Thomas Klemme

Tom advises on a wide range of private client disputes, with a particular focus on high-value contentious trusts and estates along with art and cultural property disputes.

Tom has acted for clients on multi-jurisdictional disputes, including breach of trust claims, removal and direction applications as well as advising both trustees and beneficiaries on all aspects of their rights and duties. Tom also has wide experience of applications pursuant to the Variation of Trusts Act 1958.

He also has significant experience acting for executors and beneficiaries in high-value will dispute claims and claims pursuant to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, as well as will construction claims and the administration of contentious estates.

Tom  has considerable experience with claims relating to art and cultural property. He has acted for art dealers, private collectors and museums.

Furthermore, he has extensive experience litigating claims through to trial in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

• Acting for the trustees of a large estate in a claim brough by the minor child of the deceased for reasonable provision pursuant to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
• Acting for the trustees of a series of large onshore trusts in a complex and high-value professional negligence claim against historical trust advisors.
• Acting for a large onshore trust in an application pursuant to the Variation of Trust Act 1958 to extend the trust period and update the trust administrative provisions. There were over 30 parties to the application, including a protected party, which necessitated a detailed ancillary application to the Court of Protection. Full privacy and anonymity orders were also obtained on an interim and permanent basis.
• Acting for the defendant, a top international art dealer, in a claim brought by a well-known collector and member of the Qatari royal family alleging items sold to him were fake.
• Representing the second wife of a wealthy Arabic businessman who died intestate with a global estate worth up to $400m, including significant assets in the UK. The deceased had four potential wives and at least 10 known children. Thomas is acting for the deceased’s widow in complex international litigation, which seeks to secure her rights to her husband’s fortune.

• “Equity Prevails” – Trusts & Estates Law and Tax Journal, May 2017.
• Tom co-wrote a new chapter (D6) on litigation in the STEP edited textbook: Planning and Administration of Offshore and Offshore Trusts, which was published in the second half of 2018.
• “Cross-border enforcement of tax debts: trustee issues in the UK and offshore” – Trusts and Trustees, Volume 25, Issue 5, June 2019, pp. 552-561.
• “The increasing regulation of the art market” – Christie’s Heritage and Taxation Bulletin, Spring 2020.
• “Comments on the Bo Bruce Case” – Today’s Wills and Probate, 17 March 2022.
• “Inheritance Disputes between HNW Widows and their Step-Children” – eprivateclient, 18 July 2018.
• “How to deal with Disgruntled Beneficiaries” – Thought Leaders 4 Private Client, Issue 12, March 2023.
• “Proprietary Estoppel and Succession Planning” – Professional Advisor, 24 April 2023.
• “My partner recently died and left everything in his will to his estranged wife despite the fact we lived together for ten years. Is there anything I can do?” Tom answered this question in an article published in the Financial Times on 10 January 2024.
• “Disinheriting close family members” – In Trust, March 2025.

Thomas is an associate member of The Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS)

He is also a member of the Contention Trusts Association (ConTrA).