Michael is a partner in the divorce and family team.

Michael advises on all aspects of family law (including prenuptial agreements) with particular emphasis on the resolution of financial issues for wealthy individuals, whether married or unmarried and often with international interests. Michael has acted in numerous divorce cases involving trusts and businesses. Michael also has extensive experience of children law matters, including international relocation.

Michael’s breadth of work involves close liaison with many other specialist practice areas at Withers including the contentious trusts and estates team and the wealth planning teams in London, US, Switzerland and Asia.

Clients include city professionals, entrepreneurs and business people, owners of landed estates, sports and music stars, politicians, and their spouses/partners.

Michael is a certified family law arbitrator, and a trained collaborative lawyer. He has been a member of Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee since its inception in 1995.

Michael has for several years been listed as a leading family lawyer in the legal directories (including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Spears, and Citywealth) in which he has variously been described in recent years as ‘a real class act’; ‘measured, sensible and knows his law’; ‘highly intelligent, very efficient and a pleasure to deal with - a really strong practitioner’; ‘is just excellent and often sought after by high net worth individuals’; and a ‘first-class lawyer’.

Sarah handles all areas of family law with particular focus on financial applications, children, cohabitation and marital agreements. Sarah advises those involved in disputes concerning their financial arrangements following relationship breakdown, whether as spouses/cohabitants or third parties such as trustees. Many clients are international or have assets abroad. Sarah is experienced in advising civil partners. Children issues include acting for parents or other family members.

Sarah is experienced in dealing with cases with substantial and complex assets in various jurisdictions in particular where there are trusts, and where there are issues of non disclosure and disputed valuations. She drafts and advises on both marital and civil partnership agreements. Her children work includes acting in cases where one parent wishes to relocate to a different country with a child. Sarah is experienced in dealing with matters where there are allegations of drug or alcohol abuse. She is a trained mediator and a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Sarah is admitted to practise in England and Wales.

Richard Wilson KC has a practice encompassing litigation, drafting and advisory work across a wide range of traditional and commercial chancery, with a strong emphasis on trusts and probate (both contentious and non-contentious), related company and partnership law, claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, tax, professional negligence and civil fraud.

Clare is a graduate of History and Politics (BA Hons) at Royal Holloway College, University of London. She began her trust career in Guernsey in 1998 and then moved to Liechtenstein, before settling in Geneva in 2004. Clare has a wide range of experience in trust and company management, including private trust companies, charitable trusts and employee benefits trusts, within which a wide range of assets are managed, including fine art and automobile collections, private equity and commercial and residential property. Clare manages an administration team that is focused on larger, more complex structures where a family office or private investment office is involved. In May 2006, Clare was awarded the Society of Trust and Estate Practictioners (STEP) Suisse-Romand prize for excellence in the Foundation Certificate. Clare is on the executive committee for the STEP Suisse-Romande Association.

Jessica is a private client partner specialising in risk and disputes in relation to trusts and estates.

Jessica has accrued extensive trust litigation experience both in England and offshore. Her cases have included both seeking and defending the removal of trustees, protectors and executors; rectification and variation of trusts; setting aside and defending trusts on the basis of sham allegations; challenging trustees’ decisions and advising trustees on making decisions in contentious circumstances; challenging trustees’ fees; claims for breach of fiduciary duty; and associated professional negligence proceedings against tax and legal advisors. 

Equally, Jessica frequently advises on probate and estate disputes, including invalidity claims, capacity and construction issues, as well as claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

Jessica has also built up particular expertise in advising trustees and beneficiaries on issues of trust law in the context of divorce proceedings – both in relation to proceedings in the Family Division and in the corresponding offshore trust jurisdictions. 

Paul is an experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the fiduciary industry. 

He is skilled in Fiduciary Services, Wealth Structuring, Private Wealth Management and Conference Speaking. 

Paul is a strong business development professional with a Bachelor of Commerce focused in Economics from The University of Queensland.

Jane Keir is a partner in the family and divorce team. Described as a "class act" by her peers and colleagues alike, she is  "absolutely dedicated to getting the job done for her clients many of whom are high profile or international".

Jane acts for equal numbers of men and women and many of her clients come from across the country and abroad, as well as London.  Much of her work involves an international element and she enjoys working with other lawyers, accountants, actuaries, financial advisers, wealth managers and investigators in order to provide a thorough and comprehensive service to her clients. In addition, she has immediate recourse to all the other leading teams at Kingsley Napley LLP, including Private Client, Immigration and Real Estate.

Charlie is a partner in the private client and tax team.

He focuses on UK and international tax and trust issues for both UK domiciled and non-domiciled individuals, as well as advising on wills and succession planning. Charlie was listed in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 dealmakers list for 2018.

He advises a number of family offices and international families as to their ongoing affairs and international trust structures, including private trust company structures.

He also works closely with a number of business families advising on existing structures set up for the management and governance of the family business, its interaction with family trusts and associated estate planning measures.

Charlie advises charities and private clients on tax issues in probate and trust disputes and assists with trust issues involved in international trust litigation.

Charlie assisted Sir Gerry Robinson as the Wills Advisor on the six-part BBC series, ‘Can’t take it with you’, which ran from January to March 2011.

Sarah has extensive experience advising on all aspects of family law, in particular complex financial issues further to divorce or separation, disputes relating to children, and pre and post nuptial agreements. She gives pragmatic advice, acting with sensitivity and discretion. She is recognised as much for her incisive strategic thinking as well as her empathetic approach.

Sally is Head of Private Wealth in Jersey and advises a wide range of professional trustees, settlors and beneficiaries on all issues concerning trusts, with particular emphasis on drafting trust deeds, advising on and drafting the documentation to restructure trusts, advising on high net worth complex structures and rectifying and mitigating breaches of trust.

Emma has extensive expertise in civil fraud litigation, in particular obtaining and defending worldwide freezing injunctions. As a result of her work on behalf of the Department of Health, Emma has experience in litigating private damages actions in competition cases alleging abuse of dominant position and entry into anti-competitive arrangements. In the competition litigation practice area, Legal 500 described Emma as “very sharp”.

Emma’s work often involves cross-border or international elements: amongst other things Emma was part of the team that defended the former CEO of what was Nigeria’s fourth largest bank, conducting 2 weeks of the trial of the claim in Lagos. Emma has also assisted in the taking of evidence from witnesses in Nigeria, made representations on behalf of clients at the United Nations In New York and drafted evidence in support of an anti-suit injunction seeking to prevent the continuation of a claim filed in Israel.

Tamasin advises high-net worth individuals, trustees and fiduciaries on complex international trust disputes including sham, breach of trust claims, mistake and claims involving protectors. She also advises trustees on administration actions such as applications for directions.

She advises on multi-jurisdictional injunctions and claims for the recovery of assets arising out of such disputes. Her practice also includes domestic and international succession disputes including challenges based on capacity, fraud, undue influence or forgery, proprietary estoppel disputes and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Tamasin routinely advises on professional negligence claims arising out of trust and succession disputes and tax advice. She also acts on many contentious matters for charities and in complex contentious Court of Protection matters.

Claire is a partner in the divorce and family team.

She brings commitment, energy, strong technical expertise and sound judgement to all her work, spanning the full range of family law issues. Claire goes the extra mile for her clients with whom she has solid relationships.

Whether working with domestic or international clients, she deals with complex financial claims, children issues, pre and postnuptial agreements and cohabitant disputes and has extensive experience advising on cases involving trusts.

Her clients are in commerce, finance and tech, professionals, families with inherited wealth and those in the public eye. Whilst being highly experienced in difficult litigation she also has a busy dispute-resolution practice as a collaborative lawyer and mediator.

She has acted for (and for the spouses of) trustees, doctors, lawyers, hedge fund managers, members of aristocracy and people in the public eye. With clients involved in anything from sports and retail to pharmaceuticals and technology, Claire is well versed in dealing with clients holding senior positions in many different sectors.

Hanh is a dual-qualified lawyer (Australia/England & Wales) and advises on both contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters. She advises insolvency practitioners and other corporate and individual clients in all aspects of corporate and personal insolvency law providing advisory, transactional and contentious advice.

On the non-contentious side, Hanh regularly advises office holders on the sale of the insolvent company’s business and assets as well as also advising buyers of distressed businesses. On the contentious side, she has significant experience dealing with contentious matters including antecedent recovery actions in both personal and corporate insolvencies.

Hanh is admitted to practise in England and Wales and in New South Wales (Australia).

Tim is a mediator and barrister in international family law and Head of Chambers at Queen Elizabeth Building (“QEB”).  He has practised at QEB as a barrister since 1988 and as KC since 2008. His practice spans all aspects of family law (including pre-nups and nuptial trusts) but he is predominantly known as an expert in “big money” family finance, married or unmarried, and alive or dead (including claims under the Inheritance Act). Tim is ranked in Band One of The Legal 500 and of Chambers UK Bar Directory for Matrimonial Finance.

He specialises in the resolution of disputes relating to the formation or administration of trusts and estates in a UK and international context. Recent cases have included disputes relating to trusts and estates in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cayman Islands and Bermuda. He also advises on charity law matters, including dispute resolution where UK charities are involved.

Steven has been described by Chambers Global as a ‘leading figure’ and ‘esteemed litigator’. He is named as a Leading Lawyer in the Contentious Trusts category of Citywealth’s Annual Guide to the Most Highly Regarded Figures in Private Wealth Management. Steven is also listed as a leading practitioner in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Trust and Estates Practitioners. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 Steven was nominated in Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite of international advisers. In 2011, Steven was included in The Lawyer magazine’s annual ‘Hot 100’ list of lawyers who have consistently demonstrated nimbleness and innovation over the last 12 months.

Rachel has over 20 years’ experience in family law.  She practises in all areas of family law with particular expertise in complex financial cases and disputes in relation to children.  Many of her cases have an international aspect, often with links to France and French speaking countries.  

Rachel advises people from all walks of life.  She understands the pressures of family breakdown and the divorce process and takes the utmost care of her clients. She is known for her empathetic and compassionate approach, at the same time as providing clear and pragmatic advice.

Rachel is recognised in the Spear’s Family Law Index 2023, as a Citywealth Leader in Family and Matrimonial, and in the Chambers UK, Chambers Ultra High Net Worth, and Legal 500 directories. The Legal 500 has commented that she is “highly experienced in all areas of family law”, a “superstar”, and that “she has the unique ability to look at the heart of a case and grasp exactly what a client needs to resolve it.” It praises her “exceptional client care skills” and says that “she identifies fundamental issues very quickly, has excellent judgment and a proactive and constructive approach to problem solving.” Testimony in Chambers UK describes her as “very knowledgeable” and comments that “Rachel was absolutely brilliant; incredibly clever and considerate, thoughtful, and worked through every detail to ensure the best possible outcome, whilst always remaining honest and practical throughout."

Rachel is a collaboratively trained lawyer and a member of Resolution’s Drafting Committee.  She has given seminars on family law and writes for the legal press, and her comments on family law issues have been quoted in the Times and the Daily Mail. 

Richard is a Director of Highvern and Head of Family Office. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1997 and holds an MBA from Warwick University. As well as having expertise in financial accounting and strategic financial planning, Richard has devoted the last 20 years of his career to the Family Office sector. He was the Director of a prominent Single Family Office from 2002-2012 and led the Multi-Family Office division of a prominent international fiduciary services firm from 2013 to 2021, dealing with Ultra High Net Worth individuals and their families from many jurisdictions including Europe, the US, the UAE and Russia. He has specific expertise in private equity, luxury assets, cryptocurrencies and philanthropy. At Highvern, Richard is responsible for managing some of the more complex client relationships, often with innovative structures. He is frequently asked to write articles for leading publications and regularly speaks at international conferences on specific issues relating to Family Offices.

I am an insolvency practitioner with 12 years’ experience of dealing with complex, contentious assignments; with an emphasis on fraud investigation, identification of assets, tracing exercises, enforcement of judgments and recovery of assets for those who have suffered financial loss or have a claim against another party.

I focus on assisting beneficiaries, trustees and representatives in matrimonial, family, trust and probate disputes. I work to find strategies that ensure the most appropriate action is taken in order to achieve maximum recovery. I use the Insolvency Act, along with other civil legislation, such as the use of liquidations, bankruptcies and court appointed receiverships, as a tool to assist with investigation, asset tracing and recovery processes.

Marcus Dearle is senior partner of specialist family law boutique law firm, Miles Preston, in London, and a 26-year veteran of Withers in London and Hong Kong. He spearheaded the launch of Withers’ family law team in Hong Kong and was office managing director of Withers’ Singapore and Hong Kong offices. He has over 34 years of experience acting in complex domestic and international family law cases.

In addition to being admitted in England & Wales, he uniquely practises Hong Kong family law from London. He is also admitted, but not practising in, the BVI.

Marcus is recognised as a leading trusts and divorce litigation practitioner advising HNW and UHNW clients in the ALM | LAW.COM Private Client Global Elite directory: the directory is entirely reliant on peer nominations.

He is the immediate past Chair of the International Bar Association, Family Law Committee, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Marcus acted for the corporate trustee of an offshore Guernsey trust in a major and complex divorce and trust case which went to trial in the High Court in London in 2001, and then to the Court of Appeal in 2008: Judge v Judge [2008] EWCA Civ 1458. Lord Justice Wilson in the Court of Appeal found that the trustee had, ‘adopted a stance not only properly defensive of the interests of the trust, but also both neutral as between the husband and the wife and essentially helpful to the court.’

During the 11 years he was based in Hong Kong Marcus led the family law teams acting in a number of groundbreaking international family law cases that went to the Hong Kong Court of Appeal and/or Court of Final Appeal, including the Florence Tsang case TCWF v LKKS [2014] HKEC 1593 (the largest Hong Kong divorce case), and the landmark divorce and trust, Court of Final Appeal, case of Otto Poon [2014] HKEC 1174, when he acted for the professional trustee, HSBC International Trustee Limited – a case involving a Jersey trust which the Financial Times reported as having ‘Rattled the Trust Industry’ in Hong Kong.

He also acted successfully for the financially stronger US husband in LCYP v JEK [2019] HKCFI 1588, which is now the leading PNA case in Hong Kong.

He has very recently successfully represented Sir Frederick Barclay in defending him against three sets of committal proceedings in the London High Court: see Barclay v Barclay [2022] EWHC 2026 and Barclay v Barclay [2023] EWFC 164.

He wrote the chapter on Divorce and Trusts in Sweet & Maxwell’s 2010 publication ‘Family Law and Practice in Hong Kong’ and in the 2nd (2014) and 3rd (2018) editions.

He lectures widely at international conferences and has been interviewed on international TV news networks, including by the BBC and CNN. He is a regular contributor to the international press and specialist publications, including the London Times, Family Law, International Family Law Journal and STEP Journal.

He was shortlisted as International Family Lawyer of the Year at the Lexis Nexis Family Law Awards 2018.

Melania has significant experience in both contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters. On the non-contentious side, she regularly advises office holders and directors on the sale and acquisition of insolvent businesses (including pre-packaged administrations and liquidations). She advises office holders in relation to issues arising during their appointment and in relation to the conduct of estates. She also provides advice to office holders, directors, lenders and/or other stakeholders regarding the implementation (and implications) of all formal and informal insolvency schemes such as administrations, voluntary arrangements, liquidations, receiverships and bankruptcy.
 

Richard Dew’s practice is focussed on Wills, Estates and Trusts and related professional negligence. His practice is predominantly litigation, and he is frequently involved in large and complex claims. He also advises and represents in Court of Protection matters and provides expert advice in respect of tax and tax planning (principally capital taxation).

He is the Chair of the STEP Contentious Trusts and Estates SIG and an elected member of the Chancery Bar Association Committee. He is a member of STEP and ACTAPS. He was ACTAPS Contentious Barrister of the Year for 2016.

Richard is an editor of Rossdale’s Administration of Estates and Parker’s Modern Will Precedents and regularly writes and lectures on chancery and private client matters.

Richard has been shortlisted by Chambers UK for the (Chancery) ‘Junior of the Year’ award.

Natasha is a partner in the trust, estate and inheritance disputes team. 

She advises on a wide range of trust and succession disputes both onshore and offshore, including trustee/beneficiary disputes, contested probate and 1975 Act claims, and professional negligence in the context of estate planning and trust administration. 

She also advises on Court of Protection matters, including statutory wills, lifetime gifts, contested registrations and Powers of Attorney. 

Natasha has been described by Legal500 and Chambers & Partners HNW as ‘an outstanding lawyer’, ‘unflappable and has good technical knowledge’ and ‘approachable, she makes time for clients and she has a really sensible head on her shoulders’.

She is a contributing author of The Law Society’s Probate Practitioner’s Handbook and Jordan’s International Trust and Divorce Litigation.

Isabelle has been a partner at bwg since 2005.

She is bilingual and has many years of experience in complex international situations, in particular with neighbouring French-speaking and English-speaking countries.

She favours “a realistic and constructive approach in order to maximise chances for a rapid conflict resolution”.

With her HEC (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales) training, Isabelle advises individuals, families and trusts and represents them in all aspects of divorce and family law, particularly in dealing with complex patrimonial and financial issues.

In particular, she assists French expatriates and foreigners residing in France on family and patrimonial issues relating to their international mobility.

Isabelle works closely with a network of foreign lawyers who are among the most reputable thanks to her involvement in international organisations.