Jenny Cutts

Partner

Private Client
Profile Image

Expertise

Jenny is a specialist Private Client lawyer providing advice on wealth protection strategies during lifetime and on death through Will drafting, the creation of trusts and advising on lifetime giving.

Jenny works for a wide range of clients from families with inherited wealth to entrepreneurs. She also advises those in their twilight years on managing money down the family line and on issues concerning mental capacity including the preparation of Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection work.

Jenny acts as an executor for her deceased clients and as a trustee for family trusts.

Recent Experience

  • Advising on and preparing Wills for a married couple with complex asset structures and family circumstances. Advising on the availability of business property relief, agricultural property relief and protection from claims against the estate.
  • Advising on wealth protection strategies through a combination of gifts, lifetime trusts and advice on the devolution of assets, such as life insurance policies and pension benefits, through trusts and nominations.
  • Acting as a trustee for a family trust with a significant asset base, working with the land manager, accountant and financial advisors to maximise the trust’s potential to protect the financial future for the current and future generations of beneficiaries.
  • Acting as an executor and advising on the administration of estates including negotiating with HMRC on the availability of inheritance tax relief for lifetime gifts and over business assets, and advice relating to deeds of variation to alter the terms of the deceased’s Will.
  • Acting as an independent administrator for an estate where the Will is in dispute and the family is not in a position to agree a way forward.
  • Acted in the reported case PQ and another v RS and others [2019] EWHC 1643 (Ch).

Career History

Jenny qualified in 2000. She became a partner at Hyde Mahon Bridges in 2007 who merged with Cumberland Ellis LLP and she joined Wedlake Bell LLP from Cumberland Ellis LLP when the firms merged in April 2012.

Jenny has a degree in Law from Nottingham Trent University, she also completed the Legal Practice Course at BPP London.

Publications

“The Residence Nil Rate Band”, Financial Times.

Probate fees”, Spears.

Family affair article“, Private Client Journal

 

Jenny Cutts is ‘very good with clients. She has a modern approach to old family problems. She is very aware of the costs of the service and what is considered good value’.

Legal 500, 2017

News

Spring Budget 2023 – Private Client Announcements

The Chancellor’s Spring Budget 2023 did not contain any nasty surprises for private client practitioners with capital gains tax (“CGT“), inheritance tax (“IHT“) and income tax rates and allowances to remainRead more

Bulletins

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – March 2023

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past month is as follows. Estate administration – change to the legal definition of “treasure” The governmentRead more

News

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – February 2023

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past two months are as follows. Tax Policy – Finance Act 2023 On 10 January 2023, theRead more

News

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – November 2022

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past month is as follows. Tax policy – Autumn Statement and tax reforms It has been anRead more

News

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – October 2022

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past month is as follows. Tax policy – mini Budget and U-turn on 45% tax cut TheRead more

News

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – September 2022

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past month is as follows. Will Trusts – Trust Register The deadline for registering non-taxable trusts newlyRead more

News

Plague, Pestilence and Taxes

The pandemic has resulted in UK and worldwide government spending on an unprecedented scale.  In the UK, the estimated spending on the pandemic is expected to amount to £372 billion*Read more

News

CONVEYANCING AFTER DEATH

The last year has seen us all receive an unprecedented amount of information about death rates and infection levels in relation to Covid19 which has touched us all in oneRead more

News

One million trusts in the UK could be caught out by trust register extension

Partner Jenny Cutts has shared her thoughts on the news that one million trusts in the UK could be caught out by trust register extension, published in eprivateclient. To readRead more

News

‘A missed opportunity’: private client law firms comment on Sunak’s Spring Statement

“Against the backdrop of spending increases to support Ukraine, a package of measures to help ease the Cost of Living crisis (including the £3000 increase to the national insurance threshold),Read more

Bulletins

In Trust – Winter 2021/2022

Welcome to the Winter 2021/22 edition of In Trust. This is my third issue as the Head of the Private Client Team at Wedlake Bell. This year, our team hasRead more

News

The murky world of unregulated heir hunters

Head of the Private Client, Jenny Cutts has been quoted in The Times, discussing her response to new research that shows local authorities are entering into anti-competitive and unaccountable contractsRead more

News

Reforms to taxes: an update

There continues to be much speculation on how the UK Government (and global governments) will pay for the costs of the pandemic, and if and when significant tax rises willRead more

News

Legal experts comment on today’s Budget: Chancellor proposes to increase overall tax take by stealth

Partners Jenny Cutts and Oliver Embley have been quoted in IFA Magazine, commenting on the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget announcements. Jenny Cutts, comments:“The much-predicated tax hikes did not arrive in theRead more

News

Private Client Team News

The last half-year has been a busy one for the Wedlake Bell Private Client Team with lots of new faces joining us, and some exciting promotions, awards and accolades toRead more

News

Tax day: What does the future hold for IHT?

In the first government “Tax Day” yesterday, more than 30 different publications were issued by the Treasury in relation to the government’s tax policy. It had been expected that theseRead more

News

UHNW estate planning during a market crash – Transferring wealth to the next generation- ePrivateClient

Head of the Private Client Team, Jenny Cutts, discusses whether the impact of a market crash and lower asset values provides opportunities for ultra-high-net-worth individuals to carry out estate planningRead more

Bulletins

Inheritance Tax planning under the spotlight

There is a fine line between legitimate tax planning and tax avoidance. The latter can be caught under the statutory “general anti-avoidance rule” if it constitutes a tax arrangement thatRead more

Bulletins

HMRC’s Trust Register

In recent years, trustees have seen the introduction of new compliance regimes aimed at tackling money laundering and terrorist financing. The recent attention-grabbing headlines concerning the Paradise Papers data leakRead more

Bulletins

Election kills probate ‘stealth tax’

Controversial changes to probate fees have been scrapped ahead of the upcoming election, the government confirmed today. The probate fee overhaul, announced earlier this year, would set fees in lineRead more

Bulletins

New Inheritance Tax Relief for the Family Home

Inheritance tax (“IHT”) is charged on your death at the rate of 40% based on the value of your assets. This 40% rate is only charged on any value exceedingRead more

Bulletins

Should I give my children a lump sum now?

How much money can I give away to my children without tax penalties? Jenny Cutts answers a readers questions in the Financial Times published 8 March 2016. To view theRead more

Bulletins

Bureaucracy unlikely to stop abuse of trusts

The Fourth Money Laundering Directive is more likely to provide paperwork than protection from abuse of trusts for tax evasion and terrorism says Jenny Cutts. Headline grabbing scandals on theRead more

Bulletins

Wedlake Bell responds to plans for a central UK trusts register

The global drive for greater transparency of corporate and other legal entities continues. In an attempt to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and other financial crime, one ofRead more

Bulletins

A family affair

With 42 per cent of marriages ending in divorce, it is important when advising wealthy clients to put mechanisms in place to protect family assets. Jenny Cutts and Rosie SchummRead more

Bulletins

CGT: has second home “flipping” had its day?

The Finance Bill 2014, published on 10 December 2013, contained further details of the changes announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on second home “flipping” for capital gains tax (CGT).Read more

Brexit

Brexit and making a will for your EU assets

Traditionally, if you had assets in an EU country, it was generally recommended to take legal advice in that country on making a Will there. However, this all changed onRead more

News

Keeping wealth in the family: Pre-nuptial agreements and wills

The case of KA v MA (2018) highlights the role that pre-nuptial agreements have in preserving family wealth, confirming that when a pre-nuptial agreement is entered into, it is possibleRead more