Matthew Woods
Partner
Matthew is a partner in the private client and tax team, with a focus on farms and landed estates.
Key to his success is in advising clients on how to hold and retain family assets and businesses and the effective transfer to successive generations. He has the ability to listen and understand the objectives and aims of the client before coming up with solutions to achieve those goals.
These skills have allowed Matthew to advise a wide range of clients who do not own rural property, many of whom have connections outside of the UK, in particular the Middle East, the US and low tax jurisdictions.
In 2015, Matthew was named as one of the best Landed Estates lawyers in the Spear’s 500 list, one of only 10 lawyers profiled in the UK.
Track record
Admissions
Publications
Memberships
Talks
Advising a family on a structure to hold an estate that has been in the family for 32 generations. The family wanted the estate to be held by all of their children rather than one ‘heir’ but for the ‘rules’ of ownership and transfer to be clear and fair and ensure that the family asset is retained.
Advising on the ownership of UK property, whether for personal use or for investment or trading purposes and in respect of both residential and commercial property. Clients include investors from the Middle East, Europe and Asia. This advice is often coupled with wider lifetime planning for non domiciled individuals, including setting up private trust company structures to manage succession on death.
Advising a number of clients who are domiciled in India and Pakistan on the structure of their wills to maximise the possibility of tax treaties with the UK applying on death. This can protect UK assets from charges to UK inheritance tax notwithstanding the clients being UK deemed domiciled through long term residence.
England and Wales, 2001
‘Governance and Management for the Business Families and Family Business’, STEP
‘Practical Trust Precedents, Practical Will Precedents and International Trust Precedents’, Sweet & Maxwell’s
Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners
STEP Business Families Steering Committee
Country, Land and Business Association
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
Historic Houses Association
Tax Planning and the Family Company - 29 February 2016
IBC Landed Estates Conference - 21 September 2016
Protecting and Attacking Wealth on Divorce seminar - 27 September 2016
Education
Languages
- English
