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Private Wealth

Clients who have built a significant assets base may face a complex legal and tax landscape. Our experts, who cover a range of legal disciplines, are on hand to provide specialist legal guidance and support to help individuals, their families, trustees and family offices.

Key contact

Katherine Hague

  • Head of Private Wealth Sector

I take the time to understand my clients’ particular circumstances, their families, their concerns and create tailored and practical solutions to meet their aims. My clients know if they need assistance, they can contact me and even if not within my area of expertise, I will liaise with my colleagues and other professionals to ensure they are well looked after.

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Meet the team

Working with you

We understand that our clients have individual goals and priorities when it comes to their private wealth. Our specialists take the time to understand the intricacies of your situation and wealth, offering bespoke solutions to meet your objectives.

Our team holds memberships with industry organisations, such as STEP – for lawyers who specialise in family inheritance and succession planning – and Resolution, for lawyers committed to non-confrontational divorce.

Our Private Wealth lawyers collaborate to provide expert and holistic advice to our clients, drawing on the firm’s cross-sector expertise in areas including private client, family law, agriculture and estates, corporate and charities. We aim to build trusted, long lasting relationships with our clients to assist with often difficult decisions, both from a technical but also personal perspective.

When advising on cross border matters, we liaise with advisors in other jurisdictions to find comprehensive solutions for our clients. We are also a founder member of LawExchange International,  a network of independent law firms around the world.

Who we support

Our private wealth lawyers work with anyone who is looking to protect and manage the succession of their personal wealth – from families and high-net-worth individuals to trustees, business owners, landowners, or senior professionals.

To ensure that the most appropriate structures and processes are being put in place for you, we will work collaboratively with your existing advisors, such as Independent Financial Advisors, wealth managers, accountants, tax advisors, family offices and property agents.

We also regularly work with advisors in different jurisdictions. This collaborative approach ensures for clients with assets in multiple jurisdictions, or who are non-UK residents or domiciled, the differing rules regarding property ownership, succession, matrimonial property and tax regimes are factored in, allowing for coherent and workable plans to be put in place to achieve our client’s objectives.

A male and female lawyer having a meeting

What we do

Our services and areas of expertise include wills, estate planning, administration of estates, powers of attorney, trust advice and administration and Grant of Probate applications, contentious trusts and probate and succession planning for businesses owners and related shareholder and partnership issues.

We also deal with Family Investment Companies and complex landed estates and property advice, including private homes. The team have sector-specific expertise in agriculture, renewable energies and agritech and help with management of family reputation and relationships, including mediation services and criminal defence and investigations.

The team will work with you during divorce or protection measures, including for those who have pre-nuptial, post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. Our assistance also covers immigration and cross border matters and protection of vulnerable family members, including applications for Court of Protection orders.

Services from our Private Wealth team

Legal updates and thought leadership

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Hear what our clients say about us

What you get from Catherine [Ball] is no-fuss and well thought-out advice. You always know that she is on top of all the detail. She is a comforting person to have around.

Chambers High Net Worth – Catherine Ball

Katherine [Hague] helps her clients to good outcomes, and doesn’t just leave them to decide what option to choose, but is involved in the process to get to the best solutions.

Chambers High Net Worth – Katherine Hague

Bernadette [O’Reilly] is an extremely talented private client practitioner. She has the ability to break down complex matters into an easy, digestible and understandable form, for other professionals and clients. She takes the time to fully understand the client background and be mindful of the care and empathy required in working with each individual client and their advisers.

Chambers High Net Worth – Bernadette O’Reilly

The firm now combines outstanding individuals with a very good team and departmental approach. Clients therefore benefit from seamless overall advice which is particularly important when looking at tax, estates and succession planning matters.

Legal 500 2024 – Private Client

The core ethos of the practice is working closely with all aspects of their clients’ business and private affairs, to provide a continuity of advice across generations.

Legal 500 2024 – Private Client

A key aspect of HCR Hewitsons is the strong inter-departmental approach which is so important when looking at strategic issues and succession planning, not to mention tax and structure planning generally. Katherine Hague is brilliant – she combines outstanding advice with exceptional and succinct clarity.

Legal 500 2024 – Katherine Hague

Roopa Ahluwalia is exceptional. She is pragmatic, takes time to listen to what her clients want to achieve and looks at all options available to resolve the issues. Clients value her clear advice and the ability to be realistic about outcomes.

Legal 500 – Roopa Ahluwalia

Recognition of our work

Cambridge Law Society Private Client Services Team of the Year

Cambridge Law Society Private Client Services Team of the Year
Investors in People

Investors in People

Recommended for Quality

Recommended for Quality

The Times – Best Law Firms 2024 (Private Client)

The Times – Best Law Firms 2024 (Private Client)

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