Charlotte is a private client lawyer and a full member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) with specific qualifications in advising vulnerable clients. Her work includes wills, estate planning, lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), probate, and both will and lifetime trusts.
Committed to finding tax-efficient solutions, Charlotte works with tax advisors and IFAs to provide holistic advice. She acts as executor and trustee, court-appointed independent administrator, as attorney and on behalf of attorneys in LPAs, and she represents executors and beneficiaries.
Charlotte administers estates of varying size and complexity, including intestacies. She has experience in unusual grant of probate applications and re-sealing overseas grants of representation for international clients with UK assets.
Before qualifying as a lawyer, Charlotte worked for 12 years as a freelance television Production Manager and Line Producer. With her media background, she writes about private client issues with an unusually creative perspective.
I was extremely satisfied with Charlotte Pollards support and legal advice from Keystone. She is able to explain complex legal concepts in a clear way and provide the necessary guidance. She is also extremely flexible in terms of meetings and makes the extra effort to accommodate personal circumstances. I recommend Charlotte highly!
L. Brooks, Client
I was recommended the services of Charlotte Pollard at Keystone Law, London, to write up our Wills. From our first meeting, Charlotte made the process of creating our Wills simple and stress-free. She explained every detail in plain language, answered all our questions with exceptional patience promptly and ensured our wishes were documented exactly as we needed. I left feeling confident and at peace knowing my affairs are in order thanks to Charlotte. Charlotte was very thorough in preparing our Wills and anticipated issues I hadn’t even considered and offered solutions that protected my family’s future. The entire process was handled efficiently, and I truly felt my best interests were their top priority. I found her to be very approachable and accessible at all times. I would definitely recommend her professional services in writing Wills at Keystone Law.
S. Onen, Client
Worked with Charlotte Pollard, who I found acted promptly on the matter instructed. She was competent and professional to answer queries and resolve matters.
R. Haria, Client
I was recommended Charlotte to write my will by a colleague. My situation is complex and difficult to talk about, but Charlotte immediately put me at ease, normalised a complicated story, and gave me sound advice and guidance. She was professional and efficient as well as warm and empathic. All fees were clear and upfront.
L. Davidson, Client
Sensitive, diligent and very personable. She is excellent in her role. She has a lovely manner and navigates her way around difficult client issues with delicacy and ease. She has a good sense of humour and is down to earth. Highly recommended.
The Legal 500 2022
Deals very efficiently with matters referred to her and provides clients with a pragmatic and efficient approach. Charlotte has a refreshing enthusiastic approach to complex and sometimes challenging estates.
The Legal 500 2022
Compassionate, astute and a wonderful lawyer. She listens to her clients and actively works with them to create a legal solution for their problems. She can diffuse tense situations and create a safe space for her clients. Charlotte is a private client solicitor who truly cares about her clients and providing the best possible service for them.
The Legal 500 2022
Expertise
- Wills
- Estate planning
- Inheritance tax
- Lasting powers of attorney
- Advising vulnerable clients
- Mental capacity
- Estate administration
- Intestacy
- Alternative probate grants
- Re-sealing foreign grants
Experience
- Acted for multiple high-net-worth clients, many of whom are in creative and media industries, recently bereaved or in second marriages, and clients with minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, providing advice and drafting asset protection wills.
- Acted for the sole executor and beneficiary in multiple family estates, including applications for grants of probate where deaths occurred over 20 years prior, and successfully engaged with HMRC to exercise their discretion in accepting an out-of-time claim for the transferable nil rate band over 12 years late, saving £180,000 in IHT.
- Acted as a court-appointed independent trustee in a complex estate involving multiple properties and international assets.
- Acted as a professional trustee of a discretionary will trust, maintaining communication with a vulnerable beneficiary.
- Acted for executor/trustees of a discretionary will trust in the administration of the trust and ongoing support for a vulnerable discretionary beneficiary.
- Advised on the use of deeds of variation across family members to optimise inheritance tax treatment and achieve tax-efficient redistribution of estate assets.
- Advised on and successfully maximised a claim for Agricultural Relief to reduce Inheritance Tax liability on qualifying agricultural property.
- Advised on and provided independent legal advice to beneficiaries in an intestate estate where family relationships had broken down, ensuring their interests were properly protected.
- Advised on a successful application for a grant ad colligenda bona where the estate was at risk and urgent sale of a property needed.
Recognition
Full member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) with a distinction in the diploma in advising vulnerable clients
Career
Charlotte qualified as a solicitor in 2014. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2025, she worked at the following firms:
- Buckles Solicitors
- Wedlake Bell
- DKLM