Emily Robertson is a senior associate and full STEP member, having received a distinction in the STEP exams. Emily was the Wills and Probate One to Watch 2025 and is recognised for her LGBT specialist work.
What was your career path to your current role?
I knew I wanted to be a solicitor from the age of 11. I read a book called Montmorency and the Assassins, about a lawyer by day and a robber by night. I thought that a life of crime might be quite complex, so I decided to be a solicitor. I undertook work experience throughout my education and, at university, settled on becoming a solicitor rather than a barrister. I wanted to engage with clients as much as possible, so being a solicitor felt like the right route for me.
I decided that private client was the right area for me two weeks into the seat, and haven’t looked back since. I loved the client contact and the fact that every case is different. It also seemed to be the widest area, so as a junior, the options to specialise in tax, COP, wills, probate or trusts seemed exciting.
Did you have any other career ambitions?
I was always set on being a solicitor, so it was safe to say I didn’t look outside of the law. However, after starting in the industry, I became interested in how the law could be improved for LGBT+ people. My interest began with looking at how it could be improved for LGBT+ lawyers, and then extended to a desire to provide specialist advice to LGBT clients.
What keeps you motivated in your work?
I work as part of an amazing team of specialists, and I am motivated by them every day. We each work with different areas of law, and I always want to stay sharp to assist my clients and theirs. I am an LGBT+ and tax planning specialist, and I always want to advise clients and my team in the best possible way.
What has been the best development in wills and probate in the last 20 years?
A move to online probate applications for excepted estates has made life much easier for individuals who are applying for probate themselves. This should have freed up more time for the probate registry to consider the more complex applications.
And the worst?
The inclusion of pensions in the inheritance tax regime has led more and more families to need to pay it. Whether you agree with that or not, the reality is that HMRC simply do not have the resources to deal with more IHT400s being submitted. It takes months to receive inheritance tax clearance, and more applications won’t speed it up!
If you could bring in one new piece of legislation for the sector, what would it be and why?
I would make long-term cohabitation have the same legal status as marriage and civil partnerships for inheritance tax purposes. LGBT+ people are more likely to cohabit than heterosexual people; therefore, the transferable nil rate band and residence nil rate band not being available to long-term cohabitees is affecting LGBT+ people more acutely.
What piece of legislation would you take off the statute books and why?
I would remove the changes to APR and BPR, as they will affect small farms and small businesses most acutely, and I can’t imagine this was the intention when the legislation was enacted.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
Do what you love. It’s very easy, especially in London, to get lured in by the city’s glamour, but you might be happier working somewhere smaller, getting to meet a much more varied group of clients, or, in my case, being able to specialise in providing advice and helping my community.
What advice would you like to give to someone just starting out?
It’s always better to ask: 99% of the time, your supervisor will be very busy, but it’s better to ask and learn to do things right the first time than to go cap in hand with something that has gone wrong.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you…
Despite having a very busy career, I find time to read 100 books per year.
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