Matthew Braithwaite

Practice Areas

Matt advises a wide range of UK and international clients, from individuals, families, trustees, beneficiaries and family offices on a wide range of private client issues, including UK tax, estate and succession planning.

Matt acts for high net worth individuals and families including business owners, professional executives and entrepreneurs. Matt advises on the establishment and use of trusts and other wealth holding structures, and also on the succession of family trusts and businesses and governance issues.

He also advises on Wills and wider estate and succession planning issues.

Career

Matt trained at Bath-based Stone King and upon qualifying as a solicitor in 2005 he practised as a solicitor in Bath before moving to London with Stone King in 2008 to develop the firm’s private client services.

In 2011 Matt joined BDO in London as a Senior Tax Manager in their Private Client Services department before moving back into the legal world in 2013 to take up role in the Private Wealth at another London based law firm. He joined Wedlake Bell as a Partner in 2018.

Matt is Co-Chair of the firm’s Social Mobility Network and responsible for coordinating initiatives to give career opportunities to prospective lawyers from less well represented social and ethnic backgrounds.

Matt is a full-time member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and Co-Chair of STEP’s Business Families Special Interest Group Steering Committee.

Work Highlights

Matt assisted UK resident and domiciled family business owners with their succession planning including gifting of shares in the business to the next generation, corporate advice to support the succession of the business and personal support concerning the preparation of Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Matt has advised UK resident US persons and UK nationals resident in the US in connection with their succession and estate planning, working with US advisors to ensure a joined up approach with both tax advice and Will drafting.

Matt has providing ‘pre-arrival’ UK tax planning to non-UK domiciled persons coming to the UK from, amongst other countries, Hong Kong.

Matt regularly provides UK tax advice to both UK and international clients in connection with the purchase of high value UK residential property. He also regularly drafts Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorneys and lifetime trusts to mitigate tax or carry out estate or succession planning.