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Charlotte Pollard

Partner

England & Wales

020 3319 3700

charlotte.pollard@keystonelaw.co.uk

“I was recommended the services of Charlotte Pollard at Keystone Law, London, to write up our Wills. From our first meeting, Charlotte made the process of creating our Wills simple and stress-free. She explained every detail in plain language, answered all our questions with exceptional patience promptly and ensured our wishes were documented exactly as we needed. I left feeling confident and at peace knowing my affairs are in order thanks to Charlotte. Charlotte was very thorough in preparing our Wills and anticipated issues I hadn’t even considered and offered solutions that protected my family’s future. The entire process was handled efficiently, and I truly felt my best interests were their top priority. I found her to be very approachable and accessible at all times. I would definitely recommend her professional services in writing Wills at Keystone Law.”

- S. Onen, Client

Charlotte is a private client lawyer and a full member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) with specific qualifications in advising vulnerable clients. Her work includes wills, inheritance tax planning, lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), probate, and will and lifetime trusts.

Committed to finding tax-efficient solutions, Charlotte works with tax advisors and IFAs to provide holistic advice. She acts as executor and trustee, court-appointed independent administrator, as attorney and on behalf of attorneys in LPAs, and she represents executors and beneficiaries.

Charlotte administers estates of varying size and complexity, including intestacies. She has experience in unusual grant of probate applications and re-sealing overseas grants of representation for international clients with UK assets.

Before qualifying as a lawyer, Charlotte worked for 12 years as a freelance television Production Manager and Line Producer. With her media background, she writes about private client issues from an unusually creative perspective.

Expertise

Charlotte advises on wills, estate planning, inheritance tax, and lasting powers of attorney, with expertise in probate/estate administration, intestacy, mental capacity issues, dealing with vulnerable clients, plus complex cross-border probate matters.

Experience

  • Acted for multiple high-net-worth clients, many of whom are in creative and media industries, recently bereaved or in second marriages, and clients with minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, providing tax-efficient advice and drafting asset protection wills.
  • Acted for the sole executor and beneficiary in multiple family estates, including applications for grants of probate where deaths occurred over 20 years prior, and successfully engaged with HMRC to exercise their discretion in accepting an out-of-time claim for the transferable nil rate band, saving approximately £180,000 in IHT.
  • Acted as a court-appointed independent trustee in a complex estate involving multiple properties and international assets.
  • Acted as a professional trustee of a discretionary will trust, maintaining communication with a vulnerable beneficiary.
  • Acted for executor/trustees of a discretionary will trust in the administration of the trust and ongoing support for a vulnerable discretionary beneficiary.
  • Advised on the use of deeds of variation across family members to optimise Inheritance Tax treatment and achieve tax-efficient redistribution of estate assets.
  • Advised on and successfully maximised a claim for Agricultural Relief to reduce Inheritance Tax liability on qualifying agricultural property.
  • Advised on and provided independent legal advice to beneficiaries in an intestate estate where family relationships had broken down, ensuring their interests were properly protected.
  • Advised on a successful application for an interim grant (grant ad colligenda bona) where the estate was at risk and urgent sale of a property needed.

Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.

Recognition

Full member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) with a distinction in the diploma in advising vulnerable clients.

Charlotte qualified as a solicitor in 2014. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2025, she worked at the following firms:

  • Buckles Solicitors
  • Wedlake Bell
  • DKLM