Private Client: Jersey - 5th Annual Edition

Catrin advises UK and non-UK domiciled individuals in relation to their tax, trust and estate planning.

Catrin specialises in complex tax, trust and estate planning. She assists high net worth individuals with a wide range of UK taxation matters, including the statutory residence test, the remittance basis / the new four year regime, and the taxation of offshore trusts with UK resident settlors and/or beneficiaries. 

Catrin also writes Clarke’s Offshore Tax Planning: Foreign Domiciliaries, with her colleague Dominic Lawrance. This textbook on tax planning for internationally mobile clients is widely read by offshore trustees, wealth managers and tax advisers.

Catrin is admitted to practise in England and Wales.

Fritha is an experienced litigator who specialises in contentious and semi-contentious trust work and private client disputes.

Fritha has extensive experience of complex, high value, multijurisdictional trust disputes and has been involved in some of the largest and most advanced trust litigation to come before the Royal Court in Jersey.

In addition to hostile litigation matters, Fritha is regularly involved in applications concerning the blessing of momentous trustee decisions and applications to set aside trusts on grounds of mistake. Fritha is also frequently instructed to provide Jersey trust law advice in the context of high net worth divorces.

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.

Morag is a Barrister and Partner in the Tax team, specialising in litigation and the settlement of disputes.

She is experienced in helping clients find bespoke legal solutions to the most complex tax problems, and acts for clients from all over the world – including household names in sport, film and TV; international families; and other prominent individuals.

Prior to entering private practice, Morag spent time at the independent Bar, the Big Four and in-house at an investment management firm. Her deep understanding of tax and litigation procedure, coupled with her extensive experience in advising on the lawfulness of HMRC’s decisions ensures that she is able to develop strategic solutions that both assist and protect clients.

Morag offers a wide range of private client litigation and contentious tax services ranging from tribunal litigation and complex tax investigations, to cases of suspected fraud, settlement of marketed tax avoidance schemes, conduct/fairness proceedings against HMRC, and claims where incorrect tax advice has been given.

She is known for her inter-disciplinary approach to tax, which often includes working with other experts and specialists, leveraging insights from different areas of law – securing good outcomes for clients both in and out of the courtroom.

In addition to contentious work, Morag is also able to advise clients on their business interests and any possible tax risks when structuring their affairs around the world and regularly advises on the tax consequences of living or working abroad, the purchase and movement of luxury assets, and the tax implications of divorce for international couples.

JosephBrothers is a partner based in London.

He advises on the US tax aspects of private wealth structures, closely held businesses, investment products and funds. His practice focuses on the interaction between personal tax and business tax structuring, with a particular emphasis on entrepeneurs, executives, and trusts with some connection to the United States. He also advises family offices, individuals and business on "inbound" US tax issues, including US real estate, funds and direct equity and debt investments.

He has been named in eprivate client's Top 35 Under 35 list of leading young private client practitioners and has written for leading tax publications such as Tax Notes Federal and Tax Notes International on a variety of US cross-border tax issues.

Lacie Riseborough is a results-driven philanthropy professional with a proven track record in the strategic planning, development, and delivery of income generation across a variety of sectors, including education, health and medical research, sport, and community services.

She is respected for her ability to champion and advance the vision and mission of an organisation by actively engaging a diverse range of stakeholders and cultivating meaningful relationships with donors to support organisational goals.

Lacie brings strong project management and analytical skills to complex business challenges and has extensive experience influencing individuals at all levels of seniority within an organisation.

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.

Nigel Sanders is one of the leading commercial litigation and trust disputes lawyers in Jersey with over 30 years’ experience as a contentious practitioner.

As well as commercial and trusts disputes, he also has expertise in contentious insolvency and corporate matters, contentious regulatory advisory work and competition law disputes.

He regularly advises clients on cross-border issues relating to trusts, probate, insolvency, fraud and asset tracing, and corporate and commercial disputes.

Nigel regularly appears before the Jersey Court and has represented professional and institutional clients as well as individuals in a range of important cases.

He has practised in Jersey, England and Wales, the British Virgin and Cayman Islands.

Nigel is the current President of the Law Society of Jersey having been elected in 2024.

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.

Simon is highly regarded by both clients and his peers, he brings his considerable expertise to bear to help separating couples resolve issues in a constructive manner. He has a particular strength in complex financial cases, often involving trusts, family businesses and assets in more than one jurisdiction.

Working closely with colleagues in the private wealth sector to provide a seamless service to high net worth individuals and their families, Simon is able to advise on the family law aspects of wealth protection, including prenuptial and cohabitation agreements. He has a thriving children law practice and has assisted parents in all aspects of the law relating to children. He has a specialist interest in the cross-border movement of children and frequently provides guidance on international surrogacy and applications for parental orders.

Simon is an elected member of the national committee of Resolution, the leading membership organisation for specialist family lawyers, and is the organisation’s treasurer.

Simon is recognised as a 'Next Generation Partner' in The Legal 500 2023 edition and is ranked in the Chambers UK and HNW guides for his work on sophisticated financial cases, many with a trust-related, family business or multi-jurisdictional element. He is recognised as a 'Recommended Lawyer' in the Spear's 500 2022 directory.

Guy Mawson is a Partner in the Family team and has significant experience across the full range of private family law work. In particular, he acts for high net worth individuals regarding financial claims on separation. Such cases often involve multi-jurisdictional issues, trust structures and complex assets. Guy frequently act for clients with a high profile for whom reputation management is a key consideration.

Guy also specialises in sensitive children matters, including those with significant welfare concerns and where serious allegations are made. He has extensive experience advising high net worth individuals on prenuptial agreements, often working closely with family offices and private client advisers.

Kelly Greig joined Blick Rothenberg in 2024, following a long career as a tax lawyer. She is a dual-qualified solicitor (non-practising) and a Chartered Tax Adviser, specialising in international issues affecting private clients.

She primarily advises international high-net-worth individuals and corporate entities on structuring their affairs with a focus on future succession. Kelly holds an Advanced Diploma in International Taxation with a specialism in UK/US tax. With over 19 years of experience in tax advisory work, she has developed particular expertise in succession planning for business owners, the use of offshore structures, and international estate planning. She also acts as an expert witness on tax matters.

Kelly is the current Worldwide Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), a global organisation recognised as the gold standard for professionals advising families across generations.

She has a strong interest in tax treaties and frequently provides specialist advice in this area. In addition, she lectures at the International University of Monaco on the International Management of Family Wealth.

Kelly regularly contributes commentary and responses to government consultations on legislative developments and is a frequent speaker at international conferences and debates. She also serves on the advisory board of the International Tax Planning Association.

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. 

I am a Client Services Director in the Jersey office.  Having qualified as a non-practising Barrister and Solicitor of England and Wales I spent five years in private practice in both England and Jersey.

Thereafter I moved into the offshore finance industry in 2009, completing the STEP diploma in International Offshore Administration.  My legal background enables me to specialise in the administration of contentious, complex and / or distressed offshore structures, in particular those involved in litigation or under criminal or tax investigation.