Sarah Foster > Freeths LLP > Oxford, England > Lawyer Profile
Freeths LLP Offices

5000 OXFORD BUSINESS PARK SOUTH
OXFORD
OX4 2BH
England
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Sarah Foster

Work Department
Dispute resolution.
Position
Sarah is the managing partner of the Oxford office of Freeths. She has twenty five years of managing disputes for her clients, with a particular emphasis on inheritance and trust disputes and professional indemnity claims. She heads the private client litigation team in Oxford and deals with a wide range of cases, including issues surrounding the validity of a will; claims against estates for financial provision; disputed trusts; and the removal of executors and trustees. She also acts for private individuals in disputed Court of Protection applications/proceedings during a person’s lifetime.
Sarah also has many years’ experience of dealing with claims made against professionals including legal, construction and financial professionals. She specialises particularly in legal or financial claims with a trust or probate background. She also advises on coverage disputes between insurers and insured.
Sarah is well known and has been praised by clients for her no nonsense, efficient and diligent approach. She is a fierce advocate of mediation, recognizing that in family disputes particularly, it can be an extremely useful tool to bring about early closure of disputes and at reduced cost.
Career
Trained Lovells (now Hogan Lovells); qualified 1994; Wansboroughs 1994-97; Crutes 1997-99 (both now DAC Beachcroft); Henmans; then Freeths 1999 to date; partner 2003; managing partner 2013
Memberships
Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS); affiliate member of Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners (STEP); Professional Negligence Lawyers Association (PNLA); Law Society.
Education
Whitley Bay High School; University of Nottingham (1990 LLB Hons 2(:1)); College of Law, York (1991).
Leisure
Triathlons, reading and taxi service for two teenagers
Lawyer Rankings
South East > Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
(Leading individuals)The Oxford-based team at Freeths LLP operates as part of a national practice, providing comprehensive coverage regarding contentious trusts and probate disputes to its clients, who include beneficiaries, executors, and trustees. It also advises on challenges to the validity of wills, family trusts, or claims for shares of estates. Practice leader Sarah Foster is an experienced and highly regarded litigator; she works with a team which includes Sally Goodger, who was promoted to director in October 2020. She deals with estate administration disputes, as well as acting on behalf of attorneys and court-appointed deputies.
South East > Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40
The Oxford team at Freeths LLP handles the full range of private client matters. Rachael Oakes and Nigel Roots jointly head the practice; Roots specialises in managing and acting as a trustee of intergenerational wealth structures for private individuals, with a particular emphasis on complex trust reorganisation. Jane Maitland advises high net worth individuals, members of the aristocracy, company directors and farmers on estate planning whilst Sarah Foster deals with multi-party and cross-jurisdictional disputes. Lisa Mark-Bell and Daniel Boyle are also recommended, advising on landed estates and acting for facilities in creating lifetime trust arrangements respectively.
Lawyer Rankings
- Contentious trusts and probate - South East > Private client
- Leading individuals - South East > Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Personal tax, trusts and probate: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40 - South East > Private client
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Private client > Agriculture and estates
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and commercial: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and commercial: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40
- Private client > Family: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40
- Insurance > Personal injury and clinical negligence: claimant
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40
- Insurance > Professional negligence
- Real estate > Property litigation
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40
- Real estate > Commercial property: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Real estate > Commercial property: Thames Valley, Berks, Oxon, M4/M40
- Private client > Charities and not-for-profit
- Employment > Employment: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Finance > Insolvency and corporate recovery