Lanka Bandara

Private Client Partner | Wills, Trusts, Inheritance Tax Planning & Cross-Border Tax Advice | The Burnside Partnership, London

Lanka is a Partner and Solicitor with over 20 years of legal experience spanning the UK and Sri Lanka. She advises individuals, families, trustees and business owners on succession planning, trusts, estate administration and personal taxation, with a particular focus on preserving family wealth and navigating complex cross-border issues.

After qualifying as a Barrister in 2003, she practised criminal and civil litigation in Sri Lanka for a decade before returning to the UK to focus on Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning. In 2016, she qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales, and most recently, she led the Private Client team at a boutique law firm in London for nine years before joining The Burnside Partnership.

Her approach is client-focused, practical and commercially aware, helping clients navigate complex legal and tax issues with clarity and confidence. She regularly advises on the interaction between succession planning, trusts and UK taxation, with particular expertise in inheritance tax planning, trust taxation, estate taxation and the tax implications of cross-border wealth and succession structures.

Lanka advises individuals, families, trustees and personal representatives on a broad range of private client matters, including:

Preparing straightforward and complex Wills
Creating, administering and winding up trusts, including discretionary trusts
Obtaining Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration
Managing the full administration of estates and trusts
Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax planning
Advising on lifetime gifts and family wealth transfers
Advising on joint property ownership and Declarations of Trust, including independent legal advice
Preparing Lasting Powers of Attorney

Her tax practice also includes advice on:

Inheritance Tax planning and wealth preservation strategies for individuals, families and family businesses
Trust taxation, including the Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax implications of creating, administering and winding up trusts
Tax issues affecting trustees, beneficiaries and personal representatives, including the taxation of trusts and estates
Lifetime gifting, family wealth transfers and succession planning
Cross-border succession planning involving UK and overseas assets
UK tax exposure and wealth preservation strategies for internationally connected families
The UK tax treatment of overseas assets and cross-border wealth structures
UK tax residence and the Statutory Residence Test, including advice for internationally mobile individuals and families
The Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax implications of moving to or from the UK

Lanka is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and an associate member of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), reflecting her ongoing specialist focus on personal taxation, trusts and estates.

She holds Distinctions in the STEP Advanced Certificates in Cross-Border Estates and Advanced Will Preparation and has completed specialist STEP training in Trust Administration and Estate Administration. She regularly advises on the legal and tax issues affecting UK-based and internationally connected families.

If you or your family need clear, expert advice on any of the above, please feel free to connect with Lanka here or contact her at lanka.bandara@theburnsidepartnership.com

London Office – The Burnside Partnership