Private Client: Guernsey - 4th Annual Edition

Bryony is an experienced private client lawyer working with a range of clients, from individuals and families, to trustee companies and family businesses. At the core of her practice is helping clients and their families put in place the most effective strategies to manage the long term stability and integrity of their estates.

Bryony has extensive experience advising on all aspects of UK estate planning, including wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and family governance issues. She regularly advises on the administration of large and complex estates and international probate, and some contentious probate and trust matters.

Beatrice is a Partner in the Private Wealth team at Stephenson Harwood.

Beatrice's primary focus is on international tax, trusts, tax and estate planning for UK and non-UK resident and UK and non UK domiciled HNW and UHNW clients and their families.

Beatrice has a particular expertise on European issues in general and Italian issues in particular, as she has qualified in Italy and in England and Wales.  Beatrice also has significant experience in advising financial institutions and trustees on international trust and tax matters and structuring and on the ownership, structuring and acquisition of UK and non-UK real estate. Beatrice also specialises in cross-border estate planning issues with a particular focus on all issues arising from Roman Law and Common Law application to clients and their assets.

Alasdair Wilson advises individuals, families and fiduciaries based in the UK and overseas in relation to all matters of international personal taxation, wealth structuring, global compliance and cross-border estate planning. This includes tax and legal issues related to moving between countries, protecting ownership of assets, ensuring tax efficiency in multiple jurisdictions and formulating plans for succession.

Alasdair has a particular interest in the structuring, governance and taxation of family businesses and personal enterprises. He often oversees the legal and tax strategy for the management of private capital by wealth generators or custodians across jurisdictions. This generally involves detailed analysis of trust and company structures established outside the UK.

Ben is a Guernsey Advocate and Partner of Collas Crill's Private Client and Trusts team.

His practice is focussed on contentious and semi-contentious trust work, advising both trustees and beneficiaries and appearing in the Royal Court in Guernsey on those matters.

He has a particular interest in the issues around the succession to wealth by the next generation. Recent highlights include: acting for the beneficiary of a trust in a proposed restructuring of an UHNW family's wealth following a dispute with their trustee. Planning for the splintering-off of our client's interests, and negotiating the necessary protections; acting for the corporate trustee of a discretionary trust settled for the benefit of the Settlor's children. The Settlor was domiciled in a jurisdiction in which Sharia law would have applied on succession. The trust imported aspects of Sharia law, while also providing for the settlor's daughters. A family dispute resulted in various challenges relating to the trust; acting for the corporate trustee of a trust during the course of a significant family dispute. The aim was to divide the assets of the trust against a lack of any agreement between the beneficiaries as to how that should be done.

Waqar is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution department, focusing on the resolution of complex tax matters. He acts for high net worth individuals and corporate clients across all sectors in respect of HMRC disputes and investigations across the full range of taxes. This typically includes VAT disputes, employment tax matters (including 'IR35'/off-payroll working), customs/excise duty issues, tax fraud investigations, and more recently, National Minimum Wage enquiries.

Waqar is known for his commercial approach to matters involving HMRC and has a strong track record of helping clients settle without the need for a court or tribunal hearing, particularly through the effective use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (i.e. mediation) with HMRC. He also has considerable experience in judicial reviews and group litigation orders and has led high profile matters at all levels from the Tax Tribunal through to the Supreme Court (including referrals to the Court of Justice of the European Union).

Waqar has been regularly recognised in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners as 'one to watch' and a 'rising star'. He was listed in AccountancyAge's '35 under 35' in 2019 and regularly contributes to Tax Journal, Taxation, and other similar publications. Waqar is also the annual webinar presenter of the key tax cases of the year for Lexis and an active member of the VAT Practitioners Group. Waqar is a qualified member of the Association of Tax Technicians (ATT).

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 client base includes individuals, family offices, family-owned businesses, trustees and financial institutions, many of who do not have a significant connection with the UK.

Paul was named a Rising Star in The Legal 500 2024 directory for Private Client - Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate.

Paul regularly advises on issues of governance, and in particular on how to delineate control between owners, officeholders and other fiduciaries in the context of family-owned businesses and structures. 

He advises trustees, protectors and other fiduciaries on good governance practices. He has also advised directors of private and public companies on matters of corporate governance.

Paul advises both UK-based and non-UK based clients on how to put in place successful succession plans. He also assists trustees, directors and family offices in how to implement them.

Paul has extensive experience in 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 Public Trustee v Cooper trustee blessing applications in Bermuda over the last five years.

Paul advises on all matters of UK personal taxation. He has a particular focus on UK tax issues involving non-UK resident trusts and advises taxpayers and fellow professionals about the conduct of HMRC investigations.

Dr. Niklas J.R.M. Schmidt is a partner at the Vienna office of Wolf Theiss, one of the leading law firms in the CEE/SEE region. He has been admitted both as a lawyer and as a tax adviser. He has particular expertise regarding tax law, foundations, private clients and crypto assets. Before joining the firm in 2000, Niklas worked for several years at a “Big Four” accounting firm and as a research assistant in the tax law department at the University of Vienna.

Niklas is frequently engaged as a speaker at international tax conferences and has been a visiting lecturer at various universities in Austria and abroad. He has written several books and many articles in international tax journals. Niklas sits on the editorial board of the Austrian “SteuerExpress” magazine. Furthermore, he is a member of several international organizations (often in leadership positions), including the International Bar Association (IBA), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (IAETL), the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and the International Fiscal Association (IFA). Niklas is a past chair of the IBA’s Private Client Tax Committee and in this capacity has been instrumental in organizing several private wealth related conferences in London.

Apart from his private client related work, Niklas is well known for his crypto know-how. He has been involved in the crypto space since 2013 – as a researcher, as an investor and as a lawyer. Niklas has been advising family offices, foundations, trustees, wealthy individuals and banks on various topics related to crypto assets. He is the founder of the WT Crypto Academy, an educational initiative for non-crypto natives over 20 hours ("from zero to hero"), where he has trained more than a thousand lawyers in the last few years. His vast expertise in the area of crypto has been recognized by his inclusion in Citywealth's worldwide list of top 100 crypto advisors. Niklas is a member of the advisory board of the Digital Asset Association Austria (DAAA), and is frequently interviewed by newspapers on crypto topics, in particular due to his deep technical knowledge and good market overview. He is the author of a German language FAQ-style book on crypto and a co-editor of the leading English language book covering crypto taxation in more than 40 countries.

Monika Byrska is a bilingual solicitor specialising in trust, will and estate disputes. 

Monika advises in all types of private client disputes. This includes: will challenges, Inheritance Act claims, disputes relating to the administration of estates, actions against trustees and personal representatives, promissory estoppel claims, trust disputes between co-owners of a property, and application for directions in administration of trusts and estates. 

As a STEP-qualified practitioner, she is uniquely qualified to assist with both contentious and non-contentious aspects of trust and estate administration. She therefore also represents personal representatives and trustees advising on the administration of trusts and estates, which are complex or entangled in disputes. 

As Monika often meets clients when they are going through their most difficult times, she aims to put them at ease with her straightforward and compassionate approach. She has passion and years of experience in resolving what may seem to be the most impossible disputes over wealth.  

She is bilingual and able to service clients in Polish. With a background in linguistics and interpretation, Monika also has a working knowledge of a couple other European languages. 

Claire advises UK and international clients on their estate and tax planning affairs. She is recognised for her ability to find practical solutions to complex issues involving UK taxation, including for individuals moving to or back to the UK, and UK resident individuals setting up or benefitting from offshore structures and investing in the UK. Claire also has experience in making tax disclosures and settlements with HMRC.

Sarah focusses on advising international UK-based wealthy families, including entrepreneurs and investors, on structuring their worldwide assets efficiently. Sarah started her career as a graduate, and has worked for a variety of legal and accounting firms in both the UK and the Channel Islands, before joining Frank Hirth in 2016. She now heads the UK tax team at EY Frank Hirth.

Sarah has advised wealthy multinational families, entrepreneurs and highly sophisticated investors on structuring their worldwide assets efficiently. She is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (TEP). Sarah is also a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). She was named in Spear's 500 Top Private Client Advisers in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

She holds a Law degree (LLB Hons) in Law from UWE Bristol and a master’s degree (LLM) in Public Law from University of Bristol.

Clementine is a Legal Director specialising in contentious trusts and estates and commercial litigation.

She is recommended in both fields by The Legal 500 2024.

Clementine is particularly experienced in matters involving complex corporate / trust structures, company law issues and multi-jurisdictional elements, having begun her career as a corporate solicitor specialising in private equity and also spent time on secondment at the investment funds Oaktree Capital and Hambro Perks.

Clementine trained and qualified at Weil Gotshal & Manges, practising there and subsequently at Farrer & Co before joining Payne Hicks Beach in 2022.

She read English at Cambridge before completing the GDL and LPC (both with Distinction) and also has Higher Rights of Audience.

Roberta Harvey joined Forsters as a Partner in January 2019, and was appointed Head of the Contentious Trust and Estate (CTE) group on 1 April 2020.

Roberta is a specialist contentious trusts and estates lawyer and has an excellent reputation among her peers in representing high net worth individuals, family offices, trustees, protectors, executors and beneficiaries in respect of such matters. Examples of the cases Roberta deals with are as follows: validity issues, breach of trust, removal applications, construction arguments, freezing injunctions, asset tracing and recovery and the full remit of estate disputes. Roberta’s supportive and constructive approach to litigation inspires confidence in her clients. Roberta fiercely defends her clients’ best interests, while always considering the wider and long-term implications for their personal, financial and commercial interests. Taking a creative approach, Roberta will explore alternatives to court such as mediation, but will take matters to trial when necessary. Roberta also works closely with her family and private client colleagues and often advises on issues that arise in the context of divorce or post and pre-nuptial agreements or on stress testing trust structures.

Roberta is regularly asked to speak at industry conferences. Recent examples include the STEP Cayman International Wealth Structuring Forum, the Trust and Estates Litigation Forum in Marrakech where she spoke on a wide range of issues from fraud, to cross jurisdictional privilege. During the Covid-19 crisis Roberta spoke with Richard Dew of Ten Old Square in relation to Court of Protection matters via zoom. Roberta has been asked to speak at the Trust and Estates Litigation Forum in Cologne, Germany which is now been postponed to March 2022. She also contributes regularly to national and international publications and during the course of last year had articles published in the following publications: Financial Times, Tatler, Money Observer, Private Banker International, eprivateclient and the ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client magazine.

Kyra specialises in international succession, wealth structuring, tax and estate planning advice for individuals and their families as well as related advice to family offices.

Kyra’s work all has an international element, including advising on wealth structuring in civil law and sharia law countries and probate for multi-jurisdictional estates. Kyra is trusted adviser to several international families, helping to manage their global legal affairs.

Kyra has extensive experience in UK pre-arrival planning for non-domiciliaries and remittance basis advice. Kyra advises regularly in relation to the implementation of trusts and corporate holding vehicles, both for entrepreneurs, private equity executives and for other high-net-worth individuals.

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.

An advertising executive turned barrister (called to the Bar in 2004), Stuart has pioneered a new kind of advisory role which combines both aspects of his background. Specialising in reputation management, Stuart helps to manage the communications around complex litigation, helping to guide and protect his clients during the most challenging of circumstances.

He has led a whole new approach to litigation communications and crisis management for major corporate clients drawing on his experience in international PR, eight years with Pump Court Chambers as a barrister and as a senior account handler with several top advertising agencies.

Nigel Mifsud joined Butterfield in 2023 as VP, Senior Strategic Relationship Manager, responsible for building and enhancing relationships with clients and their advisers across all Butterfield’s jurisdictions. 

Nigel began his career as a Barrister, after being called to the Bar of England and Wales and later the Gibraltar Bar. He has over 20 years senior experience in the trust industry, having most recently worked for Credit Suisse in Zurich and Guernsey.

Bilingual in English and Spanish, he also speaks French and some Italian. He has been a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) since 2008.

Alberto Brazzalotto, partner at Maisto e Associati, heads the London office since January 2023.

His main area of expertise is Italian tax law, with a focus on private client matters, including taxation of trusts, estate planning, cross-border successions, restructuring of family business and relocation of high-net-worth individuals to and from Italy.  He has an extensive experience also in international tax law, taxation of IPs, taxation in the sport, entertainment and art sector. He also assists clients (both domestic and international) in potential tax controversies and tax dispute resolutions through settlements.

He is a TEP member of the Italian branch of STEP (The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and a member of PAIAM (Professional Advisors to the International Art Market)

Alison is a partner and head of the Guernsey Dispute Resolution team.

She is recognised in Legal 500's "Hall of Fame", and by Chambers & Partners. Alison has considerable experience in relation to trust, banking, insolvency and insurance litigation, as well as general corporate disputes.  She appears regularly in front of the Royal Court and Court of Appeal. Alison is a regular speaker at conferences in Guernsey, the UK and internationally, particularly in relation to trust litigation corporate governance and AML issues

Kerrie is a Director at HIGHVERN, an independent fiduciary services provider, and part of the senior team in its pan-island Private Wealth department. She is qualified as a Guernsey Advocate and has practised as a senior lawyer in in the trusts and private client teams of several leading offshore law firms. Prior to joining HIGHVERN in November 2022, she ran her own boutique private wealth legal practice for two years, specialising in legal services for fiduciaries and private clients. Kerrie has extensive experience of advising on complex, high-value structures, including trusts, foundations and corporate entities, set up by HNWIs and entrepreneurs.

At HIGHVERN, Kerrie uses her industry experience and knowledge, and her technical skills, in working with clients and their advisers to set up and administer robust structures, tailored to each individual client’s specific circumstances and requirements.

Kerrie sits on the Guernsey Association of Trustees’ Executive Committee and leads the association’s Technical Committee, regularly contributing to industry consultations on changes to legislation and regulation affecting Guernsey’s fiduciary sector.

Kirstie McGuigan is a partner in Taylor Wessing's Private Client group. Her particular strength lies in the fact that she specialises in both contentious and non-contentious private client matters, and consequently is able to provide holistic and commercial advice.

Kirstie specialises in the resolution of disputes relating to the formation or administration of trusts and estates both in a UK and international context.  She has developed a strong reputation in the market for her involvement in large complex trusts and contested estates matters (including claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, capacity and construction issues), and she advises on Court of Protection matters, as well.

What sets Kirstie's apart is the fact that, unusually for a private client contentious trusts and estates specialist, she is multi-disciplined as she advises on non-contentious private client matters. Kirstie advises trustees of trusts of considerable value and domestic HNW individuals and families and is experienced in the areas of probate, succession and Wills especially involving multi-jurisdictional assets, landed estates and heritage tax issues. Kirstie also acts as a trustee, executor and attorney for many of her clients.