Private Client - Trust Manager

Job title

Private Client - Trust Manager

Department

Private Client

Our Purpose

To forge long-term relationships that have a positive impact on our people, our clients, our business partners, and our community.

Our Commitment to Our People

We do not think there is a magic formula to the Higgs culture. The key is to listen to and respect our people. If we take care of our people and our people take care of our clients, then everything we want as a firm will take care of itself. We are friendly and open to new ideas.

Our Core Values

Higgs core values are “CLEAR” – Care, Legacy, Excellence, Authenticity, Relationships

Role Purpose

To provide support to the Private Client department by managing a portfolio of existing trusts and taking responsibility for the day to day management of them.  The existing trust structures hold a mixture of financial, business, agricultural and property assets.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain and prepare annual trust accounts;
• Preparation of relevant inheritance tax returns;
• Good understanding of the Self-Assessment process for trusts and the ability to complete annual tax returns, including managing our Agent Service Account and onboarding new clients;
• Able to onboard new trusts post-creation;
• Understand what annual compliance is required and use own initiative to ensure all trusts are compliant;
• Willingness to keep up to date with trusts compliance and help adapt our internal processes to any changes;
• Good working knowledge of the Trust Registration Service, including digital handshakes and annual declarations;
• Confident to liaise with directly with clients, external accountants, other trust and tax advisers and investment advisers;
• Completion of annual FATCA/CRS returns, tax residency and status forms, and obtain LEI numbers (where required);

Person Specification

• Good communication, organisational and team skills, good attention to detail and strong on numbers;
• Flexible and dependable, able to take the initiative, to include both working independently and as part of a team;
• Able to remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines, conscientious, approachable and enthusiastic;
• Able to quickly build confidence, respect and trust with others.

Technical Knowledge

• Good working knowledge of income tax, inheritance tax and capital gains tax;
• Good working knowledge of the relevant HMRC tax forms;
• STEP qualification, if not we will support you to work towards a STEP qualification
• CTA qualification could be an advantage.

What You Need to Know

Higgs offers hybrid working wherever possible. Our Higgs’ Best FIT (flexible, inclusive, together) principles are designed to ensure that people can complete their best work from the most appropriate location. If you are looking to work flexibly then let us know and we will do what we can to accommodate your request.

We encourage a ‘dress for your diary’ approach which means dressing in a manner appropriate for your schedule or the specific appointments you have on any given day.

Equal Opportunities

As charter signatories to The Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter, Higgs are committed to developing a diverse business by engaging with the widest pool of talent. We recognise this is an ongoing journey and regularly monitor our figures which can be viewed here.

People Driven. Legal Excellence.