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Meet the Team – Trusts Manager Lauren Hockley-Smith

My career path to being a Trust Manager was not something that had been planned, I certainly took some strange paths along the road. As a young adult I  never knew exactly what it was I wanted to do with myself, and a degree in English Literature was not the obvious route to a job in the legal profession.  My career began in administration, which eventually led to becoming a paralegal and then a Trust Manager, as my experience and knowledge base grew.

The old saying that “life has a funny way of working out” is certainly true for me. I do not believe I could have found a career better suited to my personality. The most enjoyable part of my role is dealing with people, in whatever capacity, whether it be a beneficiary, trustee or the settlor themselves wanting to create a trust. To be able to be hands-on and available at every stage of the process is very fulfilling.  As I also deal with the continued administration of many of the trusts Greenwoods GRM assists with establishing, I can end up working alongside the same clients over many years; some have been with the firm for decades and through several generations.

To confirm the knowledge I gained through experience in my role, I completed a Certificate of Trust & Estates through The Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Having taken a particular interest in accounting and taxation for both Trusts and Estates, I  also deal with reporting Estate periods of administration to HMRC through Self-Assessment Tax Returns and complete Estate Accounts alongside the annual Trust Accounts and Trust Self-Assessment Tax Returns that are already being produced.

As a result, we can offer clients a full service from beginning to end for any Estate Administration. Keeping it all ‘in house’ and working alongside excellent colleagues has enabled me to move away from purely trust management to a role that has many elements and which I thoroughly enjoy.

Thank you to Greenwoods GRM and the colleagues I have here, they have taught me everything required for this role and have been nothing but positive and confident in my abilities. I have been extraordinarily lucky to work amongst wonderful people with support that is available through anything and everything, allowing me to concentrate and produce only the highest level of work for our clients.

Outside of work, I spend the majority of my time with family including my 7-year-old identical twin boys. I come from a large, brash loving family that is extremely close. Pre-COVID most weekends were spent visiting various family members around the country or arranging get-togethers, birthday parties and so on. I look forward to returning to normality, whatever that means for each of us, as soon as possible.

 

Greenwoods Legal LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership, registered in England, registered number OC306912. Our registered office is Queens House, 55-56 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ. A list of the members’ names is available for inspection at our offices in Peterborough, Cambridge and London. Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 401162. Details of the Solicitors’ Codes of Conduct can be found at www.sra.org.uk. All instructions accepted by Greenwoods Legal LLP are subject to our current Terms of Business. VAT Reg No: 161 9287 89.




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