Oliver Auld

Oliver specialises in acting for clients involved in complex and multi-jurisdictional disputes concerning inherited wealth and assets held in English and offshore family trusts. His clients are predominantly high net-worth individuals, executors, trustees and other fiduciaries involved in the administration of family assets.

Oliver regularly acts for trustees and beneficiaries in a broad range of contested and uncontested court applications to resolve issues that have arisen in the administration of trusts and estates both in England and offshore jurisdictions. He also acts in relation to claims for breach of trust or professional negligence where a loss has been caused to assets held in trust, particularly in the context of failed investments. He regularly works alongside colleagues in the firm’s private wealth, family and financial services teams to deal with complex trusts and tax, divorce and investment matters. He has significant experience acting in relation to claims challenging the validity of wills and under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. He also acts for clients in sensitive and confidential disputes in the Court of Protection.

Oliver has been recognised as a 'Rising Leader' in Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite 2022. He also writes regularly for various legal publications specialising in trust and estate matters and is a member of the LexisNexis panel of Private Client Experts.

Oliver is admitted to practise in England and Wales.

• Cowan v Foreman and others [2019] EWHC 349 (Fam), acting for defendants to a claim under the 1975 Act in relation to a £20 million estate.
• Acting for children of an ultra high-net-worth individual in the Court of Protection regarding, amongst other things, the validity of various powers of attorney.
• Right Hon Gloria Wesley, Dowager Countess Bathurst v Chantler and others [2018] EWHC 21 (Ch), acting for trustees in a dispute in relation to the administration of the estate of the Eighth Earl Bathurst, including an application in relation to an application seeking a determination of the proper construction of a will trust and to remove the trustees.
• Alan Shearer v Kevin Neal Associates Limited and others (2017), acting for the claimant in relation to claims against his financial adviser and pension provider in relation to £9 million investment losses.
• Acting for the trustees of an offshore settlement in an application to vary the terms of the settlement to absolve the trustees from a duty to diversify the investment of trust assets worth circa £3 billion.
• Wooldridge v Wooldridge [2016] (Case No: 3CL1022132), acting for a defendant to a claim under the 1975 Act in relation to a £20 million estate.