Spear’s Review

Alex Bartrope is a partner at Buckles and head of its 53-person-strong private client team, which operates from six offices across the UK.

Her practice is centred on long-term estate planning, covering inheritance tax advice, will planning and probate administration. As such, she regularly assists clients seeking to set up lifetime discretionary trusts, family investment companies and foundations.

Bartrope tells Spear’s that her typical client is a professional service provider working in the financial world who is getting older, and is looking at retirement and overall succession planning – particularly from a tax perspective.

Buckles is a full-service firm with legal advice spanning corporate, litigation and non-contentious private client matters. ‘I’m lucky because I can work within the wider team, pulling in experts where I can and keeping clients’ work in-house,’ she explains.

Alongside her day-to-day practice, she is also an experienced trustee and a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.