Sally Spicer

Senior Associate and Lead Professional Support Lawyer

Private Client
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Expertise

Sally has experience of a wide range of Private Client work including Wills and related succession issues; inheritance tax mitigation; creation, administration and taxation of trusts; and estate planning generally. More specialised areas of experience include the offshore elements of Private Client work – such as UK tax liability of non-UK resident and/or non-UK domiciled individuals, and the creation and taxation of offshore trusts – and mental capacity work including Lasting Powers of Attorney.

In 2012, Sally moved from advising clients on these types of issues to supporting the Private Client team in all the above areas, as the team’s Professional Support Lawyer.

Recent Experience

  • Preparing precedent deeds, documents and know-how resources.
  • Monitoring legal developments on Private Client issues and keeping the Private Client team updated of new legislation, case-law and practice.
  • Assisting with legal research and supporting the team generally with legal and practice-related queries; recent work has centred on the new trust compliance regimes, including the Common Reporting Standard, FATCA, the Trusts Register and Legal Entity Identifier requirements.
  • Organising the team’s training programme, including arranging internal technical sessions.
  • Tracking and responding to Government consultations and policy affecting our clients; recent topics include the proposed reforms to the taxation of non-domiciliaries, and raising probate fees.
  • Assisting with writing articles on legal issues for the press and industry publications, and producing brochures and updates for clients on topical issues and key Private Client themes.

Career History

Sally has been at Wedlake Bell for all of her career, joining as a paralegal in 2004, before training with the firm and qualifying as a solicitor in the Private Client team in 2007. Sally became the team’s first Professional Support Lawyer in 2012.

Sally is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (“STEP”) and the London-based Private Client PSL Forum.

Sally obtained a First in History from The University of Exeter and completed the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course with distinction.

Publications

Sally assists with the production of the Private Client team’s biannual newsletter “In Trust”. She also regularly assists the team with articles for industry publications such as the Solicitors Journal, Trusts and Estates Law and Tax Journal, The Law Society’s PS Magazine and eprivateclient; as well as articles that have appeared in the wider press such as The Telegraph and Financial Times.

News

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – May 2023

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past month is as follows. Contentious estates – a promise made by deed can override testamentary freedomRead more

News

Wills and Probate Monthly Update – April 2023

A round-up of legal updates for the Wills and probate industry over the past month is as follows. Tax policy – new tax year The new tax rates and allowancesRead more

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 – 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

EXPANSION OF THE UK TRUST REGISTER

As from 2017, HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) have maintained a centralised database of UK trusts known as the Trust Register. Up until now, the requirement to register has beenRead 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

Making a Will

Consultation Response: Wedlake Bell LLP On 13 July 2017, the Law Commission launched a major consultation project on the law of Wills. The law in this area has not beenRead more

Bulletins

Probate fees increase for high-value estates

Disappointingly, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it is going ahead with its controversial proposals to increase the costs of applying for grant of probate under which the maximumRead 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

News

Wedlake Bell’s Private Client team respond to government consultation on Inheritance Tax (IHT)

On 19 January 2018, the government requested that the Office of Tax Simplification (“OTS“) carry out a review of inheritance tax in order to identify simplification opportunities. The scoping documentRead more