Cerith Rees

Cerith specialises in estate planning for high-net-worth individuals (including agricultural asset holders and business owners), as well as the administration of estates.

A a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Cerith regularly works with individuals, families and agricultural business owners in respect of complex lifetime planning and post-death succession issues, with particular expertise in advising on Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax, and the preparation of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Deeds of Variation, and trust documents. This often involves managing extensive assets held personally, in trusts, in partnership, or by businesses.

Examples of Cerith’s work include:

• Assisting family farming clients with redistributing assets to mitigate Inheritance Tax liability following the changes to Inheritance Tax thresholds for Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs announced as part of the 2024 Autumn Budget.
• Supporting the administrator and surviving spouse of a high-net worth individual with substantial business assets; the administration of the estate involved the threat of litigation from the children of a previous marriage, the instruction of genealogists to trace an unknown family tree, and the appropriation of the matrimonial home to the surviving spouse according to the rules of intestacy and the redistribution of the balance of the spouse’s net sum to the remaining beneficiaries.
• Guiding the owners of a stud farm through succession planning issues, comparing the benefits of transferring the business assets to a discretionary trust versus making outright gifts – balancing tax efficiency with the needs of the children involved in the business against those who were not.
• Advising executors in administering the estates of spouses who passed away in close succession, both holding shares in a property investment business with uncooperative directors.