Senior Associate - Tax, Trusts and Succession in Exeter

Are you keen to find an exciting new role where you will be part of a dynamic, forward-thinking, agile team? If so, come and join us on the journey.

Why Michelmores? Michelmores is the destination law firm for the ambitious, the imaginative and the distinctive. We help individuals, families and businesses navigate change to find a positive future. We are a flexible, friendly and inclusive organisation with as clear a focus on fresh thinking as we have on growth and success. We value and nurture our people’s potential and inspiration and give them a creative, open and collaborative environment in which to develop a career and succeed. We believe that whatever your legal experience, you will find Michelmores different.

From day one we encourage our Associates and Senior Associates to forge direct client relationships and expand their understanding and knowledge of areas that interest them - developing an understanding of our clients and the challenges and opportunities that face them, rather than just knowing the law. We nurture creative and commercial thinking to help in your long‑term career success - it mirrors our approach to ensuring the very best outcomes for our clients too. Finally, our culture really is something special to us. At Michelmores we take pride in how we all work together, whatever our role or seniority, and you’ll really grow and thrive because we encourage people to develop in areas that excite them or make them different. That’s how we nurture the brightest and best lawyers.

What sort of work? Right now, our highly regarded Tax, Trust & Succession (TTS) team is looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious Senior Associate to join the growing team in Bristol, Cheltenham or Exeter. You will have the opportunity to further expand your knowledge and build on your experience in this friendly and supportive team. This opportunity also offers a real opportunity for career progression.

• Advising the trustees of a family trust holding an estate on the transfer of land to the next generation while mitigating future inheritance tax and drafting the relevant documentation.
• Working with our strategic land team to advise a landowner on ways to structure the ownership of land before entering into a promotion agreement.
• Advising a family business owner on the transfer of the business and on the inheritance tax position on their death, advising on options for improving the tax position and helping them navigate how best to divide the estate between the seven children.
• Advising an Italian non‑UK domiciled client moving to the UK on secondment on pre‑arrival planning and the use of overseas workday relief while working with his Italian advisers.
• Restructuring a Jersey trust and underlying company holding UK property which was created by a formerly domiciled resident now living in South Africa with a view to passing on the wealth to his Australian resident daughter and UK resident daughter.
• Advising a UK/US couple on their estate planning including reviewing their lifetime revocable grantor trust and advising on the UK tax position.
• Advising the executors of an estate holding significant farming‑related assets on claims for APR and BPR, with a view to administering and arranging the estate for the benefit of the surviving spouse and long‑term benefit of the wider family.

Why this team? Our Private Client team has a well‑established practice, has consistently been awarded the top accolade in the Chambers High Net Worth rankings and has also been awarded STEP Platinum Employer Partner accreditation. At this year's STEP awards we were shortlisted as mid‑size firm of the year – as we have been in numerous other years; we have won the award twice. The team works across all four of our main offices and advises on a full range of Private Client work including:

• Tax advice for individuals and their wealth.
• The orderly succession of wealth from one generation to the next.
• The creation and administration of trust and other vehicles to hold and manage private wealth.
• The governance of family owned businesses.
• Will preparation.
• The administration of estates, testate and intestate.

How do we work? We take a flexible, agile approach to working patterns. As a team we agree together on the best working arrangements that will enable each of us to provide exceptional client service, to collaborate and connect with colleagues, and to achieve the right home/work balance. We pride ourselves on our high‑performance culture whilst offering a good work/life balance. As a Firm we are committed to supporting our people across all levels to achieve the balance they need. We are open to flexible working and to empower any candidate to put forward a flexible working pattern to meet their needs.

Who are we looking for? We are looking for somebody who will understand our values and can thrive in our culture. The role can be based from either our Bristol, Cheltenham or Exeter offices, where you will work alongside leading individuals and recommended lawyers on a variety of Private Wealth matters. The ideal candidate will have:

• At least 5 years’ post‑qualification experience of working within the private client field (with a focus on protecting wealth & estate planning and experience of estate administration work).
• Be able to assume responsibility quickly.
• Experience of meeting financial and non‑financial targets.
• Understand the importance of not just legal excellence but offering our advice in a way that reflects the client’s commercial objectives.
• Share our considerable ambitions.

Other skills required include:

• Strong interpersonal skills; effective communicator at all levels (written and verbal).
• A commercial, pro‑active and professional approach to work.
• Excellent organisational skills, demonstrable examples of multi‑tasking and an ability to juggle competing priorities.
• Must interact well with others in a sensitive and effective way – a team player.
• Must be self‑motivated, committed to working towards goals with strong enthusiasm and career commitment.
• Understand the importance of confidentiality and use of discretion.
• Must be flexible, successfully adapting to changing demands and conditions.
• Demonstrate self‑confidence, initiative and be an innovative thinker.

This is a great opportunity to join a Firm which believes potential, inspiration, and teamwork should be valued and nurtured. We work hard to create and sustain an open and collaborative environment. We embrace change and constantly evolve to meet our people’s diverse needs, in the same way that we help our clients to navigate and stay ahead of developments, to move forward together.

Michelmores LLP is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We do not discriminate on grounds of race, gender, marital status, age, religion, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, disability or sexual orientation in the selection, recruitment and treatment of our staff.