Private Wealth, Trusts and Estate Planning
Expert Legal Representation.
About the Practice
Wealth is easy to make and remarkably easy to lose across a generation. Our private client practice exists to close that gap. We act for individuals, families and family businesses on wills, trusts, succession and the protection of assets, with the discretion this work demands and the firmness it sometimes needs.
On the planning side we draft wills and letters of wishes, settle family, discretionary and charitable trusts and register trusts and trustees under the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, which has quietly become the vehicle of choice for foundations, employee benefit schemes and long-term family holdings. We design the structure before it exists, so the tax, regulatory and family consequences are known in advance rather than discovered in court.
When someone has died we act for executors, administrators and beneficiaries under the Law of Succession Act, obtaining grants, transmitting land and shares and settling the family disagreements which so reliably follow a funeral. We also advise on the affairs of persons who have lost capacity and on the protection of property within marriage. Banks, trust companies and tax advisers work alongside us, and clients get one coherent plan rather than three competing opinions.
Select Experience
Structuring settlor and beneficiary trusts and discretionary structures for private clients under Kenyan law
Advising on the establishment of an employee benefit trust and preparing its registration under the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act
Prepared the registration and constitutive documents for a charitable foundation and advised a second foundation on a property acquisition in Nairobi and its donor arrangements
Acting for numerous clients in succession causes before the High Court
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I die without a will in Kenya?
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Your estate passes under the intestacy rules in the Law of Succession Act. A surviving spouse takes the personal effects and a life interest in the rest, with the children taking after the spouse, and where there is no spouse or child the estate goes to parents, siblings and more distant relatives in a fixed order. The rules ignore your wishes entirely, which is the strongest argument for a will.
What makes a will valid in Kenya?
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A written will must be signed by the person making it in the presence of two witnesses who also sign, and the witnesses should not be beneficiaries. An oral will is recognised only if made before two witnesses and the maker dies within three months. We draft, witness and store wills, and we review them when circumstances change.
How long does probate take?
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A grant of probate or letters of administration is issued after the petition, the gazettement and the objection period, and the grant cannot be confirmed until six months have passed from its issue. An uncontested estate is usually distributed within a year. A contested one takes as long as the dispute, which is why we try to resolve family disagreements before they reach the court file.
What is a family trust and why would I need one?
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A family trust holds assets through trustees for named beneficiaries under a trust deed, so the assets pass outside the estate and outside probate. It protects property for children and dependants, keeps a family business intact across generations and, once registered under the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, gives the trust perpetual existence and the capacity to hold land in its own name.
Can a trust hold land in Kenya?
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Yes. A trust incorporated under the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act becomes a body corporate which owns land, opens bank accounts and sues and is sued in its own name. The registration runs through the Business Registration Service and requires the trust deed, the trustees' details and the petition, all of which we prepare.
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Contact our Private Wealth, Trusts and Estate Planning team today for expert guidance and representation.
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