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John Gill receives praise for his "client-oriented approach" and is a "go-to-guy".

Who’s Who Legal 100

Expertise

John Gill is a partner and head of the Private Client Department at Matheson. He advises individuals and families on investment vehicles and appropriate trust structures for estate planning and asset protection purposes and he advises a number of domestic high net worth individuals on a wide range of taxation issues and domiciled and non-domiciled individuals with Irish tax concerns, including relocating to and establishing tax residence in Ireland, heading up the Group’s Relocation Services Offering.

He advises executors, trustees and beneficiaries on all legal and tax issues arising in wills and the administration of estates and trusts both domestic and offshore.

He has significant experience in estate and trust disputes advising trustees, executors and claimants.  In particular, John has experience in advising on will challenges and will disputes under Section 117 of the Succession Act and acting for clients in the mediation of such disputes.

John also has considerable experience on charity issues, including charity formation and governance.  He also advises on capacity issues including powers of attorney and wards of court, and on the establishment of tax efficient trusts for incapacitated individuals.

John is an Associate of the Irish Taxation Institute (AITI Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA)).  He is a past Chair of the Irish branch of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), a member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists and the International Bar Association.

He has also lectured to members of The Law Society, STEP and the Irish Taxation Institute on a wide range of estate planning issues and is a regular contributor to articles and journals on these matters.  He is co-author of the Irish chapter of International Succession (4th edition 2015) by Oxford University Press, the Irish chapter of the European Lawyer Reference Series on Private Client Tax (3rd edition 2015) and the International Comparative Legal Guide to: Private Client 2015 (Global Legal Group).

Experience Highlights

John has been involved in:

  • Advising Irish and resident domiciled clients on parent-controlled gifting structures and tax reliefs to transfer values in a large Irish trading company.
  • Estate planning advice to high net worth Irish domiciled UK resident individuals on significant Irish tax issues arising on trust structuring and drafting appropriate Irish documentation in conjunction with UK advisors to exercise testamentary powers of appointment in offshore trusts.
  • Advising Irish resident clients and private banks on Revenue voluntary disclosure regime.
  • Advising a claimant in potential will / estate litigation on a number of claims culminating in a successful mediation, where our client obtained a minority shareholding in two private limited trading companies. Advising our client on the structuring of a shareholders agreement to protect minority share interests and providing tax advice including business relief from Capital Acquisition Tax.
  • Advising foreign registered charities on entry into Ireland, including relevant structuring and corporate governance advice and passporting their foreign charitable status to become registered for Irish donor giving purposes through the DCHY scheme.
  • Advising on a broad range of capacity issues to include wardship proceedings, attorneyships both contentious and non contentious and the drafting of trusts for incapacitated beneficiaries as part of litigation settlements or as part of non-contentious family estate planning.
  • Advising non-resident entities and individuals on the acquisition of Irish property estates to include related tax structuring.
Accolades

John is listed in the 2022 Private Client Global Elite.

John is listed in the 2021 Private Client Global Elite.

Sources describe John as "very nice and capable."
Chambers HNW Guide 2021

John is listed in the 2020 Private Client Global Elite.

John is listed in the 2019 Private Client Global Elite.

"Apart from being a technically excellent lawyer, he has excellent communication skills and a winning personality."
Chambers HNW Guide 2019

John "is my go to guy for Irish private client tax and legal advice, he is technically reliable and gives sound commercial advice."
Citywealth Leaders List 2019

John is listed in the Citywealth Leaders List 2019.

John "has the technical skills but also the ability to articulate technical topics in a way that clients can easily understand and relate to."
Chambers HNW Guide 2018

John is listed in the Citywealth Leaders List 2018.

John is listed in the Citywealth Leaders List 2017.

Education

University College Dublin Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School (Higher Diploma in Business)

University College Dublin (BCL)