Janina is a senior associate at Pinel Advocates, a private client and corporate law firm in Jersey. Janina leads Pinel Advocates’ wills and probate team. She has worked in Jersey since November 2008 and has over 17 years’ experience in submitting probate applications to the Royal Court in cases where the deceased was non-domiciled. Janina has a thorough understanding of the probate process of many different jurisdictions from Ghana to Greece, Malta to Mozambique and Spain to Saudi Arabia. At her last count, she had experience of the probate process in over 50 different jurisdictions. This allows Janina to recognise from a very early stage, exactly what documents will be required for the application in Jersey and importantly, to provide perspective clients with a fixed fee to consider. Janina is a ‘go to’ for a large number of firms both in the UK and worldwide, who recognise Janina’s ability to deal with the Jersey portion of the estate professionally, smoothly and for a competitive fixed fee. Janina finds this area of law fascinating and she very much enjoys working with people and law firms from around the world.
Janina also has experience in the administration of local estates. The aim is always to take the burden of those left behind, and to administer the estate in a calm, clear and timely manner. This is an area Janina finds particularly rewarding. As well as, assisting and advising on the preparation of Wills for both our local and non-domiciled clients, assisting and advising on the preparation of Lasting Powers of Attorney and Delegate matters and registration of foreign Lasting Powers of Attorney/Powers of Attorney in Jersey.
What was your career path to your current role?
I studied for the LLB and LPC and qualified as an English solicitor in September 2006> I moved to Jersey in 2008 where I have practised since.
Did you have any other career ambitions?
I had a few ideas when I was younger, but I realised over time that l do take enormous satisfaction from helping people during a difficult time, in a practical way, so it became obvious that working as a private client solicitor would be a good fit.
What keeps you motivated in your work?
Clients often come to me during some of the hardest periods of their lives and being able to help them navigate the necessary legal steps and being able to offer them clear guidance during that period, helps keep me motivated.
Working in an offshore jurisdiction also means that having a good understanding of the probate procedures that exist in other jurisdictions is helpful, but also really interesting.
What has been the best development in wills and probate in the last 20 years?
I have been working in Jersey for approximately 20 years and during that time there has been a number of positive developments including:
- The Wills and Successions (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2010 and The Civil Status (Abolition of Legitimacy etc) (Jersey) Law 2025 which introduced much needed amendments by establishing equal succession rights for illegitimate and legitimate children.
- The Civil Partnership (Jersey) Law 2012 along with amendments to the Wills and Succession (Jersey) Law 1993 importantly granted civil partners the same inheritance rights as married couples.
- The Probate (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2023 introduced a number of changes including introducing a small estates threshold of £30,000 for those domiciled in Jersey and increasing the threshold for those not domiciled in Jersey from £10,000 to £30,000.
- The Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016 introduced Lasting Powers of Attorney for Jersey residents.
And the worst?
I think all developments reflect progress, which is positive. Perhaps it is more a case that further developments are needed. For example, an Immovable Will dealing with a person’s real or immovable estate in Jersey must still be read aloud word by word by a qualifying witness.
If you could bring in one new piece of legislation for the sector, what would it be and why?
I would introduce a further amendment to permit the direct payment by banks of the funeral cost and probate stamp duty, prior to probate being issued, to reduce financial hardship for some.
What piece of legislation would you take off the statute books and why?
I would remove the statutory forced-heirship provisions that exist in relation to movable estate (for those domiciled in Jersey) which reduces certainty and undermines testamentary freedom.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
During my training contract, a training supervisor would always tell me to be more concise. Less is more.
What’s the best piece of advice you’d like to give to someone just starting out?
You won’t have the answer to every question a client has, and that’s ok.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you.
I swam to France in 2024.
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