About
Richard’s practice covers a broad range of private client legal services, supporting clients through wealth planning, succession and the administration of estates. He is frequently involved in matters that combine technical tax considerations with complex family, business and personal issues, including estates with cross border elements or a contentious dimension.
Richard is known for his practical and empathetic approach with clients, working seamlessly with their other advisers to provide clear advice that stands the test of time.
Wills, succession planning and tax advice
Richard works closely with clients on will drafting and succession planning, including both lifetime and post death inheritance tax planning. A key area of focus is succession planning for individuals with family business interests, helping families put robust structures in place for the transfer of wealth and control across generations, including the creation and ongoing administration of trusts.
Trusts for vulnerable beneficiaries, mental capacity, and Court of Protection
Richard advises on the establishment and administration of disabled person’s trusts, ensuring appropriate protection, control and long term governance for vulnerable individuals. He also has experience in capacity and Court of Protection matters, assisting attorneys with their duties and responsibilities, advising on statutory wills, and making applications to the Court of Protection where required, including deputyships.
Complex and contentious probate and estate administration
Richard has significant experience in complex probate and estate administration, acting for executors, independent administrators, and beneficiaries. He is regularly instructed on estates involving disputes, intricate tax issues or significant post death planning opportunities, often acting as an independent executor or trustee.
He is experienced in supporting clients through the practical and legal challenges that arise during administration, including issues around executor duties, trust restructuring and the resolution of contentious estate matters.
Charity Legacy Administration
Richard is a key member of the firm’s Charity Legacy Administration team. His work for charities covers a wide range of legacy related issues, including mitigating tax and administering complex or unusual assets, and he teaches the inheritance tax modules for the Institute of Legacy Management’s charity legacy officers.
Recognition and professional memberships
Richard ranked as a Next Generation Partner in the latest 2026 Legal 500 and was named as an ‘Associate to Watch’ in Chambers High Net Worth 2025. Richard is also a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the world’s leading organisation for private wealth professionals.
Richard is admitted to practise in England and Wales.
Experience
- Advising on a claim against executors for an alleged breach of their duty of care in the administration of a complex estate, maximising post-death planning opportunities for two generations of a family.
- Advising multiple generations of a family in relation to their successful, national family business and personal assets.
- Considering and advising on a practical solution for the executors of an insolvent author’s estate by unwinding a complex family trust whilst minimising inheritance tax.
- Advising the independent administrator of a complex and contentious £25m cross-border estate with assets in four jurisdictions.
- Advising the executors and trustees of an estate to establish a lasting legacy of a pub and farmland for the benefit of future generations, including detailed claims for business and agricultural property reliefs.
- Establishing a disabled person’s trust through the variation of a UK estate to mitigate inheritance tax and provide protection and control.
