Emma Cox Senior Counsel

Senior Counsel

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Emma advises UK and international charities, private clients, trustees, foundations and family offices on a range of issues, including charity law, estate and succession planning, probate, tax and trust law.

Emma has a focus on UK resident and domiciled clients and the issues which particularly affect them.

Emma also advises on probate and the administration of estates, in particular in relation to complex estates which have cross-border elements. She has experience in dealing with estates involving heritage assets, applications for conditional exemption and making offers in lieu. She also advises on UK inheritance tax and estate planning.

In addition, Emma is a member of our charities practice, specialising in providing advice to charities, social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations in relation to complex charity law issues, including in relation to governance, fundraising and compliance. She also advises on the establishment of charitable foundations for families, as a means to pursuing an inter-generational philanthropic vision. She has a particular focus on the legal and commercial issues affecting charities.

Emma was recently named by Spear’s Magazine as a Rising Star.

Emma was also included in the eprivateclient NextGen Leaders list in 2024.

Professional memberships

STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners)
STEP Charities and Philanthropy Special Interest Group
Charity Law Association

Qualified in England and Wales, 2010.

Expertise

Recent work

Major UK charity

Advising a major UK charity on a charity merger, establishing the new charity, advising on the transfer of the operations of the merger partners and creating a workable new structure.

Personal representatives of a deceased UK resident

Advising the personal representatives of a deceased UK resident non-UK domiciled individual in connection with the worldwide administration of the deceased’s estate, including liaising with non-UK counsel to finalise the worldwide tax position.

UK resident family and non-UK trustees of the principal family trust

Advising a UK resident family and non-UK trustees of the principal family trust on the reorganisation of the holding structure of the family’s trading group. This involved advising on the creation of a new non-UK trust structure and the UK tax implications of the restructuring for the family.

UK family and trustees

Advising a UK family and trustees on a series of Variation of Trusts Act applications which sought to vary the trust and accumulation periods of the existing family trusts. The trusts involved hold assets with total value of £500m+, including the family business.

Leading UK retailer

Working with a leading UK retailer to establish a corporate foundation. The company will make charitable donations to the charity as well as encouraging its employees to make donations and suggest suitable grant recipients. It will form an important part of the company’s CSR programme.

Executors of a large UK estate

Advising the executors of a large UK estate on offering valuable and important artwork in lieu of inheritance tax, working with the valuer, the Arts Commission and HMRC Heritage Team.

See all

What people are saying

"Emma is 'incredibly accommodating, knowledgeable, patient and customer focused'."

The UK Legal 500 2017