Clare Maurice

Clare advises trustees, beneficiaries, family offices, entrepreneurs, private banks and trust companies on trust law, estate planning and personal taxation.

Her practice has a distinctly international focus and she advises clients from all over the world (and, in particular, the Americas, the Middle East and Europe) on all aspects of pre-arrival planning, residence/domicile issues and the establishment of asset holding structures. Clare has a particular interest in US/UK succession planning and speaks regularly in the US and the Caribbean.

In addition to acting as trustee of a number of private family trusts in the UK, Clare regularly advises UK resident and domiciled individuals and trustees on trust law and estate planning matters, ranging from traditional Wills and probate matters to mental capacity issues and trusts for disabled persons.

Recognised by Spear’s Wealth Management as one of the “Top 5 Tax and Trust Solicitors” and consistently ranked individually in the first tier of the legal directories, Clare is well-established as one of the private wealth industry’s leading practitioners.

Recent experience includes:

• Advising a family on the reorganisation of a complex, cross-jurisdictional, multi billion dollar trust which involved six jurisdictions (US, Mexico, UK, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands and Guernsey).
• Advising a Middle Eastern family on the structuring of their worldwide assets. The exercise included the establishment of a private trust company to work alongside the family office in managing and monitoring the family’s wealth.

Clare has a wealth of experience of all of the legal, practical and taxation issues which arise in the context of charity, philanthropy and chartered corporations, including the issues which are relevant to parties transacting with charitable bodies.

She works closely with her clients to establish and implement their philanthropic objectives and has advised on the establishment of a number of charitable foundations (both grant-making and operating charities), including:

• the Drayson Foundation;
• the Ingram Trust; and
• the Bellhouse Foundation.

Clare also has invaluable first-hand experience of the operational management of charities, having acted as Chairman of Barts and the London Charity for eight years until March 2009. She was appointed Chairman of the charity Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse in 2011 and is also a trustee of the Childwick Trust.