Lucy is a Partner at Gardner Leader in the Wills, Probate and Estate Planning Team.
Lucy joined Gardner Leader in 2005 as a Member of the Institute of Legal Executives, became a fully qualified Chartered Legal Executive in 2007 and an Associate in 2017. Lucy worked for some years in the Family Team dealing with many of the matters arising from divorce and separation. In 2012 Lucy joined the Inheritance Protection team and now deals with all aspects of planning for the future.
Wills, Probate and Estate Planning
Lucy advises clients in relation estate planning, inheritance tax considerations and in the drafting of both complex and simple Wills. She drafts and advises in relation to Powers of Attorney, both Lasting Powers and the registration of existing Enduring Powers. Lucy considers all matters concerning mental capacity and the challenges that loss of capacity can present. She is experienced in dealing with applications to the Court of Protection including Deputyship.
Lucy represents and assists families in the administration of estates of all sizes including applying for grants of representation, collecting in assets, dealing with any tax, distributing to beneficiaries and preparing Estate Accounts. She realises that this can be a difficult time for families and that a practical and proactive approach can help to ease the burden on her clients.
Lucy deals with trusts including the registration and administration of trusts.
Work Highlights
- Administering an estate with a value of £1.4m consisting of properties, numerous investments, shares, chattels and a number of family and charity beneficiaries
- Administering an estate where there was no Will and this meant that 42 beneficiaries who now live all over the world were entitled to a share of the estate! The services of Genealogists were required to trawl the records for missing beneficiaries
- Dealing with an estate where the deceased had made numerous changes to their Will after executing it and it was not immediately clear whether all the changes were valid.
- Drafting a Will to make specific provision for disabled children
- Drafting mirror Wills including trust provisions where the husband and wife each had their own children from previous relationships and wanted to ensure that both sides of their family benefited appropriately.