Katherine Forster
Katherine is a Legal Director in our Private Client Advisory Team, based in our London office.
Katherine is a trusted adviser to individuals, families, trusts and family businesses both in the UK and internationally. Colleagues and clients alike value Katherine’s detailed technical knowledge and her experience in dealing with the most unusual cases. Katherine fosters close long-term relationships with clients, providing practical advice in relation to both legal and tax issues, both in personal as well as business situations. Discreet handling of such matters is a key part of what Katherine does.
Katherine has been quoted in the professional press commenting on tax developments. Katherine is a full member of the Society and Trusts Estate Practitioners (STEP).
Katherine’s experience includes:
- providing tax structuring advice to private equity executives and hedge fund managers;
- maximising the availability of Business Asset Disposal Relief on a sale of the business;
- preparing essential tax structuring advice for business owners prior to a sale of the business;
- providing advice to owner managed businesses on financing the business, including Enterprise Investment Relief;
- carrying out a “tax health check” for clients;
- assisting with disclosure to HMRC where required;
- acting on tax disputes, where there are lengthy HMRC investigations, and in some cases settling with HMRC;
- advising on the structuring of assets, with a view to protecting and passing down wealth, in the most tax efficient way, whilst protecting against the remarriage of a surviving spouse, a potential divorce of beneficiaries, family disputes, spendthrift beneficiaries, and taking care not to pass down too much too soon.
- preparing a vulnerable person’s trust for a disabled beneficiary who lacks mental capacity;
- implementing sensitive, practical and tax efficient estate planning solutions for families where there are children from more than one relationship, including balancing the needs of the surviving spouse and the step-children;
- preparing tax-efficient and wealth protecting wills;
- advising on and preparing health and care and financial decisions Lasting Powers of Attorney, providing comfort to clients in terms of having a plan for what would happen if they lose mental capacity.
Katherine joined Birketts LLP from Mishcon de Reya LLP in 2023. Katherine qualified as a Solicitor in 2005, having obtained an MA from Oxford University.
