Expertise

Emma deals with complex, often international, disputes relating to trusts, estates and mental capacity. She has experience of litigation in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein and Singapore.

Emma provides trusts advice in respect of the duties of trustees, protectors and other fiduciaries, their replacement/ removal and separation of beneficial interests (often involving Public Trustee v Cooper blessing applications). As to estates, Emma can assist with claims regarding the validity and construction of wills, for reasonable financial provision (under the 1975 Act), regarding broken promises (proprietary estoppel claims) or where personal representatives are failing to properly administer an estate.

Issues relating to mentally incapacitated persons are often determined by the Court of Protection.  Emma deals with applications relating to deputyships and powers of attorney, statutory wills and lifetime gifts, as well as connected health and welfare issues.

Experience

Examples of recent work include:

• Advising a corporate protector regarding an application for its removal in the Isle of Man.
• Issuing an application in the Court of Protection in respect of the validity of revocations of lasting powers of attorney.
• Advising a Liechtenstein trustee regarding ongoing claims in the family and property courts in the UK.
• Reviewing and stress-testing extensive will files of a well-known ultra high net worth individual to assess to what extent his estate may be vulnerable to potential claims.
• Advising beneficiaries on a proposed restructuring of family trusts, including changes to the trustee- and protector-ships, and beneficial classes (applications made in Gibraltar).
• Advising a beneficiary in light of a judgment from the Guernsey Court of Appeal relating to the construction of a trust instrument (In the matter of the K Trust [2020] GCA537).

Recognition

Emma is recognised by Chambers High Net Worth (Band 4), by The Legal 500 (a ‘Next Generation Partner’), by Private Client Global Elite (Excellence category) and by Spear’s (‘Top Recommended, Contentious Trust Lawyers’).

Chambers High Net Worth describes Emma as “definitely a star of the future”, “tremendously strong”, “absolutely excellent” and “one of the best operators in her field”.

The Legal 500 praises Emma as an individual who “combines an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law with a thoroughness and enthusiasm for her cases which few can match” and is “very on-the-ball, technically accomplished and hardworking”.

Career

Emma joined Stewarts in 2017. She worked at Withers for eight years prior to joining.

Accreditations and Memberships

Emma is a member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS), Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and AIJA (International Association of Young Lawyers).

Publications and Media

Emma speaks regularly at conferences on topics ranging from trusts in divorce (TL4); recent trust cases (STEP Asia); offshore round up (STEP Jersey); capacity and associated red flags (TL4); conflicts of law and jurisdiction disputes in cross-border succession matters (Trust and Estates Litigation Forum); charity trustees and ESG considerations (AIJA).

Emma has also written numerous articles for the firm’s website as well as for third parties including STEP, Luxury London and The Times.