Neil is a senior associate in the private client department. He advises clients on wills, tax and estate planning and the administration of trusts and estates.

Neil specialises in two principal areas, the first being contentious trust and estate matters, including claims by disappointed Beneficiaries, claims relating to the validity of wills, issues of testamentary capacity, and disputes between Beneficiaries and Executors/Trustees.

His other specialist area is advising individuals from the creative industry in relation to their wills and tax planning, which often includes understanding the nature of their work: whether they operate as a sole trader or through a business, who owns the intellectual property rights in their work, whether the business qualifies for inheritance tax business property relief, how they manage their archive and research material, their relationship with their agent and/or gallery and other related issues.

Neil has been a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners since 1996 and is also a member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists and the Private Client Section of the Law Society.

Recent work advising

• a well known sculptor in connection with his will and inheritance tax planning which included addressing a number of issues such as how to manage his archive, understanding his business as a sculptor and establishing his view on future editions of his work
• the Executors of an estate worth £80m in relation to a claim made against the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975
• Beneficiaries where there was a claim that the will had been forged
• the executors of the estates of a number of well known writers, which involved handling their royalties and contracts and advising on how these should be exploited for the benefit of the beneficiaries

Random fact

Neil is an enthusiastic foodie and compensates for this by regularly cycling to work.

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