Karen Perugini

As a Partner in the Private Client Team at Trethowans, based in the Salisbury office, I bring over 20 years of specialist experience in Private Client law. My practice is built on providing clear, strategic advice to individuals, families, farmers and business owners, helping them navigate the complexities of estate and succession planning with confidence.

I advise extensively on tax planning, including the intricate rules surrounding Agricultural Relief (AR) and Business Relief (BR), as well as Capital Gains Tax (CGT) regulations and the application of holdover relief. My work often involves establishing and administering both lifetime and post-death trusts and I support trustees with all aspects of trust management, from HMRC reporting and tax implications to variations, appointments and retirements.

My expertise also includes preparing deeds of gift and declarations of trust and drafting bespoke wills tailored to a wide range of personal and family circumstances. I help clients preserve wealth across generations, ensuring their wishes are clearly reflected and legally protected.

I manage the administration of estates of all sizes, including those with complex inheritance tax issues, foreign assets and business or agricultural property. I also prepare Powers of Attorney for both personal and business matters, including Lasting Powers of Attorney for property and financial affairs and health and welfare.

In addition, I advise on care fee planning, mental capacity issues and applications to the Court of Protection. I have been appointed as attorney for individuals, assisting with the day-to-day management of their personal and financial affairs with discretion and care.

Notable work highlights

Providing advice in an estate where there was a large inheritance tax liability so that the tax bill was reduced by the implementation of a Deed of Variation to ensure that the full inheritance tax allowances were utilised
Putting in place Wills to incorporate planning to ensure that care fees would not be an issue for the surviving spouse and appropriate re-structuring of the family assets and use of different trusts which allowed this to be possible
Acting for a client who had no close family members and instructed me to act as her attorney so that, as her health deteriorated, I was able to assist her in dealing with the sale of her house and arranging for her to move to a care home for the remainder of her life, whilst managing her affairs to ensure that she was able to afford her care fees and all that she needed. Following it through to the point of registering her death, arranging her funeral and ultimately making sure that her wishes under the terms of her Will were carried out when it came to dealing with the administration of her estate
Acting for farming families to implement succession planning in order to minimise potential future inheritance tax liabilities by setting up lifetime trusts and re-allocating assets within the family, providing advice on the implications of other taxes on any action taken
Dealing with a large estate where various charities benefitted from the assets in the estate and managing their expectations so that all parties were satisfied with the work carried out and the time within which the estate administration was all completed
Dealing with a large estate involving a second wife and children from the first marriage – managing the expectations of all parties so that the estate could be administered to the satisfaction of all concerned, including the implementation of an on-going trust to protect the wife but set up so as to preserve the assets within the estate which will ultimately pass to the children. Building up a good relationship with the family and subsequently being instructed to deal with their own affairs and those of other family members.
Taking steps to track down long-lost family members in an intestacy situation so that the estate could be administered resulting in 7 different branches of a family tree all benefitting from the estate of their unknown relative
Liaising with HMRC for an Offer in Lieu of inheritance tax to apply for items of cultural importance
Dealing with the estate of a partner in a farming partnership and taking appropriate action within 2 years of death to ensure that appropriate IHT reliefs and allowances could be claimed and assets could end up with the right family members going forward in order to minimise the inheritance tax liability for the family in the future
Dealing with a discretionary trust for the benefit of the deceased’s young children, including arranging for a new home to be purchased for some of the family to live in and investing funds to produce an income to help support them as they grow up and dealing with all associated administrative and compliance issues

Accreditations & Memberships

Full member of STEP having completed the STEP Diploma in Trusts & Estates
Accredited member of the Association of Lifetime Lawyers (formerly Solicitors for the Elderly)
Member of Agricultural Law Association
Dementia Friend