Tax, Trusts & Succession
Michelmores has one of the strongest private wealth practices in the South West benefiting from a history and tradition dating back over a century combined with a modern and proactive approach to providing practical and cost-effective solutions for our clients. Our aim is to provide a fast, efficient, competitive and friendly service to private clients in all aspects of their legal requirements.
Tax Planning and Wealth Protection
No one wants to see their assets, built up over a lifetime's work, disappear in taxes when there are perfectly acceptable means of protecting this wealth.
Our team helps families structure their assets in a way that preserves wealth, both now and for future generations. We act for clients who are based exclusively in the UK as well as international families with assets in the UK or with family members with connections in the UK.
Inheritance Tax and Planning for Retirement
The right professional advice will:
- Safeguard family and business assets
- Provide strategic estate planning, including detailed knowledge of the exemptions, reliefs and tax planning techniques available to enhance your savings and assets
- Help to minimise tax liabilities on the death of a spouse
- Guide you through the complexities of succession planning and the transfer of business assets between the generations, including Inheritance Tax, Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax mitigation
Tax compliance and HMRC enquiry advice
Michelmores specialises in advising on tax issues for high net worth individuals and we prepare income tax returns for individuals, trusts and estates.
Remember, tax regimes, property law and family circumstances all change regularly, so a regular review of your affairs is strongly advisable.
International Tax Planning
We have a team of Lawyers capable of advising on all aspects of UK tax planning for international clients. This includes pre-residency remittance basis planning, the use of off-shore trusts and their consequences for UK based settlors and beneficiaries, the tax efficient structuring of assets, double tax treaty advice and compliance and reporting obligations.
Related Information
Annual tax on enveloped dwellings
Related Areas
News
- Michelmores sponsors ILM Annual Conference 2019
- Trustees granted new powers by the court under section 57 of the Trustees Act 1925
- What right do beneficiaries have to request information from trustees?
- Interpretation of family trusts: case update Millar v Millar
- How does Stamp Duty Land Tax affect the purchase of residential property for trusts?
- Michelmores contribute to the STEP Handbook for Advisers
- Should I purchase a rental property through a limited company?
- The importance of witnessing a will
- Estate Planning Opportunities Arising out of the India/UK Double Tax Treaty
- Warning as to the future of Agricultural Property Relief
- Stepfamilies and will drafting
- Inheritance tax reform – change on the horizon?
- Protecting family wealth
- April 2017 changes for UK resident non-domiciled individuals
- Inheritance Tax
- Getting onto the housing ladder
- Statutory residence test update
- Trustees and Investments
- Jonathan Riley presents at The Bahamas branch of STEP
- Multi-jurisdictional exposures to tax: the pitfalls
- UK Summer Budget 2015 - Domicile
- James Frampton joins Michelmores
- Changes to the EU regime on Succession
- Keeping it in the Family
- Michelmores Strengthens Private Client Team
- International clients acquiring assets in the UK
- Can I minimise tax on rental income?
Get in touch
Meet the team

















Recent experience
Advice to Individuals:
Working with the owners of significant privately owned family companies to ensure an effective succession to the control and capital value of the business.
Regulatory nuptial arrangements to protect family assets, both before and after a marriage.
Advising non-domiciliaries how best to structure assets before becoming UK resident.
UK advice:
We act for more than 30 landed estates and act as trustees of a considerable number of these.
We have recently provided family constitution advice to a client with a £15m family business and a disparate successor generation.
Our Tax Compliance team has worked with our tax planning Lawyers to develop a comprehensive tax compliance and mitigation service.
Advice to trustees:
We are the sole legal advisers to the trustees of a group of eight family trusts that own significant City property interests and investment portfolios.
Have developed with the trust beneficiaries an agreed understanding of the future for the family wealth and related interests.
Advice to institutional trustees:
Advice regarding the availability of the 'motive defence' to mitigate significant beneficiary tax liabilities.
Managing a £50 million distribution of limited partnerships interests.
Negotiating warranties, indemnities and advice as to the conditions on assignment.
Advice to non-UK law firms:
Advising as to best practice for a Liechtenstein Foundation in view of the recent UK/Swiss tax agreement.
Advising as to how best to structure the tax efficient receipt by a UK resident (US citizen) of capital distributions from an existing offshore structure.