Cariad Medway-Smith
Private Client Executive
Wills, Trusts & Probate
My Approach
I aim to provide clear, concise legal advice to my clients and guide them through difficult issues and times. Listening to clients and understanding their needs is a key element, as is explaining the law in a jargon free way. I pride myself on dealing with my bereaved clients in a sensitive and professional manner.
Areas of Expertise and Experience
I have 8 years of experience including the following areas of work:-
- Probate applications
- Estate administration of all types of estates
- Wills: for individuals, married or unmarried partners, clients with children from previous relationships, business owners, care fee planning Wills.
- Inheritance tax advice
- Charity law
- Estate planning including deeds of variation
- Lifetime trusts
- Declarations of trust over property
- Deeds to vary trusts
- Trusts for disabled beneficiaries
- Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs), including commercial LPAs
- Registering Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs)
- General Powers of Attorney
Recent Work Includes
- Full estate administration service for estates with business and foreign assets
- Grant of Probate only applications
- Dealing with intestacies (estates without a Will)
- Preparing Wills to provide for vulnerable or disabled beneficiaries
- Preparing Wills for business owners which include trusts to make best use of inheritance tax allowances and reliefs
- Preparing Wills for spouses structured to make best use of inheritance tax allowances where one spouse has been previously widowed.
- Preparing Wills for clients who live outside the UK and considering domicile
- Registering charities, advising on charity structures, merging/winding up charities
- Preparing LPAs for clients with complex circumstances/mental capacity issues
- Advising clients on lifetime gifting strategies to make best use of inheritance tax allowances and reliefs
- Advising on care home fees
- Advising clients who do not wish their children to benefit in their Wills.
- Advising on business property relief from inheritance tax
- Advising clients with assets outside the UK
Professional Associations and Qualifications
- Recommended Lawyer by The Legal 500 (UK 2019) being described as ‘extremely courteous’.
- Affiliate member of STEP (Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Bournemouth University (Distinction)
- Graduate Diploma in Law, BPP University London
- BA Joint Hons French & Spanish, Bristol University
- STEP Advanced Certificate in Will Preparation
- Member of the Charity Law Association
Reviews
We recently made new Wills with Cariad Medway-Smith. We were given expert guidance with regard to our new Wills and the whole process only took a short amount of time
Mrs S Ludlow