When a tax dispute reaches the point of a hearing, the stakes for a wealthy family are rarely just financial.
Everything from assets to reputations to decades of careful planning can hang on the outcome. In those moments, solicitors turn to barristers, the specialists who argue the case against HMRC before the tribunals and the courts.
[See also: The Spear’s Tax and Trust Advisers Index]
The best tax and trust barristers featured in the Spear’s index are more than advocates. They act as strategic partners, helping clients preserve and structure their wealth amid sweeping policy change and global instability. For their (U)HNW clientele, they advise on trust and estate disputes, planning, charitable trusts, Court of Protection matters and much else besides.
Related
Explore the full 2026 Spear’s Tax & Trust Indices:
- Tax Lawyers
- Contentious Trust Lawyers
- Probate and Wills Lawyers
- Accountants and Tax Advisers
- Trusts, Structuring and Offshore
They can untangle complex matters involving trust and estate disputes, planning, charitable trusts, Court of Protection matters and much else besides, on behalf of their (U)HNW clientele.
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Themes in 2026
Family investments
That breadth reflects how the work is changing. This year, our research found that family investment companies continue to grow in popularity, with lawyers telling Spear’s that (U)HNW clients now value them more than trusts.
Trusts, however, still account for much of the contentious work, a good deal of which has involved trust owners whom other family members claim lack mental capacity.
A background in family law can be a distinct help with such cases. James Egan of Ten Old Square Chambers trained as a family lawyer before moving into chambers, and said having broad expertise ‘really enables me to answer more of my clients’ questions rather than having to say “that’s not my area” and referring them to someone else’.
Complex disputes
Tax barristers know how fraught with danger these disputes can be for HNW clients.
Legal experts told Spear’s in November 2025 that the disinherited Earl of Yarmouth could have avoided his £1.3 million legal bill following his High Court dispute with his family over the ownership of their 5,600-acre family seat, Ragley Hall. Lord Yarmouth had claimed that the family trust was acting against his best interests as a beneficiary, a claim he ultimately failed to prove.
As tax rules evolve, leading barristers are helping clients make sense of complex issues around inheritance tax, capital gains taxes and trusts, thereby also playing a crucial role in protecting estates and ensuring that wealth is managed responsibly for generations to come.
Click the links below to jump to a section of this article:
- Methodology
- Best tax and trust barristers: some names to know
- Best tax and trust barristers: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to the Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best tax and trust barristers: some names to know
Aparna Nathan KC
- Focus: Litigation and advisory
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Devereux Chambers
Considered among the top set of London’s tax barristers, Aparna Nathan KC of Devereux Chambers has built a high-profile litigation practice, representing clients in all forums, including the Supreme Court. Clients and colleagues alike praise her technical prowess, approachability, commercial instincts and her top-class advocacy and cross-examination skills.
Outside of her contentious work, she operates an advisory practice, providing insight to UHNW individuals (both UK and foreign domiciled), historic estates and foreign royalty on their tax planning, as well as on issues relating to residence or domicile.
Read Aparna Nathan’s full profile on Spears500.com
James Egan
- Focus: Contentious trusts and estates
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Ten Old Square
‘I like the black-letter law aspect of chancery, where you can spend a whole day researching one aspect of a case. That’s what drew me more to the barrister side than solicitor,’ says James Egan of Ten Old Square Chambers.
Specialising in private wealth, trust and estate disputes, Egan takes on contentious matters involving succession, trusts, fiduciary duties and preservation of family wealth. He has particular experience acting in contentious probate matters, such as disputed wills and the improper administration or structuring of estates.
Read James Egan’s full profile on Spears500.com
Morag Ofili
- Focus: Tax litigation and investigations
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Edwin Coe
Barrister Morag Ofili specialises in private wealth tax disputes at Edwin Coe. With a focus on advising high-profile individuals and international families, she has provided her expertise across a gamut of tax-related issues, including commercial fraud, conduct/fairness proceedings against HMRC, insolvency-based disputes, professional negligence claims and cross-border tax investigations.
Prior to joining Edwin Coe, Ofili cut her teeth at Big Four firm EY and later served as a managing associate at Mishcon de Reya and Harbottle & Lewis. She also spent time at the criminal bar, where she specialised in corporate and financial crime. This, she tells Spear’s, equipped her with a deep understanding of the investigative process and enabled her to anticipate challenges while developing robust strategies.
Read Morag Ofili’s full profile on Spears500.com
Dakis Hagen KC
- Focus: Chancery litigation
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Serle Court
A highly regarded chancery litigator, Serle Court’s Dakis Hagen KC is more than adept at dealing with cases involving particularly complex international structures (including trusts and estates), allegations of fraud, or issues around professional negligence and asset tracing.
As is the nature of modern tax law, his practice is distinctively international, and he is routinely instructed by solicitors from London and elsewhere – including the US, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Gibraltar and the Channel Islands. He has appeared as leading counsel in several of these jurisdictions, as well as frequently in London.
Read Dakis Hagen’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best tax and trust barristers: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on the Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
Contact us
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With additional reporting by Jack Womack.
