Charles Gothard > Macfarlanes LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Macfarlanes LLP Offices

20 CURSITOR STREET
LONDON
EC4A 1LT
England
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Charles Gothard

Work Department
Private Client
Position
Charles specialises in advising international families and entrepreneurs as well as the family offices, trust companies and other institutions helping them.
His work often relates to their estate planning, structures (whether trusts, foundations or other vehicles), philanthropy and personal affairs. This frequently involves complex international tax and estate planning, co-ordinating advice from advisers in different jurisdictions and often in situations with little or no UK connection. He also regularly advises foreign residents on the most tax efficient way to structure UK investments or a move to the UK.
Charles also has significant experience of contentious UK and international trust and probate work – resolving disputes between trustees or executors and beneficiaries, acting for either side.
Charles heads the firm’s family office group and is country partner for Switzerland so has overall responsibility for our relationships in Switzerland.
Charles lectures regularly in the UK and abroad and has published articles in many of the leading professional publications. He is the joint editor of The World Trust Survey – an overview of the trust laws of 34 jurisdictions published in 2010 by Oxford University Press and the joint author of a chapter on “Protectors” in Tolley’s Administration of Trusts.
Charles is a member of ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists).
Charles is ranked as a Tier One adviser in the UK and Global editions of the independent Chambers guide and as a leading individual in the UK Legal 500 guide. He has been recognised in the eprivateclient 2021 50 Most Influential list and is recommended in the 2020 Spear’s 500 guide.
Career
Qualified 1997; partner 2005; partner Macfarlanes 2013
Lawyer Rankings
London > Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
(Leading partners)Macfarlanes LLP ‘is the yardstick of private client advice, setting standards’. Piers Barclay heads an ‘absolutely first-rate team’, which advises wealthy clients across all aspects of private client work. The group particularly stands out for its expertise in complex international matters, typically for very wealthy clients with assets, business interests, and families across multiple jurisdictions. It has a plethora of excellent practitioners among them, including Charles Gothard who has a significant Middle East/GCC practice. Nicholas Harries‘ expertise spans international trusts and estate planning matters and he has a particular emphasis on the Far East. Edward Reed‘s practice has a large European element, while Jennifer Smithson has built up a specialism in advising financial services executives (private equity, hedge funds, and investment bankers), as well as entrepreneurs moving to the UK. Richard Giangrande is recognised for his advice on the tax treatment of fund management executives, as well as supporting entrepreneurs in the technology sector. Paul Hardwick was recently promoted to the partnership, and Mark Hunter and Sebastian Prichard Jones are among the other key members of the department.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading partners London > Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Personal tax, trusts and probate London > Private client
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Corporate and commercial > VAT and indirect tax
- Investment fund formation and management > Hedge funds
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £500m)
- Investment fund formation and management > Retail funds
Firm Rankings
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
- Real estate > Construction: contentious
- Employment > Employee share schemes
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Investment fund formation and management > Fund finance
- Real estate > Residential property
- Dispute resolution > Tax litigation and investigations
- Finance > Acquisition finance
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Finance > Derivatives and structured products
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – small-mid cap
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: white-collar crime (advice to individuals)
- Industry focus > Hospitality and leisure
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Upper Mid-Market And Premium Deals, £750m+
- Corporate and commercial > Partnership
- Employment > Pensions (non-contentious)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private funds
- Real estate > Property finance
- Investment fund formation and management > Real estate funds
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- Finance > Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans
- Private client > Charities and not-for-profit
- Corporate and commercial > Commercial contracts
- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers
- Finance > Corporate restructuring & insolvency
- Private client > Court of protection
- Employment > Employers
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory
- Finance > Securitisation
- Real estate > Environment
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions – high-value deals (£500m+)
- Employment > Immigration
- Insurance > Insurance: corporate and regulatory