Expertise - Private Client

We have a very long history of advising private clients and families – as old as the firm itself. Our experienced team assists our clients throughout the UK and overseas. These days, with more clients relocating to different jurisdictions, we have built up a reputation in managing such significant moves and engaging other lawyers in other jurisdictions to assist our clients, acting as the linchpin in that complicated process. We advise on wills, trusts, executry administrations, inheritance disputes, pre and post nuptial agreements, philanthropy, personal tax planning and financial planning. Our services are unique for each client, and as such are tailored to each client’s individual needs and circumstances.

Being a full service firm means we are very well equipped to deal with a family’s legal, tax and associated needs. Our clients can call on the expertise of leading practitioners in the broadest range of legal specialisms within the one firm, all pulling together to achieve the client’s aims. 

We also advise in relation to Powers of Attorney, Guardianships and in relation to the affairs of the elderly generally. We understand the legal and financial challenges facing vulnerable clients and their families and we are often called upon to assist in structured planning around the administration of a vulnerable client’s assets.

In reflecting the diversity of our clients, the Private Client team works closely with other areas of the firm, particularly colleagues in our Charities, Property and Family Business teams.

Shepherd and Wedderburn Financial

Supporting our successful Private Client practice is our independent financial advisory arm, Shepherd and Wedderburn Financial Limited (SWF). Within SWF we provide a range of services as part of an overall financial planning offering and we deliver clear solutions based on an agreed understanding of a client’s circumstances and goals.

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"The firm is outstanding, easy to deal with and houses a lot of knowledge. The team delivers great outcomes. I highly recommend the firm – I wouldn’t go anywhere else."
– Chambers, Private Client

At Shepherd and Wedderburn "the service is excellent on all counts".
– Legal 500, Personal Tax, Trusts and Executries

 

Key People

Experience

Estate Planning and Asset Protection
We advise on the full range of estate planning and asset protection strategies including the setting up and on-going administration of private trusts. Our clients often have business interests and we advise on private companies and family partnerships and how they fit in with a client’s overall succession plans. We prepare tax efficient wills, often including trust provisions, and advise on succession planning in relation to many different types of assets, including land and rural property. As part of the work we undertake in the field of asset protection we offer advice on pre and post nuptial agreements.
Tax Planning and Administration
We have extensive experience in advising our clients on all aspects of tax mitigation. We cover the full range of taxes and advise across contentious and non-contentious areas. Our tax compliance team completes tax returns for our clients and regularly advises our clients on how they may structure their affairs to minimise future tax liabilities.
Power of Attorney and Guardianships
We strongly believe in the benefits of a Power of Attorney to guard against future uncertainties. We also advise in relation to guardianship orders. We operate stewardship services for the vulnerable client and have close links with care and welfare organisations which typically are involved in the affairs of these clients. We have a close understanding of the funding issues that arise and with our colleagues in our financial planning team, who themselves are accredited as specialists in the field of long-term care planning, we can devise innovative solutions to meet funding gaps.
Probate Services
We assist families with the administration of estates and associated Inheritance Tax compliance obligations, including those with an international dimension. We advise in both contentious and non-contentious succession cases.
Cross Border
Our clients often have international aspects to their affairs and our experience means that we are well placed to assist with providing and sourcing where appropriate succession and tax advice, leveraging our international contacts via our membership of the World Services Group. We also regularly advise on the administration of estates with assets located in foreign jurisdictions.
Contentious Trusts and Probate
We advise clients on all types of probate and trust disputes including, legal rights claims, 1975 Act” claims, disputed wills and claims against executors and trustees.
Financial Planning
Through our specialist financial planning subsidiary, Shepherd and Wedderburn Financial Limited (SWF), we provide bespoke and comprehensive financial planning advice, including tax efficient investment strategies and life plan modelling of clients’ financial needs. Bringing legal expertise and financial planning together in a joined up way secures efficiencies in time and cost for our clients and gives our clients peace of mind that their advisers are pulling in the same direction and are fully aligned to their goals.

Clients

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