Lia Russell

Lia qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive early in 2019 prior to cross qualifying as a Solicitor in 2022 and specialises in the area of trusts. A substantial amount of her workload is in respect of trust administration, creation and termination. This covers a broad range of responsibilities but some examples are included below: • Reviewing complex trusts and providing trustee reports to explain the terms and taxation position • Registration of onshore and offshore trusts on the UK Trust Registration Service whether these be taxable or non-taxable trusts; • Preparation of inheritance tax accounts to deliver to HMRC reporting exits and ten year anniversaries on trusts which are part of the relevant property regime; • Creation of trusts such as lifetime settlements and settlements for disabled beneficiaries; • Dealing with changes of trustees with the appropriate deeds of retirement & appointment of trustees and updating trust assets with current details;  • Preparation of trustee tax returns for all types of trust to include assessment of available tax pools & distributions of trust income and form R185s; • Winding up trusts following decisions made by the trustees and putting in pace the appropriate deeds of appointment and trustee resolutions; • Holding all parties trustee meeting and preparation of trustee minutes; • Working closely with financial advisors and accountants to help implement their advice; • Administration of trusts established on death to include trusts such as discretionary trusts, determinable life interest trusts, life interest trusts and trusts for vulnerable beneficiaries; • Assisting trustees to comply with the Common Reporting Standard and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act when a trust is classed as a Financial Institution under the legislations; and • Obtaining and renewal of Legal Entity Identifiers. Prior to choosing her trust specialism in 2017 Lia had experience of estate administration, drafting lasting powers of attorney and dealing with financial affairs.