Nicholas Hall

Expertise

Nick is a general private client partner with 17 years’ experience in the private client field and 7 years before that he worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office so he is used to working with all nationalities dealing with assets in England and across the Commonwealth and indeed the world.

Most clients live and work in and around London and the home counties and he helps them across the board with drafting wills, codicils, letters of wishes as well as the preparation and registration of all types of powers of attorney with one eye always on inheritance tax planning.  He advises on the issues of creating and winding up trusts, and all issues relating to care of the elderly and the protection of all levels of wealth.

His diplomatic service contacts can help when assisting in administering estates with a foreign element.  At home he can advise on challenging wills and bringing and defending contested probate actions.  Finally, he can advise on living wills, mental capacity issues and assisting with deputyship and other Court of Protection applications.

His aim is simply to provide a friendly and grounded approach to tackling all of today’s issues facing families and the difficult issues they face.

Nicholas Advises

• Accountants
• Business Owners
• Domestic Clients
• Elderly Clients
• Embassies and High Commissions
• Family Offices based in London and St Petersburg
• Financial Planners
• Firms of Solicitors
• International Clients
• Overseas Estates
• Pension Advisors
• Stockbrokers
• Trustees

Experience Highlights

• Drafting a will for clients with divorcing and/or unwell grown up children who wished to ensure that various descendants were provided for in the most tax effective manner.
• Advising a family to redirect their wealth via the use of deeds of variation and lifetime gifting to reduce what could have been a substantial inheritance tax bill.
• Administering the estate of a client who died suddenly and intestate (without a will). The estate included valuable property and assets in a few different jurisdictions. Family members had to be traced and negotiated with whilst all allowances and tax benefits were explained to the various beneficiaries given their ages.
• Advising family members after a suicide as to how best to administer the estate and dealing with HM Coroner.
• Advising clients regarding choosing the right executors, trustees and guardians and ensuring that various beneficiary’s inheritance would be protected whatever jurisdiction they were living in. Advice was taken to invest, grow and protect funds to be would be invested to protect all parties. Using a vast network of contacts build over the years in the financial services sector.
• Acting during the lifetime of a client to protect a client’s objectives to ensure the required results were obtain immediately and not during a will reading.
• Drafting and advising on “living wills” or “advance directives”.
• Resealing grants and extracting grants to the estates of those dying domiciled in many different jurisdictions.
• Advising on trust matters and drafting ancillary documentation.
• Advising on revocation and lost or partly destroyed wills.
• Advising in relation to and preparing for inquests regarding suicides.
• Advising on and drafting pension benefit, spousal bypass and life assurance trusts.
• Advising on contesting wills and bringing and defending inheritance act claims on behalf of spouses, children and dependents.

Client Forms

Will Questionnaire

Family Affairs Checklist

Career History

Previous Law Firms

• Private Office Legal Services, Head of Private Client Services
• Seth Lovis & Co. Solicitors, Head of Private Client Services
• Lester Aldridge, Solicitor
• Davenport Lyons, Solicitor
• Moon Beever, Solicitor

Education

• University of Coventry – Bachelor of Business Law with Honours (LLB Hons)