Jamie Holmes

Trusts, Tax, Probate and Estates

Jamie acts and advises as sole counsel on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious trusts, will and probate matters.

Recent work includes:

• Acting for the claimants in conjoined proceedings concerning a probate claim and a claim as to the ownership of the shares in a BVI company in Morina & Ors v Scherbakova & Ors (with Elspeth Talbot Rice QC, Ben Faulkner and Sparsh Garg).
• Acting for claimant trustees in a professional negligence action against the solicitors who drafted the trust (with Clare Stanley QC).
• Advising as to and settling deeds transferring the assets of two discretionary family trusts to a single new trust, in addition to a number of distributions and satisfaction of debts.
• Settling pleadings and advising in proceedings concerning allegations of breach of trust and fiduciary duty with regard to a shared home estimated to be worth over half a million pounds.
• Advising as to and settling deeds of indemnity. Advising as to the impact of and procedural steps as to claims intimated against the trust.
• Settling pleadings and advising on proceedings alleging professional liability on the part of financial advisors concerning IHT payable by an estate.
• Advising and drafting a compromise of proceedings for the possession of residential property in circumstances where the defendant had counterclaimed an interest in the property, the freeholder had lost capacity and a sale was necessary to pay for the freeholder’s medical care, and the only available asset for any compromise was provision for the defendant in the freeholder’s will.
• Acting in proceedings in the Court of Protection on behalf of the Deputy for a severely-disabled man, concerning the assets settled on his behalf, seeking and obtaining an order for sale and reinvestment.
• Advising on claims pursuant to The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.
• Settling pleadings and advising on proceedings concerning the validity of wills.
• Drafting pre-action correspondence and advising on proceedings concerning the proper construction of a will and seeking an account and alleging breach of trust as against the trustees of the will trust.
• Drafting pre-action correspondence and advising on proceedings concerning allegations of misconduct by executors, including claims against executors, applications for disclosure against executors, or the removal of executors.