About
Paul advises on matters of governance, succession planning, tax, trusts and trust litigation. He has a particular focus on matters involving complex, cross-border structures.
His clients include individuals, family offices, family-owned businesses, trustees and financial institutions, many of whom do not have a significant connection with the UK.
His practice covers:
- Governance: Advising trustees, protectors and other fiduciaries on good governance practices. He also advises directors of private and public companies on matters of corporate governance. He has a particular focus on family-owned businesses and how to divide control between owners, officeholders and other fiduciaries.
- Succession planning: Advising both UK and non-UK based clients on how to put in place successful succession plans. He assists trustees, directors and family offices in how to implement them.
- Trust law and trust litigation: Drafting and interpreting trust instruments and advising on trustee decision-making and matters of trust administration. Paul has advised beneficiaries in relation to two of the leading contentious Public Trustee v Cooper trustee blessing applications in Bermuda over the last five years.
- Tax: Advising on UK tax issues involving non-UK resident trusts and other structures. He assists taxpayers and fellow professionals with the conduct of HMRC investigations.
Paul was named a Rising Star in The Legal 500 2024 directory for Private Client - Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate.
Experience
- Advising on the settlement of a long-running dispute between the trustees and beneficiaries of a complex non-UK trust structure concerning both the historic administration of the trusts and disputes between family members about their respective interests.
- Advising on the partitioning of a complex non-UK trust structure that owns a significant family business between three main family branches.
- Advising a family office on the on-going administration of a complex family trust structure spanning seven jurisdictions.
- Advising a non-UK charity in their capacity as the beneficiary of a trust about how to challenge the administration of the trust by the current trustees.
- Advising on the conduct of HMRC investigations into the affairs of both UK resident and non-UK resident individuals.