An island advocate has played an important role at a forum for the world’s leading trust and estate practitioners.

Annemarie Hughes, a director with DQ Advocates, was one of the speakers at the Trust and Estates Litigation Forum in Girona in Spain.

The conference is considered the most senior gathering for trust and estates professionals to debate recent contentious trust proceedings from across the globe.

Annemarie, who heads up DQ’s trusts, pensions and private client team, was a panel speaker on the hotly debated question of when it is appropriate for trustees and personal representatives to seek court sanction.

She joined counterparts from the UK and the Cayman Islands in an interactive session which explored dilemmas created by regulatory and compliance obligations and confidentiality.

Annemarie, who has been with the Douglas-based practice since 2010, was the only Isle of Man professional represented at the event.

’It was a privilege to be asked to help lead one of the discussion panels and a very stimulating and well-run conference,’ she explained.

’Gatherings like this help cement and build new working relationships.

’It was well executed and the opportunity to share good practice with high calibre trust lawyers from a variety of jurisdictions really speaks for itself.’

The two-day forum also included a number of debates and focus groups which paired contentious trusts with discussions on matrimonial, insolvency, civil fraud and real estate law.

The focus of the sessions included developments in trustee liability, cryptocurrency and other digital assets, enforcement of judgments post-Brexit and the impact of challenges to legal professional privilege.

Annemarie regularly advises high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as working closely with local fiduciary and trust service providers.