Clare Armitage

Partner

Private Client
Profile Image

Expertise

Clare advises both UK based and international individuals, trustees, beneficiaries and their advisers on tax, trusts, estate planning and succession issues. She acts for ultra and high net worth individuals and families on the establishment and use of trusts and other structures for succession and estate planning purposes.

Clare advises on tax efficient UK Will planning as well as cross-border wills and succession planning and has a growing US/UK practice. Clare often works in conjunction with lawyers in other jurisdictions to provide her international clients with a comprehensive multi-jurisdictional estate plan. She also advises on a range of UK trust law matters and acts as a trustee of private family trusts and charities.

Clare has particular experience in advising Middle Eastern families on tax efficient structuring of their UK property and business interests (including Sharia compliant structures) and travels to the Middle East regularly. Clare also provides UK tax advice to private individuals and their families planning to invest, live, work or study in the UK.

Clare’s clients include entrepreneurs, business owners and private family offices for whom she provides advice on mitigating inheritance and capital gains tax and planning for future family/business life-cycle events.

Recent Experience

• Advising private individuals and trustees on the structuring of new and existing high value residential and mixed use real estate in the UK following changes in UK tax legislation.
• Advising on UK IHT planning and trusts for non-UK domiciliaries ahead of becoming UK deemed domiciled.
• Advising on a variety of complex trust law matters for a significant UK based private family office.
• Drafting and advising on Wills and asset protection structures for family with financial and matrimonial concerns for their children.
• Advising private family shareholders on tax planning and structuring options ahead of a planned sale of the business.
• Appointed as a trustee of a £20m+ private charitable trust.

Career History

Clare obtained a degree in LLB Law from the university of Southampton. She qualified as a solicitor in 2004 having trained at Speechly Bircham LLP. She was a Senior Associate in the Private Wealth department at international law firm Trowers & Hamlins LLP before joining Wedlake Bell in 2015.
She is a full member of STEP (The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), was named one of the UK’s “Top 35 Under 35 Private Client lawyers” by industry title eprivateclient and is listed in the Spears 500 Private Client directory for top private client advisers.

Clare Armitage – brings a calm and measured approach to any queries; she thinks about the client first and foremost and is a delight to work alongside.

Legal 500, 2022

News

Estate Planning for the Complex Client seminar on 14 May 2019

On 14 May 2019, Caroline Miller and Clare Armitage from our Private Client Team, Conrad Adam from our Family Team and Edward Craft from Corporate, hosted a seminar on EstateRead more

News

Caroline Miller and Clare Armitage: Advising complex clients – Professional Adviser 29/04/2019

As clients become increasingly global and sophisticated in their asset base, the issues that advisers must consider become ever more complex, write Caroline Miller and Clare Armitage. The digital eraRead more

Bulletins

Clare Armitage profile

Q: Tell us a little about your practice and what you particularly enjoy. My clients tend to have more of an international focus. For example, they might be UK nationalsRead more

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Declaring Offshore Assets? Tick it off your summer check list…

H M Revenue and Customs (“HMRC“) has launched a new regime to encourage UK taxpayers to disclose undeclared offshore assets before 30 September 2018. This also applies to trustees ofRead more

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IN TRUST SUMMER 2017: NEW INHERITANCE TAX RELIEF FOR THE FAMILY HOME

As of 6 April this year a new inheritance tax (“IHT”) “residence nil-rate band” (“RNRB”) applies where the family home is left to children, grandchildren and other “qualifying beneficiaries onRead more