Insight Understanding Clarity Our Family Office service
Family Office service
01
Everything is designed around you Our team is here to help you look after your family’s interests and assets, offering clear, practical advice on everything from wills and pre-nuptial agreements to the family business and your property portfolio. Having worked for many years with individuals, families, entrepreneurs and professionals based both in the UK and internationally, we understand the wide range of legal, financial and emotional issues that can arise. We also recognise that your family, your business and your wealth are all inextricably linked and that any advice you receive should take them all into account. The unusually broad range of specialisms within Russell-Cooke means you can turn to a single team for the prompt guidance you and your family need. As well as helping you make the best-informed decisions and plan for the future, our team also has the experience to anticipate problems before they arise.
Day-to-day, you can opt for a single point of contact at our firm or deal directly with individual specialists, whichever suits you best. We are very happy to work alongside your family’s existing professional advisers and can also introduce you to trusted partners from our own network, including leading law firms in different jurisdictions.
02
Russell-Cooke
Comprehensive With such a broad range of expertise at your disposal, you can tap into advice as and when you need it. Wealth and succession planning Often working closely with a family’s other advisers, we offer guidance on all legal aspects of wealth planning and protection. Succession planning – we specialise in everything from wills, powers of attorney and estate administration to trusts and Family Investment Companies. Tax advice – we are able to advise on all areas of tax in relation to wealth and succession planning, including inheritance tax, capital gains tax and stamp duty. Entrepreneurs and family businesses – key areas we offer guidance on include business property relief and entrepreneurs’ relief. Real estate – our services range from simple conveyancing to managing the family estate and developing your investment portfolio. Cross-border – where assets straddle multiple jurisdictions, we can work with our private international law team and firms in our global network to provide clear, practical advice.
Family relationships For any family, relationship changes will often have significant immediate and long-term consequences – both emotionally and financially. Expert, empathetic advice is vital to ensure you are taking the right course and the process is sensitively and constructively handled. Our services include drawing up pre-nuptial, post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. We also advise on the end of relationships (whether married or not) and subjects such as financial settlements and the arrangements for children after divorce or separation. Other specialisms include advising on family creation - including adoption and surrogacy - and all issues relating to education, from early years through to university and beyond.
Family Office service
Resolving disputes It could be a disagreement over the way the family trust is being run, a threat to a trust or assets, or a challenge to the succession of an estate. Whatever the nature of the dispute, we can help to resolve it in the most sensitive and efficient way, whether through negotiation, mediation or hard-fought litigation.
Commercial interests Whether your commercial interests include a family business or stakes in other companies, we can advise on issues such as ownership structures, commercial agreements and corporate transactions.
Real estate Whether it be in relation to a specific transaction or providing strategic advice, our team has extensive experience dealing with family offices and their real estate portfolios. Our expertise is in all areas of property law including acquisitions and disposals,
development, planning and construction, investment, landlord and tenant, property management and property finance.
Reputation management Our specialist team has a great deal of experience in protecting the reputation of both high profile individuals and private families, whatever the matter at hand. We are also able to call on our network of PR and associated specialist contacts.
Philanthropy To support charitable giving activities, our nationally-recognised philanthropy experts can help with matters such as establishing your own foundation or advising on your role as a trustee.
Other services Our team can also help with a wide range of other issues such as employment and health and safety law.
03
04
Russell-Cooke
Proven Over the years we have worked with all kinds of families on a huge variety of issues. Here are just two examples of how our Family Office team can help. Preserving a family estate for future generations
Advising a family with interests in multiple jurisdictions
Our clients – owners of an estate which is run as a successful business – came to us for guidance on how best to preserve the estate for future generations. Members of our private client, family and corporate teams met with the family to discuss their objectives and the various issues that would need to be considered.
We act for a businessman and his family who are based between London and various other jurisdictions and have commercial and property interests internationally. In addition to advising on a number of private international law matters, we have prepared wills for our client and his wife, working closely with the family’s advisers across jurisdictions.
Our first step was to review the family’s wills in conjunction with their other advisers to make sure they offered the right level of protection and the flexibility for the future shifts in family relationships. At the same time, our corporate team advised on the most appropriate corporate structure for the business. Our family team outlined possible pre-nuptial agreements to regulate how best to protect historic family assets. Finally, our specialists in areas including employment and property have also provided guidance on the many legal responsibilities that go with owning a large estate.
Our family and private client teams have also met with the whole family to discuss how the next generation can protect their assets whilst entering into new relationships. This meeting – which covered topics such as cohabitation and pre-nuptial agreements – gave family members an opportunity to raise questions in an open forum and explore the options available to them.
Family Office service
10 of our specialists are recommended in Chambers HNW the guide to the world’s leading high net worth advisers.
05
06
Russell-Cooke
People Our Family Office team is made up of respected lawyers from a range of legal disciplines, enabling us to help with an unusually broad mix of issues. Wealth and sucession planning
Family relationships
Rebecca Fisher Partner
James Carroll Partner
Rebecca.Fisher@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 8394 6218
James.Carroll@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 7440 4839
Real estate
Matt Garrod Partner Matt.Garrod@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 7440 4848
Family Office service
Resolving disputes
Philanthropy
Alison Regan Partner
Pippa Garland Partner
Alison.Regan@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 8394 6549
Pippa.Garland@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 8394 6491
Commercial interests
Reputation management
David Webster Partner
Matt Bosworth Partner
David.Webster@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 7440 4825
Matt.Bosworth@russell-cooke.co.uk +44 (0)20 7440 4840
07
08
Russell-Cooke
Contact us Whether you need advice on a specific matter or would like a more general conversation, our team is here to help.
y’s Gra Inn ad Ro
s
Row
rS cte Pro
et Stre d dlan Chancery Lane San
t
tree
ow
R ton
mp
tha
ford
Sou
ield ’s F key Joc
d
Bed
Th
Roa
’s ald eob
High
orn
Holb
s
ld Fie
an e
L
Inn ln’s o c in
yL
e
r ce
T: +44 (0)20 3826 7677 F: +44 (0)20 7831 2565
k Par
an
y swa
8 Bedford Row London WC1R 4BX
Wh
ne tso
Ch
g Kin
Holborn
Family Office service
russell-cooke.co.uk/familyoffice