Natasha is an Associate in the firm's Private Wealth Disputes team in Mishcon Private.
Natasha deals with a broad range of private client litigation. She acts for trustees (both individual and corporate), personal representatives, beneficiaries, and other individuals and entities involved in private client disputes. Her work includes a wide range of trust and estate disputes, including complex cross-border trust matters, claims relating to intestacy and the validity of Wills, Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claims, issues arising in estate administration, lifetime gifts, and claims for proprietary estoppel. Her work often involves an international element.
Natasha also has experience in international family law matters relating to the breakdown of relationships. This includes divorce and financial remedy proceedings.
Additionally, Natasha has experience advising on contractual disputes, including shareholder disputes, commercial contracts, and private contracts.
Natasha is experienced in advising clients on many forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediations and Financial Dispute Resolution hearings.
Natasha is a committee member of the Contentious Trusts Association ("ConTrA"), a member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists ("ACTAPS"), an affiliate member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners ("STEP"), a member of Resolution (a community of family justice professionals who work with families and individuals to resolve issues in a constructive way), and she is an ADR-ODR International accredited Civil-Commercial Mediator.
Key Experience
- Acted for the successful Claimant in Perez v Equiom Trust Corporation (UK) Ltd & Anor [2022] EWHC 2996 (Ch) (29 November 2022) where a trust worth cUS$50m was declared as validly revoked and the former trustees’ indemnity rights were curtailed to 70% due to improper conduct.
- Acted for the trustees in the variation of a cUS$500m trust and handover of the trusteeship in circumstances where one of the beneficiaries requested that the entire trust fund be distributed to her and then wound up.
- Achieved a favourable settlement following a mediation for the defendant adult children of the deceased in relation to a multi-jurisdictional spousal claim for financial provision pursuant to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Defendants) Act 1975 and a proprietary claim relating to the family home.
- Successfully challenged the validity of the deceased's purported last Will without the need for court proceedings on the basis of the deceased's lack of testamentary capacity, want of knowledge and approval, and undue influence. The deceased's earlier Will that left everything to our client was submitted to probate.
- Successfully defended a challenge to the validity of the deceased's Will on behalf of the sole beneficiary of the estate. No settlement monies were paid, and the challenger abandoned their claim prior to issuing court proceedings.
- Achieved a favourable settlement following a private FDR for the respondent husband in financial remedy proceedings involving assets in multiple jurisdictions and international parties.
- Achieved a favourable settlement following a mediation for the defendants in a multi-million-pound claim brought by a well-known company in the leisure sector for the purported breach of warranties in a share purchase agreement.
Qualifications, Memberships and Awards
- Member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists ("ACTAPS") (since December 2023)
- STEP Advanced Certificate in Trust Disputes (completed December 2022, Distinction)
- Affiliate Member of STEP (since August 2022)
- Committee member of ConTrA (since March 2022)
- Member of Resolution (since 2021)
- ADR-ODR International Accredited Civil-Commercial Mediator (since June 2017)
Articles
Author, "Modern families - Issues that may arise for trustees"- EPrivateClient, October 2021
Career History
Associate, Mishcon de Reya LLP
Associate, Cripps LLP
Trainee Solicitor, Cripps LLP
BPP University, Legal Practice Course
University of Sussex, LLB (Hons)