Heidi Sandy

Heidi is an advocate and managing associate in Ogier's Dispute Resolution team in Guernsey, specialising in trust and commercial disputes. She also has a wide range of experience in advising clients in response to Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) requests, emanating from various jurisdictions including India, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Russia. In particular, she acted for the taxpayer in the first Guernsey challenge to the Royal Court, by way of judicial review proceedings, to a TIEA notice.

Background and experience

Heidi joined Ogier in 2020 having worked in the litigation team at another offshore law firm in Guernsey. She has a broad practice that deals with contentious trusts, tax disclosure requests, regulatory advice and professional negligence claims. She regularly acts for trustees, beneficiaries and professional advisors. Her cases often have a cross-jurisdiction aspect, which involves dealing with advisors in multi-jurisdictions. She is also experienced in dealing with enforcement proceedings and costs issues, including taxation.  Having a keen interest in representing the legal profession Heidi is the Chair of the Women Lawyers Division of The Law Society.

Heidi graduated with a BA Honours History degree from the University of Leeds, specialising in the Second World War, the war in the Pacific and Japanese history. She completed her PGDL and LPC at the Chester College of Law. 

Heidi's recent cases include:

Trusts and Estates

• Acting for trustees and beneficiaries in relation to contested Public Trustee v Cooper applications, in particular to settle multi-jurisdiction proceedings and separation of trusts between beneficiaries.
• Advising trustees in relation to sham trust proceedings, which also included dealing with proceedings in various other jurisdictions.
• Acting for a Monaco judicial administrator and guardian in relation to powers under a Guernsey trust and the validity of a change of trustee decision.
• Advising settlors and beneficiaries in relation to trustees failure to pay relevant taxes arising out of compliance with the UK Requirement to Correct legislation.
• Advising professional executors and beneficiaries in relation to various Guernsey inheritance and estates claims, particularly under the légitime provisions, lifetime advancement and distribution of the testator's estate and where there are capacity issues.

Tax and Regulatory

• Assisting trustees and beneficiaries in responding to international tax and disclosure requests, usually emanating under the Tax Information Exchange Agreement provisions, from various jurisdictions including India, Canada, Switzerland and Russia.
• Advising trustees and beneficiaries in relation to international tax disclosures and the subsequent blessing applications in respect of the payment of foreign taxes.  
• Advising trustees regarding requests from various jurisdictions tax authorities, which are not made pursuant to international agreements, but where there are live investigations against parties that can often be known to an off shore structure.
• Acting for trustees in relation to investigation and enforcement action by the GFSC. 
• Acting for a financial institution in relation to a request from the Economic Crime Division (working with the Financial Conduct Authority) to interview its employees regarding various structures and investments.

• Acting for the administrators of a Guernsey investment scheme, Providence Investment Funds PCC Limited and its investment manager, Providence Investment Funds PCC Limited, in relation to their respective professional negligence claims against their former auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, for failing to identify fraud and a Ponzi scheme during the audit. A trial is expected in early 2022.
• Advising a fund regarding a professional negligence claim against the fund administrators in relation to misstatement and calculation of the Net Asset Value of the fund.
• Advising the former liquidators of a company regarding provision of documents.
• Experience of acting for shareholders and companies in relation to freezing orders. Acting for institutions in relation to requests for disclosure pursuant to freezing orders.
• Acting for institutional lenders in relation to professional negligence claims against their former advisors.

Memberships

• Guernsey Bar
• Law Society of England and Wales
• Guernsey International Legal Association

Admitted in:
2019 - Guernsey
2006 - England and Wales (non-practising)