Jessica Henson
Partner
Jessica is a private client partner specialising in risk and disputes in relation to trusts and estates.
Jessica has accrued extensive trust litigation experience both in England and offshore. Her cases have included both seeking and defending the removal of trustees, protectors and executors; rectification and variation of trusts; setting aside and defending trusts on the basis of sham allegations; challenging trustees’ decisions and advising trustees on making decisions in contentious circumstances; challenging trustees’ fees; claims for breach of fiduciary duty; and associated professional negligence proceedings against tax and legal advisors.
Equally, Jessica frequently advises on probate and estate disputes, including invalidity claims, capacity and construction issues, as well as claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.
Jessica has also built up particular expertise in advising trustees and beneficiaries on issues of trust law in the context of divorce proceedings – both in relation to proceedings in the Family Division and in the corresponding offshore trust jurisdictions.
Jessica draws on her wealth of litigation experience to inform asset protection and estate planning strategies designed to avoid disputes in the future. For this reason, Jessica is frequently asked to advise on the establishment of trusts, pre and post nuptial agreements and Wills where there are particular risks or asset protection concerns.
Jessica is the co-founder and co-chair of ConTrA (the Contentious Trusts Association) which runs informative seminars and conferences for over 400 members both in the UK and offshore. She is also a regular speaker at other international conferences and frequently lectures on topics surrounding the psychology of litigation.
Having studied Classics at Cambridge University, Jessica trained at Herbert Smith and worked at Berwin Leighton Paisner before joining Payne Hicks Beach.
Qualified September 2011, joined Payne Hicks Beach as a partner 2020.
Ranked as Band 2 in Chambers HNW 2023
Comments in Chambers include:
“Jessica is really good and very commercial. Clients are in safe hands with her.”
“She is taking the private client world by storm and is a real breath of fresh air in any case or environment. She is sensible, commercially astute and very bright.”
“Jess is excellent. She is sensible, inspires confidence and is really a great lawyer.”
Ranked as Band 2 in Chambers HNW 2022 and as a Next Generation Partner in The Legal 500 UK 2024 in the category of Contentious Trusts & Probate.
Comments in Chambers include:
Jessica Henson is “multi-talented in handling contentious, non-contentious work, as well as crossover between divorce and trusts work,” Chambers HNW 2022
“always adding strings to her bow,” contributes heavily to industry events and associations and is regarded as “one of the best private client partners in London” Chambers HNW 2022
“Jess has everything – tactical vision, client skills and is all over the detail.” Chambers HNW 2022
Comments in the Legal 500 UK include:
“all round superstar” Legal 500 UK 2023
“Jessica Henson is an excellent addition to the team. A real expert with great experience, she provides pragmatic and sensible advice to clients.” Legal 500 UK 2023
“knowledgeable and incisive” Legal 500 UK 2023
Also ranked as a “Top Recommended Contentious Tax & Trust Lawyer” in Spear’s 500 2023.
She is ranked by the Spear’s Tax & Trust Advisers Index 2023 as “Top Recommended”.
Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite 2024 named Jessica in Tier 1 as one of the world’s elite private client lawyers with market-leading private wealth disputes law expertise advising ultra high net worth clients.
Recent Insights
November 08, 2021
Trust specialist Jessica Henson and family law expert Ben Parry-Smith from Payne Hicks Beach are spe...
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60 second interview ThoughtLeaders4Private Client and Jessica Henson
November 29, 2021
Jessica Henson, Partner and expert in Contentious Trusts & Probate work, answers questions posed...
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TL4 HNW Divorce litigation Flagship conference 2021 – Jessica Henson and Ben Parry-Smith
November 08, 2021
Trust specialist Jessica Henson and family law expert Ben Parry-Smith from Payne Hicks Beach are spe...
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60 second interview ThoughtLeaders4Private Client and Jessica Henson
November 29, 2021
Jessica Henson, Partner and expert in Contentious Trusts & Probate work, answers questions posed...
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The costs of protecting trust assets in divorce
October 29, 2021
Partner and specialist trusts litigation lawyer, Jessica Henson, and Associate Rebecca Moseley from...
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ThoughtLeaders4 PrivateClient: ‘Private Client in Review: A Year Like No Other’ – Jessica Henson
February 17, 2021
Payne Hicks Beach’s Jessica Henson, will be chairing a panel of 8 of the top private client ...
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Lawyers must break the chain of financial crime – Jessica Henson for Solicitors Journal
December 09, 2020
Article by Jessica Henson, Partner in the Dispute Resolution department at Payne Hicks Beach and S...
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TL4 HNW Divorce: Divorce – Understanding the impact on trustees, beneficiaries and other fiduciaries
April 21, 2021
Jessica Henson, specialist trust litigation lawyer at Payne Hicks Beach chairs ThoughtLeaders4 TL4 ...
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The ongoing importance of the statutory power of advancement
May 12, 2021
Article by Jessica Henson and Charlotte Henshall, Partner and Associate and leading trusts litiga...
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Private Client Global Elite – Keeping Disputes ‘Civil’: From Forced Heirship to Firewalls
May 12, 2021
Jessica Henson, specialist trust litigation lawyer at Payne Hicks Beach is speaking at the Private C...
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ThoughtLeaders4 PrivateClient: ‘Succession Planning for Modern Families’
June 03, 2021
Payne Hicks Beach’s Sarah Williams and Jessica Henson are respectively chairing and speaking at th...
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Informa: 35th Annual Transcontinental Trusts Geneva 2021
October 11, 2021
Payne Hicks Beach’s Jessica Henson is co-chairing Informa’s Private Client Transcontinenta...
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Informa: International Trust & Private Client Jersey & Guernsey 2021
September 16, 2021
Payne Hicks Beach’s Frederick Bjorn and Jessica Henson are speaking at Informa’s Internat...
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TL4 & ConTrA Private Client Summer School
August 11, 2021
Payne Hicks Beach’s Jessica Henson and Richard Manyon are respectively chairing and speaking at ...
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Success for trustees with the use of section 32 of the Trustee Act 1925 (Womble Bond Dickinson Trust Company v Glenn)
April 08, 2021
Jessica Henson and Charlotte Henshall, Partner and Associate and leading trusts litigationlawyers ...
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WBD(TC) LTD v Glenn [2021] EWHC 624 (Ch) – A rare study of the statutory power of advancement
April 08, 2021
As Benito Mussolini proclaimed himself “Il Duce” of Italy, and Virginia Woolf was streaming cons...
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