MP Estate Planning Bristol Office

MP Estate Planning UK Ltd is an estate planning consultancy based at Pill Road, Abbots Leigh, BS8 3RA, near Bristol. This page provides general information about the Company’s Bristol-area location and the way it works with clients in the South West of England and across England and Wales.

Office address and contact details

Abbots Leigh is a village in North Somerset, on the western side of the Avon Gorge from Bristol. The office is a short drive from central Bristol, with access via the A369 and the M5 (junction 19).

Areas the Company serves

The Company is based near Bristol but its clients are located across England and Wales. Estate planning matters in England and Wales are governed by a single legal framework — including the Wills Act 1837, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, and English and Welsh trust law — and the same general approach applies regardless of where in England and Wales a client is based.

Clients who are not in the Bristol area may have an initial consultation by phone or video call rather than in person. The Company will also arrange in-person meetings where this is helpful.

Note on Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems with their own laws on wills, succession and trusts. Although UK inheritance tax operates on a UK-wide basis, clients with assets or family in Scotland or Northern Ireland will generally need to take separate advice for those jurisdictions and the Company is not a substitute for that advice.

Why the Company is based where it is

The Company’s founder, Mike Pugh, is based in the Bristol area, and the Company’s office reflects that. The South West and Wales are regions in which there is a high concentration of family-owned property, family farms, and small-and-medium-sized businesses — circumstances in which estate planning discussions and introductions to regulated professionals are commonly sought. The Company works with clients in those circumstances and also with clients in other parts of England and Wales.

The Company’s regulatory position

The Company’s regulatory position is the same regardless of where a client is located:

The local context for estate planning

The legal framework for estate planning in England and Wales is the same throughout the jurisdiction, but the Probate Registry that issues grants of representation in respect of estates of deceased persons in the South West is the Bristol District Probate Registry (part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service). The current operational position of the probate service is published on gov.uk and tends to vary over time.

For lasting powers of attorney, the position is the same as elsewhere in England and Wales: an LPA is created on the form prescribed by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, signed in accordance with the OPG’s requirements, and registered with the OPG before it can be used. The current operational position of the OPG is published on gov.uk.

How to arrange a meeting or call

Initial consultations are offered at no charge. In-person meetings can be arranged at the Company’s office in Abbots Leigh; phone and video meetings can be arranged for clients elsewhere in England and Wales.