FAQs

Areas of Expertise covered in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide include the following:

Accountants & Tax Advisers 

Firms recommended in this category offer accounting, tax advice, tax preparation/compliance and filing services to wealthy individuals, families and family offices.

Art and Cultural Property Law

This category covers a wide range of contentious and non-contentious work where art or other cultural property is the subject matter, and matters relating more generally to the art world. Work for collectors, dealers, auction houses, museums and galleries is included.

Buying Agents

Buying agents act for the buyer in high-value residential property transactions. Buying agents help wealthy buyers with property searches and can negotiate with the seller's agents on the buyer's behalf. Some provide additional services to help clients move home, and can introduce clients to surveyors, valuers, property lawyers and interior designers. 

Chancery Traditional (UK Bar)

Traditional Chancery work in the England and Wales legal system focuses on disputes involving equity, trusts, estates, land law, pensions and charities law. Barristers and sets ranked in this category handle advisory and litigation mandates relating to trusts and trust litigation; Wills and probate matters, including Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 cases; land law disputes; company and partnership law issues involving private clients; and charity law matters.

Defamation/Reputation Management: High Net Worth

This category ranks lawyers who handle defamation proceedings, privacy matters and reputation management work on behalf of high net worth individuals. Work for media organisations will not be considered in Chambers High Net Worth.

Estate Agents

Estate agents act for the seller in property transactions. In Chambers High Net Worth, the focus is on high-value residential property.

Family/Matrimonial: High Net Worth

This category covers representation of high net worth individuals and their spouses in divorce and separation matters, drafting pre- and post-nuptial, civil partnership and cohabitation agreements relating to financial and property assets, and the handling of matters relating to children in the context of divorce or separation. In the UK, the focus is on matrimonial finance matters only: children law matters should be included in a submission for the Family/Children Law category in Chambers UK.

Family Offices & Funds Structuring

This category covers corporate structuring and transactional work for family businesses and closely held companies owned by Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs), as well as family office set-ups and restructures. This includes regulatory advice and compensation structuring for family office employees. The category also covers private equity and hedge funds work for UHNWI clients and their family offices; this can include Limited Partner investments into funds, the formation of funds/pooled investment vehicles for direct investment purposes and direct investing on behalf of the family office/UHNWI client.

Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals

This category covers a broad range of financial crime offences, including regulatory and criminal investigations into allegations of fraud, bribery, money laundering, criminal tax evasion and sanctions breaches. In Chambers High Net Worth, the focus is on representation of high net worth individuals rather than corporate clients.

Financial Planning & Pensions

This category covers Independent Financial Advisers and other providers of financial and retirement planning advice in the UK. Many of the firms featured also offer investment advice and portfolio management services to their High Net Worth clients.

Immigration: High Net Worth Individuals

This category ranks law firms and lawyers who provide advice on all aspects of inbound immigration by high net worth individuals, including visitor visas and entry planning for tax and domicile purposes, leave to remain and naturalisation/citizenship.

Landed Estates

This new category, which is researched at UK-wide level, covers advisory work for the owners of large, predominantly rural landed estates. Firms ranked in this category will advise on a broad range of rural property, landed estates tax and succession matters. These include rural land development, natural capital, rural environment work, APR/BPR planning, regulatory and sporting rights matters, and corporate/commercial work for landed estates businesses. 

Offshore: Trusts

Offshore trusts work focuses on creating and managing trust structures in offshore jurisdictions to protect and manage private wealth. Lawyers and firms ranked in these categories advise settlors, beneficiaries and trustees, including trust companies, on trust formation and administration, estate and succession planning, asset protection, tax planning and compliance, matters relating to trust protectors, and dispute resolution in trusts and estate litigation matters.

Private Aircraft 

This category covers the sale, acquisition, financing, registration, operation and charter of private aircraft on behalf of high net worth individuals.

Private Banks

This category covers those banks that provide private banking services; that is, deposit, investment and loan services customised for wealthy individuals. These banks need not necessarily be privately-owned. As well as deposit banking and credit, private banks will often provide many of the same investment management and wealth planning services as the firms in the Wealth Managers category. 

Private Wealth Law

Private Wealth Law focuses on estate and succession planning for high net worth individuals and families, as well as trust planning and administration, estate administration, family governance, income, capital, estate and gift tax planning and compliance, advice on residency and domicile, and compliance with regulatory requirements and mandatory disclosures. In jurisdictions without a separate Private Wealth Disputes category, Private Wealth Law also includes trusts and estate litigation matters.

Private Wealth Disputes

Private Wealth Disputes work involves resolving conflicts related to the assets and affairs of high net worth individuals and families. Lawyers handle trusts litigation, including offshore trusts matters, contested probate and estates issues, and disputes involving family businesses. In jurisdictions without a separate Private Wealth Disputes category, this work can be included in firms’ Private Wealth Law submissions.

Real Estate: High-value Residential

Lawyers featured in this practice area handle the financing, acquisition, tax structuring, sale and management of prime residential property on behalf of high net worth clients and individual inward investors.

Tax: Private Client 

This category covers tax investigations and tax controversy work for high net worth individuals; non-contentious tax advisory and compliance work should be submitted for the Private Wealth Law category. Lawyers ranked in the Tax: Private Client category represent individual taxpayers in disputes with the tax authorities, including responses to enquiries, contentious audits, tax investigations and tax litigation matters. Litigation concerning tax avoidance schemes will also be considered in this category.

Trust Companies

Firms in the Trust Companies category have the formation and fiduciary administration of trust structures as their sole or primary business. These firms may or may not also provide wealth management and estate planning services.

Wealth Managers

The Wealth Managers category covers firms whose main business is in helping wealthy individuals and families to manage their investments, organise their affairs, and manage income, capital gains and wealth transfer taxes. Many of these firms will offer additional services, including advice on family governance and mediation of family disputes, concierge services and management of external professional advisers. 

Yachts & Superyachts

This category covers the financing, construction, acquisition, sale, registration, operation and charter of yachts and superyachts on behalf of wealthy individuals and families, yacht brokers, lenders and shipyards. Litigation work involving yachts and superyachts is also considered.