Louise Bibby

Louise is an experienced private client lawyer with a strong background in wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney, and estate administration. She advises individuals, families, and high-net-worth clients on a broad range of private client matters, including estate planning, inheritance tax strategies, and complex probate cases.

• Acted for the executors of a discretionary will trust to vary the trust into an interest in possession trust in order to secure a more favourable tax regime.
• Advised a family regarding a missing person and administered the intestate estate once all formalities were completed.
• Acted for a separated widow before her decree absolute had been issued and administered the intestate estate.
• Advised the executors of a farming estate and successfully claimed Agricultural Relief for both the farmland and the farmhouse.
• Advised the executors of a complex estate with overseas assets and successfully claimed the TNRB and TRNRB with HMRC, where the predeceased spouse was resident abroad but domiciled in the UK.
• Provided advice on deeds of variation in numerous probate matters for high-net-worth clients as part of inheritance tax succession planning.
• Advised a widow and administered the intestate estate of her late husband, including a statutory trust for minor children.
• Acted for a widow making a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision.
• Reviewed a marriage settlement trust established in 1934.
• Advised the executors in connection with a complex estate and successfully claimed Business Property Relief (BPR) and Agricultural Property Relief (APR).
• Acted for a settlor in setting up a vulnerable person’s trust for an adult child who had lost mental capacity due to addiction.

Louise advises individuals and trustees on wills, inheritance tax planning, and trust administration, including drafting wills and LPAs, managing trusts with overseas beneficiaries, and overseeing distributions and winding-up processes.

• Acted for high-net-worth cohabitees, drafting new wills and LPAs to incorporate effective inheritance tax planning for a blended family.
• Advised trustees in connection with a trust with overseas beneficiaries including running the trust until the beneficiaries reached the age of 30 and then distributing and winding up the trust.

Louise advises donors and attorneys on all aspects of Lasting Powers of Attorney, including creation, certification, duties of attorneys, and managing legal and financial decisions for clients lacking capacity.

• Acting for the donors of LPAs and advising their attorneys on their duties.
• Acting as certificate provider for clients setting up LPAs.
• Acted for an attorney after the donor had lost mental capacity, to ensure she fulfilled her legal duties as an attorney when signing a care home contract.
• Advised attorneys in connection with palliative end-of-life care for the donor of the LPA.
• Advised the donor of LPAs following a diagnosis of a terminal, life-shortening illness and advised generally in organising her affairs, including immediate gifts and preparing a new will.

Louise advises high-net-worth clients on a broad range of private client matters, including estate planning, inheritance tax strategies, and complex probate cases.

• Acted for high-net-worth cohabitees, drafting new wills and LPAs to incorporate effective inheritance tax planning for a blended family.
• Provided advice on deeds of variation in numerous probate matters for high-net-worth clients as part of inheritance tax succession planning.
• Acted for the beneficiary of an estate to prepare a deed of variation so funds could be paid into a discretionary trust for adult children as part of successional tax planning.
• Recently taken will instructions for a divorced high-net-worth individual and given advice in connection with potential claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
• Advised and implemented a ‘gift with leaseback’ arrangement on a £2 million family home to mitigate IHT.
• Advised a recently separated high-net-worth individual on a new will and setting up a family investment company as part of the IHT successional planning exercise.