gareth is a Chartered Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, with over 20 years' experience in advising clients on various financial planning matters.

Alongside his advanced financial adviser qualifications, Gareth is also an Affiliate member of STEP (The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), which builds on the full range of services offered by the in-house lawyers and tax experts within the firm's Private Wealth team.

Gareth specialises in providing advice to individuals, trusts and companies on a broad range of financial matters. He enjoys building long term and trusted relationships with his clients in order to deliver well-rounded and flexible advice. 

Frequent areas of work include pensions and retirement advice, inheritance tax planning and investment portfolio reviews. He regularly works closely with other professional advisers, such Solicitors, Accountants, Corporate Finance Managers, Stockbrokers and Land Agents, to collaboratively embrace planning areas such as Trust structures, offshore investments and commercial property purchases via pension funds.

Harry completed his training contract with Womble Bond Dickinson, and qualified into the firm's Private Capital team in Newcastle as a Solicitor in September 2021.

Harry advises clients on a range of trust, inheritance and estate disputes. In particular, Harry's experience includes advising clients on high-value and complex inheritance disputes, will validity challenges under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, trustee disputes and removal applications, and estate administration issues. Harry also has experience in tax litigation and disputes, and professional negligence claims.

Harry advises and represents individuals, families, organisations, trustees, charities and agricultural clients.

Heather has over 20 years’ experience, mainly involved in elderly client, probate and Court of Protection work. She has been a Court of Protection Panel Deputy (in cases where there was no one else suitable to act) for 14 years.

Heather carries out private and corporate client work, mainly involved in elderly client, trusts, probate and Court of Protection work. 

She has provided expert advice to institutional and other professional clients on a range of trust, probate and other issues and has received referrals from the Court of Protection and Office of the Public Guardian for a number of years. Heather also has useful cross-discipline experience in dealing with property matters, frequently providing legal advice to property lawyers in cases where a trust or estate has an interest in land.

Helen is a Notary Public.

Helen handles all aspects of private client work, with particular emphasis on asset protection and capital taxes planning for high net worth individuals. Her main areas of expertise include wills, trusts, inheritance tax, probate, lasting powers of attorney, advance decisions and advice on the death benefits of life and pension policies. Helen acts as a trustee for many family trusts and advises on all aspects of trusteeship and trust management. She has a particular interest in legal issues relating to end of life decision making and succession and capacity issues relating to people with property interests in more than one country.

Helen is a member of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and an English Notary Public which enables her to authenticate documents to be used in foreign countries.

James advises individuals and their families on tax, succession and estate planning issues.

Much of his work is focused on UK resident and domiciled families interested in the long term preservation of inter-generational wealth. He helps with the mitigation of capital taxes through the use of suitable lifetime gifting strategies and the creation of Trusts and other asset structures. James also advises on the preparation of Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

He has a strong international practice advising non-UK domiciled individuals on UK tax issues impacting them such as pre-UK arrival planning, the remittance basis of taxation, the ownership of UK real estate and the use of Excluded Property Trusts. James regularly advises the trustees of offshore trusts on the UK tax implications of having beneficiaries based in the UK. 

James has a specialist practice in US/UK estate planning. Typically, clients will be US citizens living in the UK (but they can also be US citizens living in the US with other connections to the UK such as property ownership or children in the UK). He also works with US qualified professionals to provide cross-border transatlantic estate plans mitigating taxes in both jurisdictions.

Jane joined the firm as part of our graduate recruitment programme in 2002 and is now a chartered financial planner and manager within the team. She specialises in providing advice to individuals, trusts and companies on a broad range of financial topics, including investments, pensions and protection. Working closely with the firm's legal and tax experts, Jane is able to contribute to a multi-disciplinary approach that assists clients to maintain and grow the wealth of their family and to improve the prospects for their business. 

Jane has a range of qualifications, including a Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. She is a member of The Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute. Many of Jane’s qualifications focus upon planning for those reaching retirement and in later life, including advanced exams in retirement planning and long term care planning. She has a wealth of experience in advising clients regarding Inheritance Tax planning, ranging from simple steps to improve the tax efficiency of an estate, to more complex investment solutions to reduce tax liabilities. 

Jane is a frequent contributor to a range of publications, including the local press and in-house newsletters and magazines. She also arranges and hosts seminars on a regular basis, keeping clients informed on a range of financial topics and market updates.

Janice specialises in residential conveyancing, commercial property and agricultural property transactions.

She has in-depth experience of domestic residential transactions and has acted for a wide variety of high net worth individuals in the sale and purchase of both freehold and leasehold properties. She has also acted for a range of lending institutions in connection with the re-financing of primarily London properties, in the sale of properties for insolvency practitioners and also acted in connection with the property elements of the administration of estates for the trusts department of a well-known UK bank.

In addition Janice has become increasingly involved in acting for a number of estate owners in relation to asset management, including sale of surplus property and letting of both residential and commercial premises and the granting of easements.
 

Jo specialises in advising charities and those who work with charities on all aspects of charity law and governance. 

Whether establishing new charitable organisations for philanthropists, or advising national household name charities on new projects or ventures, Jo delivers the project efficiently and in a straightforward manner. 

Jo advises across the range of charitable activity and has particular experience in advising religious bodies on restructuring and managing complex trust arrangements.

Her experience in managing charity mergers includes acting on the merger that formed Cancer Research UK, the four national Age UK charities and more recently the merger of St Mungo’s Broadway. 

With the Charity Commission becoming a more active regulator, Jo has advised numerous charities who face questions from the Commission or who are subject to a section 46 Inquiry. 

Jo is a member of the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association and Chaired the working party on the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act and gave evident to the Joint Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords. Jo lectures on issues of charity law and writes regularly for the sector press. She also serves as a school governor.

Joe joined the firm's Wealth division as part of our graduate recruitment program in 2013 and is an analyst in the team. Joe assists the advisers in the team in providing advice to individuals, trusts and companies on a broad range of financial topics, including investments, pensions and protection.  

Joe is currently working towards his Diploma in Financial Planning. He is a member of The Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute. Joe’s existing qualifications cover topics including Investment Analysis, Taxation and Protection. Joe has a degree in Law and French from the University of Nottingham. 

Joe has a particular interest in investment analysis and management, and is experienced in building and reviewing portfolios for private and corporate clients.

Joe is an experienced litigation lawyer in WBD's Private Capital team, specialising in the resolution of complex disputes about trusts and inheritances. He has wide experience of negotiation, mediation and litigation, having conducted cases in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Protection. He advises private individuals, families, trustees and charities on the full spectrum of disputes which arise in relation to high value and complex trusts and estates. These include Will validity disputes, applications under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the contested removal of personal representatives and trustees, disputes involving alleged breaches of trust and litigation involving claims under the doctrine of proprietary estoppel. His cases also include professional negligence claims in relation to the preparation of Wills and tax planning advice. Joe also has experience in the Court of Protection in disputes on the Property & Financial Affairs pathway.

Joe is one of the very few full members of Association of Contested Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) based in the North of England. He is also a member of the Contentious Trusts Association (ConTrA) and an Affiliate member of The Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP). He is also an accredited mediator.

Kayleigh specialises in commercial property and the development of agricultural land, acting for both landowners and developers.

She has significant experience acting for a cross section of landowning clients, including individuals, developers, institutions, charities and private individuals.

Kayleigh advises landowners on the strategic development of their land. Her experience includes negotiating and drafting option agreements, conditional contracts, promotion agreements and overage agreements.

In addition, Kayleigh has significant experience acting for renewable energy landowners and developers on a variety of energy projects including solar, onshore and offshore wind, gas peaking plant portfolios, battery storage and anaerobic digestion projects. 

Laura specialises in commercial property and agricultural property transactions.

She has significant experience acting for a cross section of landowning clients, including institutions, charities, private individuals, banks and developers.

Laura supports landowners with a variety of property issues. Her work ranges from drafting of leases for commercial premises to option agreements and the sale and purchase of commercial or agricultural property, including multi-let property. She has expertise in advising on tenancies, including agricultural land tenancies, both drafting new tenancies and terminating existing tenancies.

Laura has experience involving the development of agricultural land: acting for both landowners and developers, negotiating and drafting option agreements and conditional contracts and promotion agreements.

In addition, Laura has been involved in advising on renewable energy projects by drafting options, leases and easements for solar and wind projects. Her experience includes advice on protected agricultural tenancies and the surrender of land in conjunction with exercise of the option agreements.

Leslie is a Director within Womble Bond Dickinson Wealth Limited.

Leslie is responsible for Compliance, Operational management and oversight and is the Money Laundering Reporting Officer of Womble Bond Dickinson Wealth Limited.

He is a member of the Personal Finance Society and of the Chartered Institute of Insurance and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Mark qualified as a solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson and returned to the firm in September 2012 after a spell as the head of Charities and Education at a regional law firm.

Mark advises on the full spectrum of charitable matters including registration of charities, conversion of charities to CIO status, mergers, restructures and the establishment of subsidiary companies, advice on charitable trusts and dealing with the Charity Commission as a regulator. Mark advises charities from across the sector but has particular expertise in advising faith based and educational charities. Mark has also acted for a number of cathedrals on implementation of the Cathedrals Measure 2021.

As well as being an experienced charities lawyer, Mark is also a member of the education team advising schools and academies on academy conversions, multi-academy trust mergers, significant changes to academy trusts and a host of other governance and regulatory issues. Mark has acted for a number of Church of England Diocesan Boards of Education advising on academies projects, school site and closed school issues and implementation of the Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 2021. Mark also has a number of independent school clients and advises independent schools on a broad range of charity law matters.

Mark is ranked as "Next Generation Partner" by Legal 500. Mark regularly speaks at conferences and seminars and provides trustee training. Mark is a member of the Charity Law Association and Ecclesiastical Law Association.

Mark has extensive experience of advising high net worth individuals, banks and trust companies on inheritance and capital gains tax planning. He acts principally for families, advising on protecting assets and ensuring that they pass to the next generation tax efficiently through the use of wills and trusts.

Mark also advises individuals on tax efficient charitable giving.

Additionally, Mark has extensive experience of acting for charities on all matters, ranging from formation, incorporation, governance issues, advice on trustees powers and duties and Charity Commission investigations.

Michael specialises in a wide variety of private client work for individuals including Wills, Trusts, Tax and Estate Planning, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Probate and other related matters. Michael also has experience advising Trustees and Executors of their duties and responsibilities and making them aware of potential claims by beneficiaries.

Michael has been named as one of the 2021 eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35. 

Nadine is a private client lawyer who specialises in providing personal legal advice on wills, trusts and estate planning. She also advises banks and other professionals on various aspects of Scottish law.

Nadine trained with Somerville and Russell and has specialised in private client work since she qualified in 2021. She aids in advising a diverse client base covering Scotland, the North of England and further afield.

Nadine’s main area of expertise is providing advice to high net worth individuals and business families, including owners of landed estates. She takes a particular interest in the challenges facing family business owners as they seek to pass wealth through the generations, advising on succession issues and planning for the future.

Nadine is qualified in Scotland and is a Scottish Notary Public.

Neil has 37 years of experience with the firm dealing with a wide range of private wealth, real estate and management issues. He was Managing Partner of the firm from 1998 to 2008 and now acts for a wide range of private wealth candidates principally acting as the "Man of Business" for his clients.

In Neil’s personal capacity he also holds various external roles as:

• Member of Newcastle University Council
• Vice-Chair of Cheviot Trust which is trustee of a number of pensions schemes
• Member of the Audit Committee of Home Group plc
• Local Ambassador of Prince’s Trust
• Trustee Director of Tyne & Wear Archive & Museums Development Trust
• Trustee Director of The Charlotte Straker Project
• Trustee of Operating Theatre.

Neil is an experienced private client lawyer, with a particular specialism in trust and estate disputes. He advises individuals, families, charities and trustees about the validity of Wills and trust documents, undue influence, financial provision, mental capacity, interpretation and related matters. Neil has wide experience of negotiation, mediation and litigation, having conducted cases in the Family and Chancery Divisions of the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Protection. He also maintains a non-contentious practice advising clients on wills, inheritance tax and the administration of complex UK and international estates and trusts.

Neil leads the firm's Private Capital Team, which is made up of more than 35 lawyers and other professionals operating from London, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh. Neil is a member of The Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is President of The Association of Corporate Trustees (TACT) and regularly acts as executor, trustee and deputy (particularly as an independent professional in disputed cases).

Neil is consistently highly-ranked by Legal 500, Chambers HNW and Citywealth.

Richard is a partner in WBD's Private Wealth department, specialising in disputes about trusts and inheritance. His clients are based all around the UK and internationally, and include high net worth individuals, professional trustees, financial institutions, and insurers.

His cases invariably involve high value trusts and estates, complex asset holding structures, real estate assets, and assets held across multiple jurisdictions. As well as acting in litigation in the UK courts, Richard has been involved in trust litigation in the courts of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Richard's expertise covers the full gamut of scenarios that arise when trusts and estates become contentious, from will validity disputes and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, to complex disputes involving proprietary estoppel allegations, the removal of trustees and allegations of breach of trust. His cases include professional negligence claims, contract disputes and tax litigation for private clients and organisations involved in the private client sector.

As well as dispute resolution work, Richard is also regularly called upon to advise professional trustees and banks on the scope of their powers and duties when acting as trustee or executor of an estate.

Richard is one of only a handful of full members of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Lawyers (ACTAPS) in the North. He is an Affiliate member of STEP.

Rob is a Wealth Adviser within Womble Bond Dickinson Wealth Limited having joined the company in July 2022. He has over 25 years' experience in financial services having held various roles at a national wealth manager previously.

Rob is a Fellow of both the Personal Finance Society (PFS) and the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investments (CISI) holding both the Chartered Financial Planner and Chartered Wealth Manager designations.

Rob specialises in providing holistic advice to individuals, trusts and companies, covering such areas as investments, pensions, protection and taxation. He also has experience and knowledge of dealing with Family Law solicitors, assisting them with the structure of their clients' financial settlements.

Rob is a strong advocate of cashflow planning, recognising the benefits this can have in visually presenting solutions to clients and demonstrating the impact of various events on clients' financial plans.

Robert is specialises in all aspects of the management and maximisation of rural land assets.

In addition, Robert is a trustee of a number of diverse charities, including the Royal Bath & West of England Society (of which he is chairman), Innovation for Agriculture, the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, the National Eye Research Centre and the Langford Trust for Animal Health and Welfare. In 2014 he was President of the Grateful Society, a Bristol based charity that raises money to help older people to maintain their dignity and respect. He is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset.

Robert is a private client lawyer specialising in UK tax, trusts, and succession planning with an international focus. 

A graduate in statistics, Roy has 30 years’ experience in financial services. He previously worked on the distribution side of the industry for several life offices before becoming an independent financial advisor in 1995. Roy provides both personal advice to individuals and trustees and corporate advice and guidance to employers and pension scheme trustees.

Personal advice includes investments, pensions and protection. Corporate advice to employers includes complying with auto enrolment legislation, reviewing ongoing appropriateness of existing pension arrangements and protecting the business from the death or serious illness of key employees or directors.

Guidance to pension scheme trustees is for both defined benefit schemes and defined contribution schemes on the ever-challenging funding issues (defined benefit) and need for reviewing existing governance procedures.

Rosie is an Associate in Womble Bond Dickinson's Private Wealth team, advising our clients on trusts, inheritance and estate disputes / litigation.

Rosie advises and represents our clients in respect of a full range of issues that can arise in contested, high value and complex trusts and estates (both domestic and offshore), including advising on minimising the risk of disputes. She advises and represents individuals, families, trustees, charities and financial institutions. This includes disputes concerning the validity of Wills and trusts, trustees’ decisions, the administration of (often complex) estates, and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

She also has experience in Variation of Trusts Act applications, Court of Protection cases; professional negligence claims relating to trusts and estates, and experience of proprietary estoppel claims.

She is a member of the Contentious Trusts Association, and she is an Associate Member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) having successfully completed her ACTAPS course qualification in 2021.

Simon is a senior manager in the private wealth team and has been working there since it started providing investment advice in 1999. He has over 29 years’ experience in the financial services sector. Simon specialises in looking after the complex affairs of individuals and trusts. His focus is upon investment and pensions matters, however, he is more commonly involved in co-ordinating tax and legal matters for families with complex affairs.

Simon is a member of the Personal Finance Society and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to provide investment and pensions advice.

Simon’s practice focuses on advising individuals, families and trusts in relation to a wide range of legal, commercial and personal issues. He acts as trustee for a number of significant landowning families and finds innovative solutions to the many challenges that the ownership of landed estates presents. Simon also advises private and commercial investors in the acquisition and management of farms and estates – covering sporting, agricultural and commercial aspects.

His clients include corporate and charitable bodies as well as many significant private estates.

Stacey specialises in accounts and taxation for Trusts and has over 10 years experience working with private clients. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2012 and is currently studying towards her STEP qualification. 

Stephanie qualified into Womble Bond Dickinson's Private Capital team in September 2021, after successfully completing her two year training period with the firm.   Stephanie works with clients on a full range of issues relating to trusts, inheritance and estate disputes.

Her focus and experience includes contested, high value and complex trust and estates disputes, complex trust administration and Variation of Trust Act claims and professional negligence claims relating to trusts and estates. 

Steven has been advising private clients on UK personal tax matters for over 20 years. He qualified as a Chartered Tax Advisor with a big 4 accountancy firm in 2000 and has been with the firm for over 14 years.

Steven is part of the Agents Advisory Group that regularly meets with HMRC to discuss tax policy.      

His experience includes:

• Advising on structuring and technical issues under the Enterprise Investment Scheme for  a new start up UK company
• Advising on  inheritance tax issues for a Belgian client
• Advising on the UK tax issues on distributing funds from non UK resident trusts
• Advising on de-enveloping UK residential property from a non UK resident company.

Susan is an experienced private client lawyer with a national client base. She joined the firm in 2011, having previously worked for Addleshaw Goddard in Leeds for 12 years.

Susan specialises in advising private clients, their families and trustees on a wide range of issues, in particular those relating to estate planning and capital taxation. This involves complex Will and trust drafting and providing advice on asset protection and inheritance tax mitigation. Susan has extensive experience of advising individuals and trustees owning private company shares.

Will is a Partner in the Private Capital team, with many years of experience as a corporate and commercial lawyer, which he has built upon in private client work. He typically advises the owners of businesses and rural estates, high net worth individuals and family investment companies.

His main areas of expertise are providing strategic growth advice, generational succession planning and mainstream private client work, such as estate planning, wills, trusts, LPAs, and capital tax mitigation.

Will is passionate about local success, and joined WBD as a trainee solicitor. Find out more about his career journey, in his interview with the North East Times Magazine.

Will advises UK and international individuals and families, trustees, family offices and financial institutions on all aspects of tax, trust, estate and succession planning and family governance.  

He specialises in UK and cross-border estate planning, international succession, asset protection/wealth preservation and related use of asset-holding structures, together with all related lifetime tax issues. Will also drafts wills and trusts, whether for purely domestic or international families, and advises on tax-efficient philanthropy. 

Will advises UK resident clients (both those UK domiciled and non-UK domiciled) together with internationally based families with more limited connections to the UK.

Prior to joining Womble Bond Dickinson, Will worked at one of the largest international single family offices in the world, advising members of the family on their wealth management, legal matters, tax and estate planning. Previously he was Senior Counsel in the private client team at Macfarlanes LLP, having trained there.

Will is a member of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP)