Kerry Venn > Ashfords LLP > Exeter, England > Lawyer Profile

Kerry Venn

01392 334157 [email protected] View profile

Work Department

Private Wealth; Disputed Wills, Trusts & Estates

Position

Kerry is a solicitor in Ashford’s Disputed Wills, Trusts and Estates team having retrained into this field. 

Career

Kerry joined the firm in September 2020 and now acts for both individual and charitable clients in bringing and defending claims or dealing with general disputes.

Her background is in disputes and litigation. After qualifying in 1996, Kerry has enjoyed a long career focused on personal injury and insurance litigation.  Kerry practised locally  before she was commissioned as a regular Captain in HM Army Legal Services in 1999-2000 when she served in Kosovo and Northern Ireland.  Thereafter she represented Claimants in all aspects of injury litigation.  In 2007 Kerry formed her own Company and provided a Small Claims Litigation Service on a Contingency fee basis having been authorised under the Claims Management Regulations 2006.   More recently, whilst at her previous firm for almost a decade, Kerry specialised in Insurance litigation acting for multi-national insurance companies whilst also representing a wide range of clients at individual and corporate level. 

In 2020, Kerry decided a change was in order and decided to use her litigation skills in this exciting and challenging area of law.  She has completed the STEPS Certificate in Trusts and Estates and is currently undertaking the ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists) Associate Membership course.  Her knowledge and experience continues to expand against the backdrop of a sound litigation foundation.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• Representing the Trustees in Court of Protection proceedings (against Counsel)  involving a contested application for the registration of an Enduring Power of Attorney in respect of a beneficiary under the Trust;
• Acting for a family in defence of a claim brought by a sibling for possession of the family farm due to promises made over the years to him by his (now deceased) father;
• Advising on the failure of a conditional gift under a Will to vest due to the proposed Beneficiary’s inability to meet the conditions of the Will – through no fault of their own;
• Pursuing and defending claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, challenges to the validity of Wills, Executor disputes and general issues relating to the operation of Trusts.