Protecting What Matters Most

Tom Barnard

“I’ve worked as a solicitor for almost ten years. In that time, I’ve become a specialist in working on high-value, complex and cross-border disputes.

I often work with insurers and insureds, and a lot of my clients operate in the sports and entertainment sector.

But one of the cases I’m most proud of looked at whether a generous gift left to a Channel Islands trust in a Will should be subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT) of more than £600,000. We acted for the executors of the Will in the seven-year long dispute, which saw us go all the way to the Supreme Court to reach a resolution.

In her Will, Beryl Coulter had left her £1.7 million UK estate to a Jersey-based trust, for them to build homes for the elderly on the island. Under existing rules, the transaction would’ve been exempt from IHT because it was going to a UK-based charity. But because it was based overseas, HMRC argued that the rules didn’t apply.

We argued that IHT relief should apply to gifts made to charities outside the UK.

This argument was initially rejected at every stage, but we were adamant that our interpretation of the legislation was correct. Our tenacity and dedication to the case saw us appeal these decisions all the way to England’s highest appeals court. The Supreme Court agreed with us, and decided that HMRC couldn’t justify the restriction under EU law.

This case was particularly technical, and involved difficult aspects of EU law. It also had the ability to impact how Jersey was treated under English law, and this prompted an intervention from the Attorney General for Jersey.

We got the call to say we’d won the case at the final attempt about four months after the Supreme Court hearing. The feeling of relief and pride was overwhelming, and it was great to see Ms Coulter’s Will be honoured.

Despite a lot of time passing, and a lot of things happening in the interim, our team remained constant for the duration of the case. One thing I’ll always remember is being able to ring an old colleague and tell him the outcome of the case. He’d overseen it throughout, before retiring on the day it went to the Supreme Court.”

Tom Barnard on a family holiday

Tom Barnard is a Senior Associate in our commercial litigation team, working out of our London office. He has extensive experience of contractual disputes, company and shareholder disputes, professional negligence claims, insurance disputes and insolvency and restructuring issues.