Matthew joined the Private Client team as a Partner in 2019 from Harbottle & Lewis.
Matthew acts for high-net-worth individuals on a wide range of estate and succession planning issues. He has extensive experience in advising high-net-worth clients on lifetime gifting and on the use of wills and trusts for the protection of wealth for future generations. He regularly advises trustees on their duties, responsibilities and specific aspects of tax and trust planning. Matthew also advises business owners and entrepreneurs on business succession planning.
Matthew has vast experience in probate and estate administration and has dealt with many high value, complex and multi-jurisdictional estates throughout his career. He often advises beneficiaries of estates on succession planning involving post-death variations.
Matthew also has particular experience in advising clients on mental capacity issues such as Lasting Powers of Attorney and Deputyship applications to the Court of Protection.
- Administering a complex international estate containing a wide variety of assets (including various properties, high value vehicles and a stable of top-tier eventing horses), substantial liabilities, dealing with employee-related issues and the establishment of a charitable foundation.
- Administration of a sizeable trust whose main asset was the copyright, rights and interests in a successful deceased author’s literary estate including liaising with agents regarding the ongoing commercial exploitation of rights, collecting royalties, preparing VAT and annual tax returns and dealing with beneficiary distributions.
- Advising two business owners each owning a 50% share of their business to provide for succession planning for their respective families and for the future continuation of the business on the death or incapacity of one of the owners through drafting complex Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney, working with Corporate colleagues regarding revisions to company documentation and liaising with the clients’ financial advisers and accountants.
- Successfully applying to the Court of Protection for an order to approve (i) a deed of variation of a Will to divert assets qualifying for business property relief away from the 90 year old mentally incapacitated surviving spouse to the next generation and (ii) ongoing (and obtaining retrospective approval for) gifting.
Matthew Barnett has long been my go-to man to send clients to for wills and trusts and he always gains their trust. ...
Legal 500 UK 2021
Expertise
Mental capacity including LPA’s and deputyship applications
Probate & estate administrations and post-death variations
Trust creation & administration
Credentials
Recommended in The Legal 500 2023
Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives – June 2002
Member of the Law Society
Matthew's Blogs
Blog - 04/10/2022
Helping out with the cost of living crisis �...
Private Client
Blog - 12/09/2022
Issues and planning needs for ‘non-traditio...
Private Client
Blog - 15/08/2022
Prince’s estate settles after 6 years of le...
Private Client
Blog - 05/07/2021
Inquiry launched into the rights of cohabitin...
Private Client
