The accountancy and legal professions have always worked closely together and the Legal Services Act has led to an increasing overlap in service offerings.
Working together
When we deal with high net worth clients we will always seek to identify and involve their accountant in the process to ensure we provide clients with a complete service. Inheritance tax planning, in particular, cannot be undertaken without a proper consideration of CGT, income tax and the value and nature of a client’s business and agricultural assets.
Training
We have provided various training sessions both with and to accountants and their clients across the region. We have found that Wills and tax planning, the Trustee Act 2000, the Court of Protection, building a vulnerable client service and dealing with financial abuse are the most popular subjects.
Engaging accountancy services
As professional fiduciaries and trusted advisers we often need to refer to accountancy professionals. We run a panel system for the instruction of accountants to ensure that any referrals we make are to advisers who fit our required standards and the relevant criteria.
In particular we engage accountancy services for forensic account reviews (for tax enquiries and financial abuse matters), complex SA100 submissions, business valuations, BPR/APR opinions, and foreign taxation issues.