Tom Chiffers

Tom is a Partner in the Private Capital team, specialising in inheritance tax and succession planning for private individuals, farmers and other business owners. Tom grew up in rural Somerset and his practice has an agricultural focus.

Tom trained with Clarke Willmott, before rejoining the firm in 2020 as a partner.

Tom is a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. For five years, Tom was a trustee of Combe Down Holiday Trust, a charity providing holidays for disabled children.

How Tom can help clients

Tom’s expertise includes the preparation of wills and trusts to preserve wealth within the family whilst maintaining flexibility. Tom works with other advisors including accountants and financial advisors to help address succession and tax issues.

Experience

• Successfully advising a farming family on the most suitable structure of their business to secure inheritance tax exemptions as a deterioration in the father’s health meant a reduction in his farming activities.
• Advising on the winding up of a family trust which entailed the sale of extensive property assets and the solvent winding up of private companies.
• Tax planning for wealthy individuals, including the use of lifetime transfers to trusts followed by appointment of income to their children to manage both their inheritance tax and income tax exposure.
• Advising a farming family who had secured land for development on the release and assignment of a trust interest to minimise their inheritance tax liability.