Aviation & Super Yacht Law
Your experts
Our expertise, grounded by years of experience, allows us to advise on a wide range of legal matters surrounding acquiring and managing clients’ luxury assets.
We regularly support our clients across the entire yacht and private aviation purchase and ownership process, including drafting and negotiating sale and purchase agreements and management agreements, to the importation across various jurisdictions including Europe, Asia and Middle East. Alongside this, our team are also skilled in providing bespoke solutions to various complexities involved within the sale process, including:
- Coordinating pre-purchase surveys and inspections
- Advising on ownership structures, financing, and registration
- Resolving any arising disputes
- Managing ancillary documentation
We regularly work with internationally mobile and globally based clients to deliver tailored solutions on a range of diverse matters surrounding their luxury yachts, private jets, and helicopter assets and are highly adept in advising on the relevant legal and tax framework within which our clients operate.
We provide holistic advice to our clients as long-term trusted advisors, where we work seamlessly with advisors from across our private client and tax, family and corporate and commercial teams to provide long-term succession planning advice on both contentious and non-contentious luxury asset matters.
Our Recent Experience:
- Advising on the sale and purchase of a number of business and private jets including drafting, negotiating and settling the purchase agreement
- Advising on the restructuring of the ownership of a super yacht, including advice in relation to its private and commercial charter use, and importation into the EU for use in the Mediterranean
- Advising on the purchase of a super yacht, including agreement and completion of the build process, the ownership structure, crew arrangements and advice in relation to the use of the yacht for its use as a commercial charter yacht
Recommended reading
The Finance Bill published yesterday confirms that, as we highlighted in our 23 December briefing, the increased £2.5m inheritance tax relief for agricultural and business property will apply from 6 April 2026. Qualifying ‘relevant property’ trusts can also benefit from 100% relief up to this threshold, aligning trustee allowances with individual transfers.
Read more 23 Dec 2025 Breaking news on IHT reformIn a welcome announcement for farmers and business owners, the government has confirmed an increase to the 100% IHT relief allowance to £2.5m per person from April 2026. Partner and Head of Private Wealth, Hayden Bailey and Legal Director, Emma Haley comment on what this means in practice and stress that now may be the right time to review wills and succession planning.
Read more 10 Dec 2025 Five key proposals left out of the UK Budget – and what it meansWhat is missing from the Autumn Budget and what might this signal about the Government’s direction of travel? No wealth tax. No exit tax. Limited inheritance tax reform. Few incentives for entrepreneurs. Hayden Bailey, Partner & Head of Private Wealth shares his perspective on what these could mean for families, globally mobile individuals and business owners.
Read more 04 Dec 2025 Mansion tax: High-value homes and higher billsBehind the headlines of the Autumn Budget lies a significant change for high-value residential properties: the new High Value Council Tax Surcharge (‘mansion tax’). Partners, Saskia Arthur and Andrew Loan break down what this means for property owners and why it matters.
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