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Personal tax, trusts and probate
Leading individuals

Personal tax, trusts and probate

1
- Blake Morgan LLP (Cardiff)
- Geldards LLP (Cardiff)
- Hugh James (Cardiff)
2
- JCP Solicitors (Swansea, Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Carmarthen)
- NewLaw Solicitors (Cardiff)
- Red Kite Law LLP (Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Pembroke)
3
- Howells Solicitors (Cardiff)
- Hutchinson Thomas (Neath)
4
- Berry Smith (Cardiff)
- Douglas-Jones Mercer (Swansea)

Leading individuals

1
- Mathew Bowen - Red Kite Law LLP
- Helen Downes - Geldards LLP
- Tim Haggar - Red Kite Law LLP
- Awen Mellick - Blake Morgan LLP
- Nicky Sherrard - Blake Morgan LLP

Blake Morgan LLP provides ‘professional and reliable advice’ to business owners, landowners, charitable bodies, company directors and financial organisations. ‘Courteous and sensitive’ associate solicitor Awen Mellick ‘has real expertise in her field and continues to develop her knowledge staying up to date on changes in tax and pensions legislation’. ‘Knowledgeable and good-humoured’ associate Nicky Sherrard is also recommended.

Claire Johnson and Helen Downes jointly lead Geldards LLP’s team, which provides ‘a reliable, personable and supportive’ service across the spectrum of private client work including IHT advice and succession planning strategies. The team is also known for its ‘excellent charities practice’ and regularly advises private clients on their philanthropic plans, while the ‘efficient and personable’ Anne Taylor has significant knowledge of Court of Protection matters.

Led by ‘efficient and knowledgeable’ Matthew Evans, the five-partner wealth management team at Hugh James advises on the full range of contentious and non-contentious private client matters including bespoke work as well as volume trust and estate administration and will writing. Sarah Cash regularly acts for high-net-wealth individuals, and Eleanor Evans is recommended for her estates and trusts administration work on behalf of financial institutions and trust corporation clients.

At JCP Solicitors, Chris Shaw leads on lifetime planning for a varied client base that includes numerous high-net-worth individuals. Lynne Morgan provides Court of Protection expertise to elderly patients, and the ‘knowledgeable’ Arwel Davies (who is based in the firm’s Fishguard office) advises on wills and estate administration for a wide range of clients.

NewLaw Solicitors’ Katie Edwards leads on estate planning and tax advice, while the ‘reassuring and capable’ Robert Thomas regularly serves as a professional deputy appointed by the Court of Protection to assist people in managing their financial affairs after they have lost mental capacity.

At Red Kite Law LLP, Tim Haggar is well regarded for advising on financial planning as well as handling Court of Protection work. Mathew Bowen has particular expertise in agricultural relief and trusts.

Co-headed by the ‘patient and understanding’ Laith Khatib and John O’Connell, Howells Solicitors ‘performs exceptionally well in this area’. Claire Davis helps families set up wills and lifetime trusts to protect vulnerable and disabled children.

At Hutchinson Thomas, ‘personable and knowledgeable’ team head Louise Williams provides ‘measured and accurate advice’. Rhian Williams has ‘excellent legal knowledge’, as well as ‘an innate ability to relate to people from all walks of life’.

Berry Smith’s Chris Beames specialises in Court of Protection work involving cases relating to vulnerable or disabled children.

At Douglas-Jones Mercer, team head Jonathan Powell has a good reputation among IFAs and banks and regularly receiving referrals to advise on wills, trusts and succession planning.

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Legal Developments in Wales for Personal tax, trusts and probate

Parking rights: here to stay? Consent might be the surprising answer  

In the field of the acquisition of easements by prescription, little has caused more consternation over the last decade or so than the question of whether a right to park cars can be acquired by twenty years user as of right. The types of property capable of being adversely affected range from individual residential units all the way up to major development sites. The establishment of such a right can have a devastating impact on the value of the burdened land. 

- Falcon Chambers

Legal Developments in the UK

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

Testing Times

Why the VW emissions-testing scandal is as much about fraud, compliance and liability as it is about clean air.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
Going to ground

Arrests over alleged landfill tax fraud have put environment-related business crime in the spotlight. Aziz Rahman explains how such accusations can be challenged.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
EXPLANATIONS NECESSARY

Government moves to force people to justify the source of their wealth will make the right legal representation even more crucial.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
ACT NOW

One third of small and medium-sized businesses do not know about the Bribery Act. Here’s what you need to know to avoid falling foul of it.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
STAY CLEAN

London has been called the capital of money laundering. So how can you avoid being implicated in it?

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
HONESTY AND INVESTMENT FRAUD PROSECUTIONS

How to build an investment fraud defence case that disproves prosecution allegations of dishonesty.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
FRAUD, LARGE ORGANISATIONS AND THE INDIVIDUAL

With a town council now officially facing a fraud investigation, we examine what individuals in such a large body should do if they come under suspicion.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
The risks of liberation

The dangers that pension liberation and money laundering pose to those involved in pension funds and management.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
SHARED INTELLIGENCE

The Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce is an attempt to tackle money laundering in the UK. But it poses challenges for bankers, who have to be sure they respond appropriately if they are to be above suspicion.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors
FOREX AND RISK

Five banks being fined £3.6 billion in the US for manipulating forex is a stark reminder of the legal risks involved in currency trading. Here, Aziz Rahman of Rahman Ravelli examines how the brokers and the traders in forex can avoid legal problems.

- Rahman Ravelli Solicitors

Press Releases in the UK