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  1. Heritage property
  2. Leading individuals

Farrer & Co has a team of ‘exceptional’ lawyers advising on every aspect of heritage property, encompassing tax exemptions, ownership disputes and complex loans. It benefits from the firm’s expertise across the private client spectrum, and its unparallelled client base of traditional landed estates, as well as art dealers, international and private banks, and cultural institutions. The ‘highly intelligent’ Mike Chantler is the ‘go-to’ lawyer for ‘any matter of national heritage’, and Edward Manisty has ‘boundless energy and drive, and a technical mastery of the law of heritage property taxation without equal’. The ‘knowledgeable’ James Carleton and Adrian Parkhouse are also recommended.

Boodle Hatfield provides ‘excellent’ heritage property advice as part of its impressive private client and landed estate practice. The team, headed by Sue Laing, regularly advises the owners of historic houses and works of art, and charities, on complex tax structuring, sales and purchases, and provenance issues. Natasha Hassall is recommended for her expertise in landed estates.

Charles Russell LLP has dedicated expertise in heritage property, advising private individuals, trustees and art galleries on matters such as tax arrangements, loans, and sales and purchases. Robert Blower is well respected by clients and peers alike, for his ‘knowledge and skill’ in the sector. Bart Peerless and Suzanne Marriott are also considered ‘commercially and legally on the button’.

The highly experienced Ceris Gardner heads the heritage property practice at Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, which is part of the firm’s comprehensive private client offering. The team advises charities, private individuals and galleries on loans, tax and related matters, and has also been lobbying for a revival of gift aid for heritage property.

The ‘excellent’ Karen Sanig heads the art law group at Mishcon de Reya, which regularly acts for private individuals, auction houses, national and international collectors, and governments on heritage issues, drawing on the firm’s expertise in property, tax and wealth management. The team is ‘well resourced, with good sector knowledge’.

Speechly Bircham LLP has a number of prominent clients, including landowners, trusts and galleries. Highlights for 2010 included acting in a dispute with the Art Loss Register in connection with a Winslow Homer painting withdrawn from auction as a result of a competing owner’s claim. The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation is a major client. William Hancock heads the cross-departmental team.

The art and cultural assets practice at Withers LLP is headed by the ‘exceptional’ Pierre Valentin, who is ‘prompt to respond and concise in his advice’, and ‘creative and conscientious’. The practice has a broad remit, covering not only tax-related work for chattels but also art transactions, art regulatory issues and art finance. Highlights included resolving a Holocaust-related ownership dispute, and advising on the return to Italy of the Benevento Missal, which was unlawfully removed during WWII.

Collyer Bristow LLP’s head of private client Andrew Dixon has experience in heritage tax matters, such as acceptance in lieu of IHT arrangements and private sales.

Currey & Co is a discreet firm with a reputation for ‘quality’ advice, handling heritage concerns for its traditional landed estate client base. Peter Bostock has considerable experience in the area.

IP and media specialist Mark Stephens handles heritage property matters at Finers Stephens Innocent LLP. The team regularly acts for well-known galleries, private individuals and trustees. Recent work includes advising the Museum of Art, Oxford on the digitalisation of its archive, and sculptor Mark Wallinger on his public commission at Ebbsfleet, Kent. Daniel McClean, formerly of Withers LLP, now acts as an art consultant to the practice.

Forsters LLP has a ‘knowledgeable’ team including David Robinson, Rupert Mead and Catherine Hill, who is a consultant to the practice. It regularly advises private individuals with significant collections – as well as investors, auction houses and museums – on the complex tax rules affecting heritage chattels and land.

John Owen heads the heritage property practice at Hunters, which fields a number of talented practitioners. Senior partner Joe Richardson is ‘a leader in this area’; Jonathan Godwin-Austen has ‘a creative mind which pinpoints the practicalities’; and the partners are supported by an ‘able team’. It recently advised on the complex consequences of a decision to terminate conditional exemption from CGT for a substantial house, gardens and parkland.

Macfarlanes LLP has considerable expertise in tax planning for chattels, including conditional exemptions, and advises a number of landed estates with significant art collections.

Lincoln’s Inn firm May, May & Merrimans has considerable experience in advising its stable of traditional landed estate clients and wealthy individuals on heritage tax planning. Roddy Steen heads the practice.

Payne Hicks Beach provides tax advice for chattels as part of its full-service private client offering.

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