Recent equine news reports have been full of the court case involving Eric Lamaze and a $572,000 dispute. Whist disputes on this scale are quite rare, disputes over alleged mis-selling are becoming commonplace in the UK. There appear to be a number of...
For many years, we have helped farmers and landowners meet the challenges and opportunities they face. Over this time we have developed an unrivalled expertise that is acknowledged nationally by our clients and our peers.
It’s no secret that managing a landed estate can be complex and requires a diverse range of experts in order to keep the business running smoothly. From managing property portfolios to solving employment issues and handling trusts, we are regularly involved with the legal intricacies that are common when dealing with landed estates. We fully appreciate how important it is to keep a close focus on the often generational significance of the property and assets.
How we can help you
- Complex trust law
- Property portfolio management
- Land and property disputes
- Deeds of covenant
- Individual services such as residential conveyancing, injuries and police incidents
- Specialist tax, trust and succession planning for families and estates
- Advising trustees
- Trust disputes
- HMRC compliance
- Farming partnerships
- Pre-nuptial agreements and farming divorces
- Prosecutions by Trading Standards, the HSE, the Environment Agency and the FSA
- Specialist grazing, cropping and seasonal arrangements
- Livery agreements
- Joint ventures, mergers, de-mergers and business structures
- Refinancing
- Land sales and purchases
- Mines, minerals and quarrying
- Chancel repair liability
- Listed building regulations
- Land pooling arrangements
- Contract farming and share farming
- Incorporations and partitions
- Sustainable energy projects
- Planning, diversification and development
- Shooting and sporting rights
- Advice regarding rural crime
- Rights of way and boundary disputes
- Common land
- Manorial rights
- Equine law
- Poultry agreements
- Debt Recovery
Our approach
A large part of our work involves helping estate owners and managers maximise opportunities whilst preserving the all-important fabric of the estate. We give commercial advice based on experience and understanding, always keeping a keen eye on the family aspect of any transactions.
Working closely with you, we aim to identify key objectives and aspirations within the rural estate and devise a structured plan to achieve them. As a firm, we are able to call upon our many in-house specialists whose expertise in a wide variety of fields can accommodate all manner of potential situations and who work in a collaborative format to achieve the best results.
Client contact
We leave the regularity of contact to you. For the larger landed estates and trusts, with the exception of day-to-day transactional needs, we are commonly involved in full review meetings once or twice a year, often to tie in with their AGM.
Alternatively, some clients will contact us only when they need answers to specialist questions, whilst others might be in touch on a daily basis. Below is an overview of the levels of advice we can offer.
Comprehensive
A full level of care under which we will handle the legal aspects of your affairs in their entirety, no matter how complicated, mundane or unexpected. This, of course, includes both personal and commercial matters relating to the business side of the estate, ensuring tax and succession planning are taken into account throughout.
Complementary
We accept that many landed estates have long-established relationships with, traditionally, London law firms. Whilst we respect those relationships, we do have a number of clients who are happy for us to work alongside those firms, delivering aspects of their legal requirements, such as property or specialist agricultural transactions, in a more cost-effective manner.
Specialist
Although you may already have a ‘go-to’ law firm, there will be times when you are likely to need more specific or specialist advice. You may, for example, want to review your farming arrangements or, if you have chosen to diversify, you may need specialist help with, say, a renewable energy scheme you might be interested in.
Get in touch with our agriculture solicitors
For further information about our agriculture services, get in touch with our team in Alconbury, Birmingham, Nottingham, Peterborough or Spalding.