What is your role at Brodies and how do you support private wealth clients?
I’m a Partner in our Personal (Private Client) team, qualified in the law of England & Wales. This means I spend my days advising clients on all things succession and estate planning-related, on the ‘English’ side of our firm. In practice, that includes (among other things!) preparing English wills and powers of attorney, advising on and implementing trusts and other wealth structures, and administering estates of deceased individuals. I work closely with my colleagues in the wider personal law team to assist individuals connected to both England and Scotland, because the succession regimes are very different in the two jurisdictions. I also act for clients with international connections further afield, as well as for entrepreneurial individuals and families.
If you could change one aspect of the law, what would you change?
I should choose something more noble, I’m sure, but I’m going to stick to the area of law I actually know about. Within that sphere, I’d change the residence nil rate band (RNRB), for sure. Very broadly speaking, the RNRB is the ‘additional’ inheritance tax nil rate band allowance from which individuals can benefit when they leave a residence to descendants, on death. However, there are many complicating factors and conditions around the allowance. It feels at times that the law in this area doesn’t grant certainty or clarity to clients, and can lead to some unfair results.
What key advice would you give to professionals advising on private wealth and estate planning?
Become great listeners. Clients are motivated by different things, and you need to really invest in understanding their key objectives. Active listening and ‘reading between the lines’ are great skills in this line of work. After you’ve done that, you of course then face the technical challenge of working to meeting those objectives, in the context of the particular family dynamic and with the backdrop of a tricky legal and tax framework. Private client hasn’t got a reputation for being the most ‘glamourous’ or flashy area of the law, but I’m a huge fan of shouting about how invaluable and great lawyers in this field are. You juggle so much, working in an incredibly technical field helping real people, so I take this opportunity to give you all a shout out.
What are current trends or challenges in private wealth law that are keeping you busy at the moment?
How long have you got?
The huge changes to the Inheritance Tax (IHT) landscape announced in October 2024 Budget have certainly kept us all on our toes. From April 2026, 100% Agricultural and Business Property Relief will be capped at £1 million per individual. That’s a seismic shift for farming families and business owners who’ve relied on these reliefs for generations. There are complex considerations around trusts with qualifying agricultural and business assets we’re looking at closely with clients, to undertake the best possible planning.
Pensions enter the inheritance tax net from April 2027. For years, pensions were the quiet hero of IHT planning, but now their value will form part of an individual’s taxable estate. This means clients need to rethink strategies they thought were watertight.
Given we also act for so many internationally mobile clients at Brodies, we are also assisting those individuals to navigate the change from ‘domicile’ to the ‘long term residence’ regime in the IHT arena, with reference to their foreign assets.
How do you spend your time outside the office?
When I’m not at my desk, you’ll find me outdoors a lot, walking in the hills or riding my bike. I am based in north-east England so I am privileged to be able to enjoy Northumberland, County Durham, and North Yorkshire – virtually ‘on my doorstep’. I’ve also always loved Scotland’s hills though, so heading north of the border for work a lot means I sometimes get to book-end my weeks and enjoy them, too.
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