Chris is a solicitor and also a qualified Trust and Estate Practitioner (full member of STEP – the worldwide professional association for those advising families across generations). Chris is also a member of COPPA, the Court of Protection Practitioners Association.
Chris is an experienced and compassionate specialist solicitor with a firm belief that conversations about ageing and death can be a positive experience. Chris helps clients to navigate the difficult areas they may be reluctant to face.
Chris helps clients to face a variety of challenges including planning the gifting or inheritance of their assets, the management of their personal finances including business assets and personal health and welfare planning.
After a person’s death, Chris helps their family members or friends to manage the estate and pass it on according to the person’s wishes and the law. Throughout his career he has helped clients to deal with all aspects of estate administration including negotiating with HMRC over inheritance tax assessments, applications to the Court for Probate in unusual circumstances, and dealing with almost every type of asset from a bank account to a herd of cattle.
Chris’s experience includes helping business owners to consider how their business would be affected if they die and how they would like their share of the business to be passed on. He also helps business owners to plan ahead in case they lose the ability to make decisions during their lifetime and while they are still running a business. With practical experience of helping businesses when a director has become ill or died, Chris knows the risks businesses face and the benefits suitable planning can bring to a business managing a crisis.
Chris takes a special interest in Mental Capacity law, and has appeared on BBC Radio4 commenting on Mental Capacity issues. Using Lasting Powers of Attorney, Chris helps his clients to put plans in place so that people they trust can make decisions about their financial affairs and their personal health.
As a TEP, Chris advises clients on the creation of trusts ranging from agreements over property ownership to planning how money should be used for multiple generations of a family. Chris is a trustee himself and advises other trustees on the practical issues they will have to deal with. He also advises beneficiaries about their rights and the information or assets they may be entitled to under their trusts.
Chris enjoys working with his clients to really understand their needs and motivations and to find the right way for them to plan for their future.
Outside of work, Chris spends his time with his wife and three young children and is often found at weekends ferrying children between activities or exploring a park or historic building. Chris enjoys practical activities which can fit around family life such as photography, cooking, and baking.
