Jane Maitland

Jane is on the panel of deputies appointed by the Court of Protection to manage the affairs of those who, through mental incapacity, are unable to do so. She steps in where there is either no family able to take on the role, or the family is dispute, or a deputy or attorney has been removed by the Court.

Jane acts as a Deputy for those who have substantial personal injury wards but are incapacitated and unable to administer the award.  She is also appointed by the court to administer estates where there is a family or beneficiary dispute.

Recent Work

• Acting as Deputy appointed by the Court of Protection for an incapacitated beneficiary entitled on intestacy to administer and inherit a substantial estate. Jane obtained a grant of representation to the deceased’s estate, to include negotiating a deed of variation of the intestate estate for inheritance tax planning purposes for the incapacitate party.
• Acting as Deputy for an incapacitated farmer who inherited his deceased wife’s share of the farm, but was unable to administer his inheritance. Following the death of the incapacitated party, Jane acted as personal representative of his estate, including taking possession proceedings to obtain vacant possession of the farm.
• Appointed by Court to manage the administration of a disputed intestate estate, which had not been properly administered over several decades. She worked with the Contentious Probate and Trusts team to take court proceedings against former administrators for the recovery of assets belonging to the estate.
• Deputy appointed by the Court of Protection to manage multi-million pound compensation award to a minor child resulting from brain injury through medical negligence at birth.

Jane advises owners of agricultural and landed estates on succession planning and wealth preservation, including maximising agricultural and business property relief from inheritance tax. She advises trustees and acts as a trustee when required.

Cases

• Estate planning for a landed family, including protection of agricultural value for inheritance tax purposes. This involved the creation of trusts of non-agricultural assets and preparation of complex Wills to preserve the estate for future generations.
• Acting for trustees selling a farm following the death of the landowner and the sale/appropriation and distribution of assets between different members and branches of the family. This involved working with the accountants to structure the disposal in a tax efficient way.

Recent Work

• Trust reorganisation for a farming family working with accountant and corporate colleagues to restructure family company. This was to enable succession to family business and protection of interests in land for family members not involved in the business.
• Advising trustees on partition of multimillion pound trust of investments and commercial properties between life tenant and remaindermen.
• Executor of a multi-million pound landed estate comprising of agricultural land, houses, livestock, and conditionally exempt chattels.