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.

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).

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.