Matthew Mills

Matthew is ranked for wills, trusts and estates matters in both of the leading legal directories, with solicitors recently reporting that he is “an exceptional advocate” who “relates to clients incredibly well and puts them at ease” (Legal 500, 2024). Matthew’s work covers the full spectrum of private client practice, from substantial and multi-jurisdictional trusts and estates to a will allegedly written by hand on the back of a coffee-stained letter.

Matthew regularly advises personal representatives and beneficiaries in relation to wills and the administration of estates. Clients say that he can “produce high-quality work to tight deadlines” (Chambers and Partners, 2024). His recent work has included:

• Advising on the validity of a will in relation to an estate worth c.£15 million
• Advising the executor of a c.£10 million cross-border estate on how to deal with difficult beneficiaries
• Advising beneficiaries on claims against professional executors and the will draftsman in relation to an estate worth c.£8 million
• Advising beneficiaries on a claim for an account in relation to an estate worth c.£6 million
• Advising the executors of various multi-million-pound cross-border estates on the relationship between English wills and foreign wills
• Advising diverse clients on claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 against multi-million-pound estates.

Matthew also regularly represents personal representatives and beneficiaries in litigation relating to estates. Clients say that he “an exceptionally talented advocate” (Chambers and Partners, 2024). His recent court work has involved:

• Representing a client involved in a claim brought under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 in relation to an estate worth c.£38 million
• Successfully representing a defendant in the leading authority on delay and laches in probate claims: James v Scudamore [2023] Ch 391
• Successfully obtaining a removal order and indemnity costs against recalcitrant executors in relation to a cross-border estate
• Successfully obtaining Re Benjamin orders to assist executors to distribute cross-border estates
• Successfully representing a beneficiary in a derivative claim brought on behalf of the estate against the executor in his personal capacity.

In addition to his estates work, Matthew advises and represents trustees and beneficiaries of lifetime trusts. His recent trusts work has involved:

• Successfully representing a beneficiary of a multi-million-pound family trust whose status was challenged on the ground that he was the product of an affair: Marcus v Marcus [2025] 2 All ER 446
• Advising the former trustee of substantial Jersey trusts on a claim for breach of trust brought by the current trustees
• Advising the children of a lottery jackpot winner on when equity will perfect an imperfect conditional gift, and proprietary estoppel
• Advising the trustees of a multi-million-pound farm on disputes between the trustees and the beneficiary-occupant of the farm
• Advising a discretionary beneficiary on how he could try to persuade trustees to exercise their discretion in his favour by making a £1 million distribution to him
• Successfully obtaining the first orders in the High Court pursuant to the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017.

In 2020, Matthew went on secondment to Dickinson Gleeson in Jersey. While offshore, Matthew worked on the leading litigation on insolvent trusts (Z Trust [2020] JRC 072), a contractual dispute in the Jersey Court of Appeal (Trico Ltd v Buckingham [2020] JCA 067), and a $200 million trusts dispute (EFG Bank AG v Surewin Worldwide Ltd [2021] SGHC 227).

Matthew regularly gives seminars and webinars on private client topics. You can watch some of his webinars here. Matthew also writes on private client topics (see publications below), and previously taught and examined trusts law as a Teaching Fellow at UCL.

Matthew is one of just seven junior barristers in the country who are ranked in both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 for charity law. Clients describe him as “experienced beyond his years” (Chambers and Partners, 2024). In 2025, he was nominated for public services and charities junior of the year by Legal 500.

Matthew regularly advises charities of all sizes on contentious and non-contentious matters and has represented charities as sole counsel and junior counsel in court. Matthew has also advised the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, and interim managers on novel and high-profile matters. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association and a member of the Risk, Audit and Governance Committee of an Oxford College.

Out of court, clients have described Matthew as “invariably helpful, comprehensive, clear, and detailed in his advice” (Chambers and Partners, 2024). In his non-contentious practice, Matthew has advised charity trustees on diverse questions relating to governance, finance and property matters, including:

• Advising a range of charities on mergers, incorporation and the appointment of corporate trustees
• Advising various charities on the identification, spending and borrowing of multi-million-pound permanent endowments
• Advising charities of all sizes on the construction of ambiguous charitable bequests and the scope of the royal sign manual procedure
• Advising a substantial charity on how it could appoint a connected person as a CEO
• Advising various local authorities on local government reorganisation orders and the repurposing of sites held on charitable trust
• Advising a Diocese on the validity and scope of a reverter clause in the conveyance of a vicarage from 1857
• Advising a start-up on how the rules regulating charity fundraisers would affect the new company’s business.

In his contentious charity law practice, solicitors have described Matthew as “extremely client-friendly and exceptional on his feet” (Legal 500, 2024). Matthew has advised and represented a range of charities in disputes, including:

• Successfully representing (with Robert Pearce KC) the Defendants in the leading authority on when the court will appoint a receiver over a charity: Jaffer v Jaffer [2024] EWHC 135 (Ch)
• Representing the charity trustees of a Grade I-listed church in a landlord and tenant claim involving alleged disrepair of up to £6.5 million
• Successfully representing a national arts charity in bankruptcy proceedings against a debtor in relation to a debt worth over £2.25 million
• Advising and representing senior religious figures in a range of charity proceedings in relation to the control of substantial temples, mosques and churches
• Assisting various national charities which are beneficiaries of a will with disputes relating to their inheritance and estate administration.

Matthew regularly gives talks on charity law topics both in-house and externally. He is happy to offer in-house training to charities or firms of solicitors. You can watch some of his webinars here. Matthew also regularly publishes articles on practical topics in charity law (see publications below). He previously taught charitable trusts as a Teaching Fellow at UCL.

Matthew practises extensively in all aspects of property law. He previously taught Land Law at the University of Oxford for 10 years. His expertise encompasses boundary disputes, trusts of land, estoppel, easements, charges, and adverse possession (both freehold and leasehold). Matthew’s recent cases have involved:

• Advising on a proprietary estoppel claim relating to property development companies worth over £10 million
• Representing a hereditary peer in a dispute with the United Reformed Church over the ownership of a seventeenth-century chapel
• Successfully representing the trustees of a large, landed estate in an adverse possession dispute
• Advising the Ministry of Defence on a dispute over rights of way over a private road leading to a military base
• Advising on a contractual dispute arising out of the sale of a c.£5 million Grade II* listed property
• Successfully representing the freeholder of a c.£2 million house in a dispute over the interpretation of restrictive covenants
• Successfully representing a farmer in a claim against a descendant of the Russian royal family relating to the interpretation of 100-year-old conveyances: Dunlop v Romanoff [2023] UKUT 200 (LC)
• Advising the owner of a multi-million-pound house in the exclusive St George’s Hill estate on a nuisance claim
• Advising with a KC on when equity will save an imperfect transfer of land
• Advising on misrepresentation claims in relation to various conveyances of properties worth c.£1 million.

Matthew also has a broad landlord and tenant practice. He has acted on behalf of landlords and tenants in matters relating to the construction, rectification, enforcement and breach of leases. Recent highlights of his practice include:

• Representing the Department for Work and Pensions in a claim for £4 million of compensation at the end of a business tenancy
• Acting on behalf of a management company against a KC in £1 million+ High Court disrepair proceedings
• Acting on behalf of a property management company in interim injunction proceedings relating to temporary accommodation during the pandemic. The Council instructed a KC: Merritt v Thurrock Council [2021] EW Misc 2 (CC)
• Successfully obtaining relief from forfeiture in a dispute relating to a mixed-use property worth c.£1 million
• Advising the landlord of an Edwardian block of 150 flats in London on whether the tenants could be compelled to undertake various fire safety improvements to their flats
• Advising the landlord of a £5 million block of flats in London on whether £150,000 of proposed works would be recoverable as service charges
• Advising the management company of six blocks of flats on the lawfulness of the insurance premiums demanded by the landlord of the estate
• Successfully representing a freehold company in a dispute over whether it could deduct unpaid service charges from a defaulting tenant’s shareholder dividend
• Advising the landlord of a block of flats in a conservation area on a disputed application to vary the terms of the leases to expand the tenants’ service charge obligations
• Advising a Jersey trust company on possession proceedings relating to multi-million-pound properties in London.

Matthew has substantial experience in the High Court and the County Court of bankruptcy petitions, winding-up petitions and other insolvency matters, including without notice applications. He acts for debtors, petitioners and insolvency practitioners.  Matthew’s recent work has involved:

• Successfully representing the petitioning creditor in a disputed bankruptcy petition relating to a £2.25 million debt
• Successfully obtaining orders extending long-running administrations for insolvent companies with over £10 million of assets
• Successfully obtaining one of the first compensation orders against a disqualified director for making a fraudulent application for a ‘bounce back loan’ during the pandemic
• Advising an insolvency practitioner on an antecedent transaction claim in relation to a £4 million property
• Advising the Insolvency Service on a potential £32 million claim against it for breach of the statutory duty of care.

Matthew has also developed a broad company law practice. He has advised on directors’ rights, duties and remuneration, the rights of a beneficiary of a trust of shares, and the rectification of the register of companies. In his recent court work, he has successfully defended a director in a claim for the return of his remuneration and expenses, and persuaded a court that a claim issued by one director against the other was started with the defendant director’s delegated authority.

Matthew’s practice encompasses a range of commercial disputes. His recent work has raised issues of contractual construction, contractual variation, the enforceability of penalty clauses, and the delivery up of prize racehorses. Matthew has experience of contractual disputes from the pre-action stage to trial. Recent highlights of his practice include:

• Representing the claimants in an application for pre-action disclosure relating to a multi-million-pound investment
• Advising a claimant in a dispute relating to multi-million-pound share transfer contracts
• Representing the defendant to a debt and unjust enrichment claim worth c.£900,000
• Successfully representing a lender in a challenge to the validity of a six-figure loan agreement
• Advising trustees on a claim for misrepresentation against the other parties to a six-figure settlement.

• “Matthew is a very polished junior with a very easy manner and the ability to produce high-quality work to tight deadlines.” (Chancery: Traditional, Chambers HNW London Bar 2024)
• “Matthew is great in court and especially in conferences with clients, breaking down complex issues into palatable, easy-to-understand chunks of information.” (Chancery: Traditional, Chambers HNW London Bar 2024)
• “Matthew is an exceptionally talented advocate. He was responsive, helpful, empathetic and technically accurate.” (Chancery: Traditional, Chambers HNW London Bar 2024)
• “Matthew is invariably helpful, comprehensive, clear, and detailed in his advice.” (Charities, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
• “Matthew is extremely thorough and experienced beyond his years.” (Charities, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
• “He is extremely client-friendly and exceptional on his feet.” (Charities, Legal 500 UK Bar 2024)
• “Matthew is an exceptional advocate. His clarity of thought under some extremely high-pressure circumstances in court is remarkable. His presentation skills are excellent. He relates to clients incredibly well and puts them at ease.” (Private Client: Trusts and Probate, Legal 500 UK Bar 2024)
• “Matthew is a very strong junior whose expertise is impressive. He is incredibly user-friendly and quickly gains client’s trust and confidence.” (Chancery: Traditional, Chambers HNW London Bar 2023)
• “Matthew was amazing from start to finish. His level of service was excellent. He went above and beyond to answer questions fully and very quickly. He was easy to get hold of and made very complex issues easy to understand. He went through a lot of paperwork for the instruction and he did this efficiently and thoroughly. His attention to detail is brilliant.” (Chancery: Traditional, Chambers HNW London Bar 2023)
• “Matthew Mills never fails to impress with his well-considered arguments and calm unflappable manner. His level of knowledge of his subject area is excellent and he deals confidently with clients in a reassuring manner. He gives realistic timeframes for work; he works collaboratively with the instructing solicitor, and provides practical solutions.” (Chancery: Traditional, Chambers HNW London Bar 2023)
• “Matthew is a strong junior. Very diligent and thoughtful, he clearly knows his way around the law.” (Charities, Chambers UK Bar 2023)
• “Matthew is very knowledgeable and more than capable in the areas in question. He keeps in touch and provides realistic turnaround times. His written advices are very helpful and well set out. He makes the effort to clarify matters where required, including by phone.” – (Private Client: Trusts and Probate, Legal 500 UK Bar 2023)

Matthew is very happy to speak at open events or provide training to individual teams on topics within his practice areas. His recent talks have covered developments in charity law, property law, insolvency law and general litigation. Recordings of his webinars are available to watch on the Radcliffe Chambers YouTube channel (link).

Matthew has also published articles on a range of chancery topics:  

Charities:

• “The statutory inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation” (2025) Private Client Business 37-46 (link).
• “The effect of a local authority reorganisation order on a charity” (2024) Private Client Business 190-197 (link).
• “Appointing a receiver over a charity” (2024) Private Client Business 157-166 (link).
• “Corporate trustees of charities” (2022) 28 Trusts & Trustees 834-841 (link).
• “Incorporating an unincorporated charity” (2021) 27 Trusts & Trustees 613-621 (link).
• “Where duty lies” (2020) 219 Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal 3-10 (link) (a case note on Lehtimaki v Cooper [2020] UKSC 33).
• “The Registration of Grant-Making Charities” (2019) 20 Charity Law & Practice Review 65 (link).
• “The Development of the Public Benefit Requirement for Charitable Trusts in the Nineteenth Century” (2016) 37 Journal of Legal History 269-302 (link).

Private Client:

• “Discharging a Court of Protection security bond after P dies” [2019] Private Client Business 26-30 (link).
• “Single name family home constructive trusts: is Lloyds Bank v Rosset still good law?” [2018] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 350-366 (link).
• “Why the Supreme Court decision in AIB Group (UK) plc v Mark Redler & Co (a firm), on equitable compensation for breach of trust, should be reversed” (Estates Gazette Online).

Property / landlord and tenant:

• “Costs and Co-operation: What Tenants Must do to Assist with Fire Safety” [2019] 23 Landlord and Tenant Review 183-187 (link).
• “Claiming an interest in someone else’s property—common intention (family home) constructive trusts (Sandford v Oliver)”, Lexis Nexis Q&A, 23rd September 2019 (link).

• 2015 – 2016 BPTC at City University (Outstanding)
• 2014 – 2015 BCL at the University of Oxford
• 2013 – 2014 LLM at UCL (Distinction, 1st in year overall of 443)
• 2010 – 2013 MA in Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford (First Class)

Prior to coming to the Bar, Matthew was a Lecturer in Land Law at the University of Oxford and a Teaching Fellow in Trusts at UCL. Matthew also worked as a Legal Editor for the start-up ‘Sparqa’, where he researched and wrote practical guides to the legal issues that are most relevant to small businesses, including mortgages, leases, service charges and possession claims.

• 2017 Cholmeley Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
• 2016 Buchanan Prize for BPTC results (Lincoln’s Inn)
• 2015 Lord Denning BPTC Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
• 2015 City Law School Postgraduate Scholarship
• 2015 Hardwicke Entrance Award (Lincoln’s Inn)
• 2014 Full scholarship to study the BCL (University of Oxford)
• 2014 Pump Court Tax Chambers Prize for best performance in International and Commercial Trusts (UCL LLM)
• 2014 Best performance in Restitution (UCL LLM)
• 2014 Best performance in Legal History (UCL LLM)
• 2013 Finals prize (New College, University of Oxford)

• The Chancery Bar Association
• The Charity Law Association
• The Contentious Trusts Association (ConTrA)
• The Higher Education Academy (Associate Fellow)
• The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
• The Property Bar Association

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