Ben Havard (TEP)
Partner | Guernsey
Private Client and Trusts
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He is calm, collected and has good attention to detail.
Chambers & Partners -
He is very approachable and calm.
Chambers and Partners 2022 -
Ben is accessible and good at bringing in external resources where necessary. He provides a good service and constructive arguments.
Chambers UK 2023 -
Ben Havard is a pleasure to work with and a charming practitioner who provides quality advice and always offers a clear litigation strategy. He is highly collaborative and knows what his clients want.
Legal 500 2022 -
A pleasure to work with, an expert in his field, dedicated to clients but prepared to work as party of a wider team.
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Ben Havard – practical approach, proactivity.
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Ben has a calm and measured courtroom style which commands attention and inspires confidence .
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Ben Havard is a proactive, prompt, transparent, strategic thinker.
Legal 500 (UK) 2023 -
One of the brightest young lights in Guernsey.
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Ben Havard is conscientious and has the ear of the client.
Overview
Ben is a Guernsey Advocate and Partner of Collas Crill's Private Client and Trusts team.
His practice is focused on contentious and semi-contentious trust work, advising both trustees and beneficiaries and appearing in the Royal Court in Guernsey on those matters.
He has a particular interest in the issues around the succession to wealth by the next generation.
Experience
- Acting for the beneficiary of a trust in a proposed restructuring of an UHNW family's wealth following a dispute with their trustee. Planning for the splintering-off of our client's interests, and negotiating the necessary protections.
- Acting for the corporate trustee of a discretionary trust settled for the benefit of the Settlor's children. The Settlor was domiciled in a jurisdiction in which Sharia law would have applied on succession. The trust imported aspects of Sharia law, while also providing for the settlor's daughters. A family dispute resulted in various challenges relating to the trust.
- Acting for the corporate trustee of a trust during the course of a significant family dispute. The aim was to divide the assets of the trust against a lack of any agreement between the beneficiaries as to how that should be done.
- Acting for two beneficiaries of a Guernsey trust in an application seeking disclosure of information from the trustees (who were family members) – Patel v Patel (Judgment 36/2016)
Background
Ben read Psychology at undergraduate level at the University of Sheffield, specialising in workplace psychology, and subsequently undertook an MSc in Human Resource Management.
As a first career, Ben worked at a large public sector organisation in the UK, planning and managing significant projects of change and restructuring. This drew on both his academic studies, but also required co-ordinating legal input, and engaging in negotiation with trade union representatives.
In 2007 Ben made the change to law, studying in Manchester, and receiving the Law Society Bursary for his LPC studies. He joined Collas Crill in 2009, qualifying as an English solicitor in 2011 after a secondment to Olswang LLP, and as a Guernsey Advocate in 2015. He was made a partner of the firm on 1 January 2019.
Ben was appointed Chair of STEP's Contentious Trusts and Estates special interest group in December 2023. He also holds an apprenticeship board position with Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited – an investment company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange with a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt investments in liquid markets (office, retail, logistics, light industrial, hospitality and residential) in the UK and Continental Europe. The apprenticeship is part of a development programme run by partner boards in conjunction with the Guernsey Training Agency.
Awards
- Listed by eprivateclient in the 2024 Crown Dependencies NextGen Leaders list
- Ranked in Band 3 by Chambers and Partners UK 2024
- Listed as a Next Generation Partner in Legal 500 2023
- Features in the Global Elite Directory, which is a list of the world's most respected lawyers advising UHNW clients as nominated by peers within the private wealth industry.
- Winner of lawyer of the year in category at the Citywealth Future Leaders Awards (2018), also featuring on the Citywealth Leaderslist.
Memberships
- STEP - full qualification as Trust and Estates Practitioner (TEP)
- CIPD
- Chancery Bar
- ACTAPS
- ConTra
- IOD
The role of a modern trustee has never been more complex. Trustees must satisfy the needs and desires of their beneficiaries, manage complex assets and navigate an ever-changing legal and regulatory landscape.
We know that trustees can need assistance and advice on how best to satisfy their duties and to meet their legal and regulatory obligations. We understand and have a great deal of experience in working with trustees to get ahead of any potentially difficult situation and resolve it in a way that minimises risk and conflict.
In regulatory disputes there are often fine lines between the usual wrangling with the regulator and something more serious – by matching our mix of experienced contentious and non-contentious lawyers to the particular problem at hand, we achieve better and more efficient outcomes. As regulatory experts, we frequently act on contentious matters and can leverage our experience to help clients achieve the highest regulatory standards and avoid common pitfalls.
If you are looking to expand of move your business offshore we can assist your company with all forms of immigration visas and permits.
We represent beneficiaries, high-net-worth individuals, trustees, protectors and other power holders in a range of contentious and semi-contentious situations. Our lawyers have been at the forefront of the most complex, high-value private wealth litigation offshore.
We often deal with novel points of law, creating new and innovative solutions to meet the needs of our clients.
Given the international nature of private wealth, with clients and their assets spread across the world, we work as a joined-up global team so that our clients can benefit from the knowledge and experience wherever they may need it.
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