We appreciate and value the long-term nature of rural families, often measuring our relationships with clients in decades or even generations.

We firmly believe in the ‘family lawyer’ approach, always taking time to understand and keep up to date with your situation and plans.

We can help with personal matters such as wills, trusts, succession planning, probate and family matters. We can also advise on commercial matters in the rural sector including all types of property, minerals, waste, renewables, health & safety and other regulatory issues, drawing on our specialised in-house resources.

We can offer you specialist expertise and experience in a range of areas including:

• Wills, trusts, charitable trusts, succession planning and inheritance tax issues. We can also provide probate and executor services;
• Pre nuptual agreements, divorce and separation agreements along with protecting family property assets in the event of a family dispute;
• Property issues including both freehold and leasehold agricultural land, agricultural tenancies, conveyancing and renewable energy projects;
• Planning and construction issues relating to agricultural and rural property;
• Health and safety issues including proactive safety audits to ensure compliance with the regulations as well as advice and representation should you face investigation or prosecution by the Police, Environment Agency, DEFRA, HSE or any other authority;
• Business structures including partnerships, limited companies and limited liability partnerships;
• Advice from our dispute resolution department in connection with commercial and partnership disputes before the courts and advice on mediation and alternative methods of dispute resolution;
• Agricultural legal aspects:
• Advice on contentious probate; &
• Proprietary estoppel claims.

If you would like any further information or to discuss any rural related matter, please contact Tom Wills, head of the agriculture & estates department at Sintons.