SPEAKERS
Emma Facey TEP, Foot Anstey LLP
Emma is a contentious probate specialist, advising on a full range of
disputes involving legacies, trusts and estate administration. Emma acts for
trustees, executors and beneficiaries. Emma is experienced in advising
charities, in particular in relation to legacy administration (having spent time
on secondment working at Scope and the National Trust). Emma is a
member of STEP and ACTAPS and has recently completed the STEP
Advanced Certificate in Advising Vulnerable Clients.
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Professor Lesley King TEP
Professor Lesley King is a member of the Law Society’s Wills & Equity
Committee and the Probate & Estates Committee of STEP and an
honorary member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate
Specialists. She is Professional Development Consultant at the
University of Law.
She is co-author of Wills, Taxation and Administration: A Practical Guide;
A Modern Approach to Wills, Administration and Estate Planning (with Precedents); A Modern
Approach to Lifetime Tax Planning for Private Clients (with Precedents); A Practitioner’s Guide to
Wills; The Will Draftsman’s Handbook; Wills: A Practical Guide; and editor of The Probate
Practitioner’s Handbook.
She is a contributor to the Wills and Trusts volumes of Halsbury’s Laws and the Encyclopaedia of
Forms and Precedents and to The Law and Ethics of Dementia.
She is the wills and probate columnist for the Law Society Gazette, and writes and lectures
extensively on wills, taxation and related matters.
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Stephen Lawson TEP, Forshaws Davies Ridgway
Stephen Lawson is Head of Civil Litigation at FDR Law. He has
extensive contentious probate experience. He is a member of both
STEP and ACTAPS. He is the Chair of STEP Cheshire and a
current member of the STEP England & Wales Committee.
Stephen is the Northwest member of the STEP Worldwide Council.
Stephen has written extensively on probate issues and is the joint
author with Martin Frost and Robin Jacoby, of the book
“Testamentary Capacity”.
Denzil Lush, Former Senior Judge of the Court of Protection
Denzil Lush was the Master of the Court of Protection from April 1996 until the
Mental Capacity Act came into force in October 2007 and was subsequently the
Senior Judge of the Court of Protection until he retired in July 2016. He is a
trustee of the charity Action on Elder Abuse.
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Lucy Obrey TEP, Higgs & Sons
Lucy is a partner at Higgs & Sons, Solicitors in the West Midlands. Lucy is a
full time practitioner and her case load includes all aspects of Private Client
work, focusing on wealth and succession planning. Lucy’s expertise in
inheritance tax and estate planning, notably for the entrepreneurial client base
of the firm, has been recognised in Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500
where she is noted as a leader in her field. Lucy is a member of STEP and sits
on its UK Practice Committee. Lucy has recently obtained the STEP Advanced
Certificate in Family Business Advising. Lucy regularly lectures to other
professionals on a wide variety of Private Client related subjects including wills
and estate administration drawing from her own experiences in practice to give practical and
relevant information to her audience.
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Peter Rayney TEP CTA (Fellow) FCA, Peter Rayney Tax Consulting Ltd
Peter Rayney practises as an independent tax consultant through his
own practice, advising owner-managed companies, accountants,
lawyers and tax practitioners on a wide range of tax issues. He
specialises in company sales/acquisitions, reconstructions, succession
planning and all aspects of owner managed business taxation.
He is always in demand as a tax lecturer and regularly contributes tax articles to the professional
press. Peter is also an author of various books and journals including The Practical Corporate Tax
Manual (CCH) and the very popular Tax Planning for Family and Owner Managed Companies
(Bloomsbury Professional).
Peter is chairman of the ICAEW Tax‘s Technical Committee and has recently joined the council of
the CIOT. He is passionate about West Ham United and is a member of the BM6 club!
Patricia Wass TEP, Foot Anstey
Patricia has over 30 years experience working as a Solicitor dealing with
all aspects of private client law. She is presently a Consultant in the
Mental Capacity team at Foot Anstey and specialises in Powers of
Attorney, Court of Protection work and legal issues relating to the elderly
and vulnerable. She is a Panel Deputy for the Office of the Public Guardian, one of only 71 people
acting in this role throughout England and Wales. She lectures regularly on her practice area for
various legal training providers and contributes articles to legal journals.
Patricia has written for the Law Society, the Elder Law Journal, and has been interviewed by
industry publications including STEP and CityWealth Magazine.
Patricia is the current Worldwide Chair of STEP. Patricia served as a member of the West of
England STEP Committee between 2000 and 2013 (Chair between 2006 and 2009) and is a Past
Chair of the Law Society Private Client Executive Committee. Patricia is also a past Chair of the
STEP England and Wales Regional Committee, is a member of the STEP Governance Council,
and acts as a Director on the STEP Worldwide Board.
She is also a full accredited member of Solicitors for the Elderly and assisted on the Committee for
the Devon & Cornwall SFE Regional Group. Patricia is recognised as a Top Ranked 'Leader in
her Field' by Chambers UK legal directory.
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Chris Whitehouse TEP, 5 Stone Buildings
Chris Whitehouse is a barrister in practice at 5 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s
Inn where he advises on wills, trusts and capital tax planning generally. He
is one of the editors of Dymond’s Capital Taxes; co-author (with Emma
Chamberlain) of Trust Taxation (4th Edition 2014); and (with Lesley King) of
A Modern Approach to Wills, Administration and Estate Planning (3rd
Edition 2015) and Lifetime Tax Planning (2nd Edition 2016). He is a
principal contributor to the Settlements; Wills and Gifts volume of the
Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents.
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