Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP

Maurice Turnor Gardner is a London-based boutique private client law firm, recognised for its expertise in structuring private wealth worldwide. The firm focuses exclusively on the legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious, affecting high-net-worth individuals, family offices, trustees, and professional practices in the UK and internationally. Its client base includes entrepreneurs, traditionally wealthy families, trustees, and private banks, with assets spanning listed and privately-owned companies, real estate, racehorses, works of art, yachts, planes, and substantial investment portfolios.

The firm operates under the principles of being “respected,” “trusted,” and “excellent,” providing principled and practical legal solutions while addressing all relevant legal, commercial, and tax considerations.

The firm’s practice areas include:

• Personal Tax, Trusts, and Probate: Advising on estate and succession planning, including protection and preservation of assets such as companies, real estate, liquid assets, art, yachts, and racehorses. The team has extensive experience in complex, high-value, and cross-border probate matters, as well as issues relating to intestacy, post-death variations, and tax implications. Services include support with Lasting Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection applications, pre-arrival planning, exit strategies, and UK taxation advice for non-domiciled individuals. Trustees and beneficiaries are advised on their powers, duties, and rights under onshore and offshore trust structures.
• Contentious Trusts and Dispute Resolution: Representing trustees, beneficiaries, and ultra high-net-worth families in complex, high-value disputes involving trusts, estates, and divorce in the UK and offshore. The firm advises on avoiding litigation, applications for directions, removal of trustees, breach of trust or fiduciary duty claims, and family governance matters, including family charters. Corporate trustees receive guidance on duties and liabilities arising under commercial trusts.
• Real Estate: Advising on high-value and complex residential property transactions, including acquisitions and disposals of prime and super-prime residential property, and cross-border property matters. The team also provides advice on leasehold enfranchisement, lease extensions, and commercial property transactions, including purchase, sale, letting, management, and funding of high-value properties for private clients, institutional investors, banks, and corporates.
• Partnerships and Professional Practices: Providing guidance on constitutional documents, governance, international structures, LLP conversions, partner and team moves, mergers and demergers, and regulatory compliance for UK and global professional practices. The firm advises on corporate trusts, including bare trusts, escrow and financing structures, and voting trusts, and is known for innovative uses of partnership and LLP structures in finance, corporate transactions, and family succession planning.
• Philanthropy and Charity: Advising on the creation, funding, and governance of charities, including structuring for fiscal efficiency and dual registration in an international context. Services include guidance on trustee duties, regulatory compliance, grant-making, and legal matters for banks and corporates entering contracts with charity counterparties or managing CSR programmes.
• Business Immigration: Advising on all aspects of UK immigration, including visa applications for investors and entrepreneurs under Tier 1, Tier 2 sponsorship licence applications for employers, non-EEA skilled worker visas, indefinite leave to remain, British citizenship, and residence rights for EEA nationals and their families. Financial institutions receive advice on immigration issues relevant to their clients.

Languages: French, Italian, Greek

Staffing:

• 13 Partners
• 19 Counsel/Associates
• 5 Trainees