Laura Le Meur
Senior Associate* | Jersey
Private Client and Trusts
Overview
Laura is a Senior Associate in the Private Client and Trusts team. She joined Collas Crill in January 2024.
Experience
Laura worked for five years at a boutique Jersey law firm. Previous to that she gained more than ten years experience working for a major offshore corporate and trust provider, latterly as an Associate Director in the Private Client Team.
In addition to her legal expertise, both in private practice and in-house, Laura has broad practical experience in the establishment and administration of corporate and trust structures.
Background
Laura studied history at Durham before completing the Graduate Diploma in Law at Exeter University. She qualified as an English Solicitor with Nigel Harris & Partners in 2009.
She was recognised by eprivateclient in 2016 as one of the Top 35 Under 35, and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management.
*admitted in England and Wales
Alongside companies and wills, family trusts are still a very popular tool for estate planning and asset protection – perhaps even more so in the light of the envisaged changes to the UK non-domiciled regime. Family foundations are proving to be a popular new tool for families looking to ensure their wealth and assets are protected for future generations. We establish trusts and foundations for local and international families to preserve family businesses and ensure appropriate succession planning. We work closely with tax advisers in order to ensure that any new family trust or foundation fits with a family's overall tax position and will be a workable long term, cost efficient structure. Discretionary trusts are still the most popular but we can also advise on fixed trusts, will trusts and pension trusts.
Private trust companies (PTC) and private trustee foundations (PTF) are an ideal solution for clients wanting to divest themselves of ownership while still retaining a level of control. A PTC, or its most recent incarnation, the PTF, is a corporate vehicle which is used by a family in place of a professional trustee so that the family themselves can control the board of the trustee and thereby control the underlying assets.