Paul Fairbairn

Practice Areas

Domestic and international estate planning (including wills) and the administration of estates.

Formation and management of trusts (onshore and offshore) as well as acting as a trustee.

Succession planning for family businesses, including family investment companies.

Tax and structuring for non-domiciled clients (non-dom).

Taxation of heritage assets.

Professional Memberships

Qualified in September 2009

Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP)

Personal

Paul is a partner in the Cripps private wealth team, helping domestic and international high net worth clients protect and enhance their wealth through succession and tax planning.

He has 15 years’ experience of working with families, their trusts and their businesses to ensure the devolution of their wealth in the most tax efficient manner. His particular focus is estate planning and succession of family businesses, whether they be multigenerational landed estates or start ups.

Paul also regularly advises international clients on UK tax and how to structure their UK assets tax efficiently.

He is recommended in the Spear’s Tax & Offshore advisers’ index 2022 as a best tax lawyer for high-net-worth individuals.

Work Highlights

Advising on the administration of an estate and providing tax advice for the surviving husband. The estate is worth between £150-200 million with numerous assets throughout the UK and worldwide.

Advising a Singaporean HNW client and his family on tax implications of their existing property portfolio UK) as well as advising on how this portfolio can be restructured for more efficient tax planning.

Paul Fairbairn was approached to advise a prominent member of one of the world’s richest families on the formation of an offshore trust to benefit particular family members.

Acting for one of the UK’s most notable aristocratic families including dealing with the probate of the previous Duke and the claims for heritage exemptions on one of the nations’ most recognisable palaces.

Acting as architect of an offshore trust structure to hold assets worth in excess of £2 billion.

Advising a non-UK resident who used to be an English domiciled individual on the UK tax implications for him, his family, their offshore trusts and his UK investments of them becoming UK resident and preparing Wills for UK assets.

Advising a now UK resident and deemed domiciled couple with annual net income of over £3 million on the formation of trusts and the availability of inheritance tax exemptions.

Advising the owners of a landed estate on their estate planning including the structuring of their diversification to maximise inheritance tax.

Lead UK adviser to a family with a Formerly Domiciled Resident, Resident Non-Doms and Non Resident Non-Doms (including US Citizens) post their immigration to the UK on (1) tax implications of existing non-UK trusts (2) the unwinding of other US structures and (3) alternative tax efficient structures to hold family wealth for UK descendants.