Catherine Mathieu

Catherine is a dual-qualified Solicitor (England & Wales) and French-qualified Avocat advising individuals, family offices and international businesses on private client, tax and employment matters involving multiple jurisdictions.

Catherine has extensive experience in estate administration and inheritance cases spanning the UK, France, Monaco and the Channel Islands, assisting clients through every stage of the process — from estate planning and will harmonisation to post-death administration and tax coordination.

Fluent in French and English, Catherine is particularly valued by francophone and European clients seeking clarity in navigating English legal procedures with cross-border implications.

Practice areas

Catherine regularly assists with:

• UK–France probate and succession matters, including reconstitution of title to French property held via société civile immobilière (SCI) structures, liaising with both HMCTS and French notaires for integrated inheritance tax and succession declarations.
• UK residents with French or Monégasque assets, handling double taxation relief under the 1963 UK–France tax treaty and ensuring compliance with EU Regulation 650/2012.
• Complex intestate estates, involving reconstruction of genealogical and property records and coordination of simultaneous UK and French proceedings.
• Cross-border estate planning, including drafting UK wills aligned with French property regimes, and advising on trust and pension classification for Franco-British estates.
• Ongoing advisory work for dual- and multi-resident clients (UK, France, Monaco), providing strategic advice on inheritance tax mitigation, succession structuring, and cross-jurisdictional will consistency.

Education

• University of London – Master of Laws / LL.M, Specialisation: International Business Law, Tax Law, Bank, IP
• Université   Côte D’Azur – Master of Private Law, Specialisation: DIP, Criminal Law, Family Law

Recent work

Catherine’s recent matters have ranged from estates valued at £600,000 to over £2 million, demonstrating her ability to manage both mid-sized and complex high-value cross-border estates with precision and efficiency, often in close coordination with notaries, brokers, and fiscal authorities across multiple jurisdictions.