Probate & estate administration

Our team administers UK and non-UK estates in an efficient and sensitive fashion, dealing with all tax issues, including the variation of wills and the implementation of post-death tax-saving strategies.

We have established a national reputation for devising novel will-based techniques to avoid or minimise UK inheritance tax. We have extensive experience of successfully implementing these techniques post-death.

We are also frequently asked to wind up and co-ordinate international estates, often with assets of substantial value held in a variety of jurisdictions. These can involve complex succession law, tax and family issues.

Experience

Various UK estates

Securing substantial inheritance tax savings for a wide variety of UK estates using Speechly Bircham’s tax mitigation wills. In cases where we have administered the estates and implemented the tax mitigation arrangements, we have a 100% success record in achieving the full tax savings.

International estate

The deceased died with assets in many jurisdictions. He also owned a structure comprising corporate entities in the Netherlands, Dutch Antilles, Guernsey and BVI to hold equipment in South Africa and various building development projects in Eastern Europe. He also had a significant shareholding in a UK plc. We obtained grants of probate in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man and England, negotiated the sale of a listed company, established tax-efficient structures to receive the residuary estate, wound up the Gibraltar company, sold some of the eastern European interests and continued the South African business.

Large UK estate

We are winding up the estate of a household name UK entrepreneur. The assets include substantial landed estates in England and elsewhere and notable works of art. We are also dealing with complex trust issues.

Deceased in former Soviet Union territories

We wound up an estate principally comprising an international business and handled allegations made by the deceased’s second wife under the 1975 Inheritance Act that assets were secreted in Switzerland and elsewhere.

UK domiciliary with foreign assets

The deceased died domiciled in the UK but resident in Malta. His assets here in the UK, Jersey, Bermuda and Malta. He left a will dealing with his worldwide estate, with a codicil which the Maltese authorities treated as a will and which was used to deal with the Maltese assets. A UK grant was obtained and we administered the Bermudan assets on behalf of the executor. We obtained a Jersey grant on the back of the UK grant to enable the Jersey estate to be administered. Inheritance tax was payable but we negotiated the tax bill down by successfully claiming relief on the taxes payable in Malta.