Rebecca joined Lester Aldridge as a trainee solicitor in 2017 and qualified as a solicitor in 2019. She obtained a First Class Honours degree in Psychology from the University of Southampton before converting to law and completing the Legal Practice Course at Bournemouth University with a distinction.

Rebecca is an associate practising in the field of Wills, estate administration and UK inheritance tax. The focus of Rebecca’s specialism is dealing with clients and estates that have interests in more than one jurisdiction.

For clients based outside of the UK, Rebecca assists with preparing Wills for use in the UK. For clients based in the UK, Rebecca assists with preparing Wills that can be used abroad, or providing advice on the correct Will structuring.

With many of Rebecca’s clients owning assets in Europe, she has a keen interest in the European Succession Regulation (Brussels IV) and advising on how this Regulation can help with her clients’ estate planning.

Rebecca’s focus from an estate administration perspective is handling estates where assets are situated across multiple jurisdictions. This includes dealing with the private international law implications where both common law and civil law systems interact with each other.

For estates where the deceased passed away domiciled outside of the UK, Rebecca assists with cases where UK inheritance tax is payable and interpreting the unique rules that apply in these cases.

In addition, Rebecca regularly acts for executors throughout the world where assets are located in North America. Rebecca can assist with the administration of US and Canadian shareholdings, provide Medallion Signature Guarantees and prepare applications for IRS federal tax clearance.

Rebecca’s clients include private individuals and also assisting professional executors.

Recent examples of work or case studies

• Drafting mirror Wills for South African clients with assets in South Africa and the UK;
• Obtaining reseals for clients with South African, Australian and New Zealand grants;
• Obtaining grants of representation in Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man;
• Assisting with the preparation of affidavits of England & Wales law to enable clients to obtain foreign grants; and
• Assisting with an estate worth approximately £8.5m where the deceased held assets across five jurisdictions