Legal services for farming families

Specialist legal advice for landowners and trustees

Clarke Willmott’s private client and farming solicitors have an established reputation in the agriculture sector and are specialists in helping farmers, landowners and their families plan and manage all aspects of their finances, including wills and probate, trusts and tax matters.

Our highly experienced team can advise on how best to organise your financial and business affairs to ensure financial security and quality of life in the future, as well as succession planning or winding down a farming family business to bring the greatest benefit to those involved.

With divorce one of the most common reasons for the breakup of land and property, we also appreciate the impact a failed marriage in the family could have. Our divorce and family law solicitors have the knowledge and expertise to identify the best ways to protect against or limit the effect of such an event, helping landowners to preserve estates and farms for future generations.

Our expertise in wills, trusts and probate

We are specialists in advising farming clients and their families on how best to organise their affairs and finances to ensure financial security and enhanced quality of life in the future. Our expertise includes advising the owners of family farming businesses about how to seamlessly hand-over the business to the next generation, or how to wind-down a business so as to provide the greatest benefit and the least trauma to those involved.

Our agricultural private client solicitors regularly advise on:

• Drafting Wills
• Lasting Powers of Attorney
• Advance decisions and living Wills
• Applying for Grants of Probate
• Creating and administering Trusts
• Inheritance and capital gains tax mitigation, in particular agricultural and business property reliefs and liaising with the Inland Revenue
• Specialist Wills and trust structures as part of succession strategies for the transmission of business assets and family wealth
• Implementing tax efficient ownership and occupation structures for agricultural and other business assets

Our agri-private client lawyers advise a spectrum of agricultural private clients, trustees, landed estates and charities on private capital matters and divorce and family law.

Our recent work includes:

• Advising a private landowner on the tax efficient sale of his farm for development
• Securing the availability of agricultural property relief and business property relief from inheritance tax on a large farm with a subsidiary property letting operation
• Advising on and preparing the paperwork to implement the transfer of a substantial working farm to the next generation of the farming family
• Advising the trustees of a significant landed estate about their substantial claim for heritage property relief
• Completing Deeds of Variation to restructure Wills and upon intestacy of a large agricultural estate with minor beneficiaries

Our expertise in divorce and family law

We appreciate that the preservation of landed estates and farms is an issue of utmost importance to landowners and their families. One of the most common causes for the break up of an estate or farm is a divorce in the family. There are ways of protecting against or limiting the effect of such an event and we can advise farming families on these options.

Our Agri-Private Client Divorce and Family law work includes:

• Cohabitation agreements
• Pre and post-nuptial agreements
• Acting for other partners where divorce proceedings involve partnership assets
• Mediation and collaborative law

Our agricultural private client experience in action

• Advising a private landowner on the tax efficient sale of his farm for development
• Securing the availability of agricultural property relief and business property relief from inheritance tax on a large farm with a subsidiary property letting operation
• Advising on and preparing the paperwork to implement the transfer of a substantial working farm to the next generation of the farming family
• Advising the trustees of a significant landed estate about their substantial claim for heritage property relief
• Completing Deeds of Variation to restructure Wills and upon intestacy of a large agricultural estate with minor beneficiaries

Contact an agricultural private client solicitor today

Our team of agricultural private client solicitors has a strong presence in the South West and advises clients across England and Wales. To discuss your requirements, please contact Victoria Howlett on 0800 652 8025 or get in touch online.

Clarke Willmott has offices in Taunton, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester and Southampton.