Rachel Morris sits within the tax, trusts and succession planning team at Charles Russell Speechlys, into which she qualified in 2012. Her work focuses on advising individuals and families in relation to personal tax, wills, estate planning and planning for incapacity.
She also advises trustees and banks on asset-holding structures, in particular trusts.
‘You have to like the academic side, have the base legal knowledge and technical ability, and on top of that be interested in people,’ she says. ‘It’s about meeting an individual, understanding their circumstances, and helping them plan for the future. No two are
the same.’
Having spent time in the firm’s Geneva office, Morris is well versed in handling cases with an international element. These might involve helping individuals who are planning to move to the UK and may need pre-arrival tax planning advice, as well as advice on residence and domicile, trusts and other asset-holding structures.
The huge changes regarding non-doms have made the past year a struggle for clients and a challenge for lawyers, who have had to get on top of the new regulation at warp speed. Regulation surrounding trusts has also been in flux with the introduction of transparency, says Morris, but they are no less valid a tool ‘for preserving wealth, looking after families, for providing for charity, and more’.