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Trusts, wills, estates and probate

We have outstanding expertise in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious trusts and estate work both domestically and in all of the major off-shore jurisdictions.  This expertise was acknowledged by the industry last year when Chambers was awarded the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (“STEP”) award for Chambers of the Year for 2008/9.


Members of chambers have been involved in numerous high-profile contentious trust and estate cases. Recent highlights include:

  • Birley v Birley (litigation over the estate of the late Mark Birley, owner of Annabel's nightclub)
  • Jones v Firkin-Flood (contentious trust dispute concerning the removal of trustees of the Bredbury Hall Trust)
  • The Trustees of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation v Estate of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (dispute over a Picasso)
  • Prince Jefri  v Brunei Investment Agency (dispute over assets held in numerous jurisdictions in various trust structures)
  • Walters v Smee (recent decision of the High Court on testamentary capacity concerning the will of a lady suffering from Altzheimer's disease)
  • Sharp v Adam (important decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the testamentary capacity of a deceased testator who suffered from multiple sclerosis)
  • Walker v Walker (bitter high-profile family dispute concenring allegations of breach of trust and the overturning of various deeds entered into under undue influence)
  • Nina Kung v Wong Din Shin (decision of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on the validity of an allegedly forged Chinese will)
  • Re B (an ongoing trust battle in multiple jurisdictions involving the misappropriation of assets by trustees)

 

Members of Chambers also regularly advise and represent clients in sensitive matters of which the details and the names of the parties must remain confidential.  Often such work involves technical trust-restructuring and consequential advice on capital gains tax consequences.

The directories say:

Andrew Child is recommended for traditional chancery work in Chambers & Partners as being “sensible to work with and [having] great clarity of thought”.

Barristers specialising in this area: