Families and Individuals

We have the experience to help you make decisions about your personal affairs by providing practical, customised legal advice.

What we do

Tax Planning

BTO’s tax lawyers and advisers are able to guide you through the various potential pitfalls. We advise on all aspects of Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax. We deal also with the completion of tax returns for individuals, trusts and estates.

Our experience and guidance will enable you to achieve your objectives in the most tax efficient way. We provide advice on succession planning, asset protection and passing on the family business. This involves pre death planning, using trusts and lifetime gifts and post death Deeds of Variation.

Our pragmatic approach enables us to identify areas where you can minimise the tax payable in a realistic manner. We believe that it is vital to balance the demands of tax planning with the practical requirements of you, the client. We will tailor-make solutions to your particular circumstances.

Wills

Every individual should have a Will. With the dynamics of family life being more complex these days having a Will ensures that your estate goes to those you wish to benefit. For young beneficiaries, a trust can be set up to protect the assets for them and guardians can be appointed. Wills can deal with second marriages by providing for your spouse during his or her lifetime but ensuring your children still ultimately benefit. Having no Will, or even a poorly drafted Will, can cause unnecessary distress and expense to your family at an already stressful time. We have the expertise to advise on the drafting of effective and tax efficient Wills.

Trusts

Trusts still play an important role in modern society. Trusts have many uses, the most common being family and asset protection and tax planning. However, there are also particular trusts for disabled people and charities. We have experience in drafting and administering all types of trusts and in advising clients on the inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax treatment of each type of trust. We will discuss your requirements with you and draft the trust which will best suit your needs.

Powers of Attorney

In the future, you may need someone to look after your financial and welfare affairs. This may be in the short term, if you go abroad, or permanently, if you become incapable of managing your own affairs. Indeed, if you have not appointed an attorney and become incapable of looking after your affairs, then your finances cannot be dealt with until the court appoints someone. This can be a complicated, expensive and an extremely lengthy procedure. We can advise you fully on what powers you may need in the Power of Attorney and how to draft it to best suit your needs.

Administration of Estates

The death of a family member or friend can be a time of great distress. We deal sympathetically and discreetly with all aspects of the administration of an estate with the minimum of delay. We are experienced in dealing with all sizes of estate, contentious estates and estates where the deceased was domiciled abroad. We are also experienced in all aspects of estate taxation including Inheritance Tax and in negotiation with HM Revenue and Customs in relation to claims for Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief. We can also advise you regarding Deeds of Variation to ensure estates are wound up in the most tax efficient manner.

Contacts:

Gregor Mitchell, Partner, E. gmi@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939

Experience

Team

Testimonials